I'm talking about the worst sort of boxing hangovers, when a great champion finally leaves the sport. For example when Ali retired, the division went through a pretty bleak time for a long while. Same as when Lennox left, we had some down years. When Marvin Hagler walked away, the middle weight division lost a lot of it's greatness for a while. Other example s..?
Post Dempsey/Tunney (up until the arrival of Louis) - Perhaps the worst period in Heavyweight history, albeit there are a few other divisional eras that might contest for that title. PS - Not sure the Middleweights suffered too much, post Hagler. There was a well of talent coming through. Kalambay, Nunn, Barkley, Graham, Benn, McCallum and you still had the likes of Duran and Hearns around, too.
Yes see your point with the middleweight s, I really meant the fracturing of the middleweight one belt era. It took a while to at least get some kind of Unification after that. Good one about the Dempsey - Tunney retirement s. The division rarely looked so glum.
True - Hagler's retirement was the end of an era and it would be fair to suggest that an uncertain middleweight landscape ensued.
The post Klitschko heavyweight scene was dire for quite a stretch. You had fighters as poor as Adam Kownacki making serious waves and someone as bad as Wilder as a 40-0 champion.
It leaves a bigger hole/vacuum when a fighter has been dominant for a long time in a single division like Hagler, I think. Because the landscape shifts. With guys who rise up through muliple weight classes (Leonard, Duran, Hearns, de la Hoya, Pacquiao, etc) they’ve already left divisions in their wake and almost never are still dominant at the higher divisions (even if they win titles) for a long period. Of course heavyweight is a big one, when a dominant fighter leaves the scene while still on top like Lewis or the aftermath of Tunny/Dempsey (the longtime champ and the guy who conquered him both gone). So I’d say such hangovers of this type are pretty rare, although I’m certain John L Sullivan woke up with a huge hangover after he hung them up, as he often did when he was champ.