I suppose I'm asking out of the 4 who could have not retired when they did and still been to a degree successful.? Perhaps a few more wins on there resume. I no Jeffries returned but if he'd carried on at least a few more years how would he have competed?
Gene Tunney. He was making ridiculous money for the time. (I think Tunney made more in his very brief reign than Joe Louis did in all of his 25 title defenses combined decades later). Tunney was drawing massive crowds. In 1928, the last year Tunney fought, the man who would succeed him (Max Schmeling) was losing in one round to Gipsy Daniels. Schmeling was still a ways off. And the man who would succeed Schmeling (Jack Sharkey) was drawing with Heeney and losing to Johnny Risko. Tunney could've fought once a year (or more) for another three or four years ... maybe even five years (to 1933) ... and made several million additional dollars and retired undefeated then, too. (Does anyone see him losing to Carnera?) Max Baer may have destroyed an old Tunney. But I don't really see the guys before him turning the trick. Regarding the others, Lennox Lewis was pretty much done. I think he retired at exactly the right time. He managed his career brilliantly and retired on top. Jeffries may have been able to go on, but the money and sport wasn't what it would become later. He could've gone on, but I don't think it would've hurt or enhanced his resume. The division was pretty flat and uninteresting at the time. Marciano was a short-timer. The days of defending against Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles were over. Floyd Patterson. Eddie Machen. Zora Folley. Sonny Liston. Rocky's days were numbered. Tunney had more of a window and was raking in tons of money. And he could've fought years longer and still retired undefeated. And if he'd done so, it probably would've boosted his reputation immeasurably. He is the one who retired too soon.
Great answer dc. Out of them all in my mind Lewis was the one that got out just right time. The klitschko fight provides the answers if he'd have carried on. I was quite sad when he did but to me there was no going back.
Yeah. Lewis did the right thing. He beat Vitali fair and square. I don't know if he'd have been able to do it again. Lennox was one of the oldest heavyweight champs in history at the time. It wasn't going to get better for him. But he beat Vitali. He went out on top. You don't have to beat them over and over again (even if the fans want it). There wasn't any Vitali Klitschko standing in Tunney's path.
None of them. Marciano was only successful fighting 200 year old fighters and nobodies. Even though 2 nobodies in Ted Lowry and Roland LaStarza still beat him .Jefferies was never that good. Tunney best wins in his career came against Greb a 160 pound fighter and a washed up overrated 190 pound Jack Dempsey. If he kept fight various guys who came along afterward would of destroyed him. Lewis was past his prime and wasn't motivated anymore. But I guess if I had to pick one I would pick Lewis. If he got back in better shape he would of stopped Vitali easier. Wlad had no chance still. But I am sure some hungry younger guy at that time would of caught him and sent him into retirement. Lewis probably knew that and retired.
Jeffries and Tunney both arguably retired at their absolute peaks, and there was no reason to think that they would get worse any time soon. Their stories are literally ones of unfinished business. Marciano was arguably as good as he had ever been in his last fight, but the writing was on the wall. He was having trouble maintaining his ridiculous training regime, and was about to step over the edge of the staircase. Lewis was well and truly on notice when he retired, but he might have had a big fight left in him. Jeffries , Tunney, and Marciano retired in large part because they believed that there was no competition worth staying on for. This belief might well have been illusory, because Lewis thoufght the same thing after he defeated Tyson, then found out against Klitschko
They both had a get out of jail free card! Johnson lost to Hart shortly before Jefferies retired, and Jeffries decided that it was not worth his effort to close the deal. Let’s just say that Jeffries had fought Hart and beaten him? That puts the argument at the time in perspective! As for Tunney, there was no black fighter that he needed to fight!
Jeffries was offered a lot of money to fight both Denver Ed Martin and Sam McVey, he refused and took on Munro for less .Tunney could have fought Godfrey or Wills.
I agree with everything you said except the part about Tunney retiring too soon. He retired with his health and a million dollars when a million dollars was a million dollars. He married an heiress worth about 50 million, traveled the world, got involved in business and politics (campaigning for his son), studied the classics, etc. He stopped boxing when he wanted to and on his own terms. He was a Renaissance man.
Tunney had already offered to fight Wills, had he not? Wills turned him down and started losing bouts as he was proving to be past prime.
This is known to me. My point is that if Jeffries had wished to stay on as champion, he could simply have defended his title against Marvin Hart, who was likley tailor made for him. After that he would likley have come up against people like O'Brien and Squires, in which case he could have been around for a while. He could, but he would probably not have come under any undue pressure to do so. Most of the talk when he retires seems to have been about him fighting Risko or Sharkey.