What are the saddest cases of fighters sticking around too long?

It's kind of similar to people thinking that fighters who stand and trade, or take a large number of shots to the head, are more warrior-like than guys who hit without getting hit back, which I don't agree with at all.

 

Roy has been done since Tarver knocked him out. Calzaghe beat him like a video game. It was far from close, and that was a long time ago now. Roy is STILL fighting. Green knocked him out with what I saw to be a glancing, misplaced shot, that looked more like a miss than a landed punch. I was wondering if anybody was going to mention to Roy that he had a fight that night. Nobody ever passed that info along to him.

Roy's main assets during his youth were his speed and reflexes, which are the first and main things to go with age. He was able to get away with his terrible technique for so many years due to these assets. When his speed and reflex left him, he continued to use the same technique that was only allowed to him due to speed and reflex, as opposed to a fighter like Hopkins, who got better with time as he did not rely so heavily on those assets that desert a fighter with age.

 

Roy Jones Jr.
Evander Holyfield.

 

I also forgot to add Jose Luis Castillo!:-(

 

I almost forgot.. Arturo Gatti vs. Alfonso Gomez thats is one of the top cases.

 

The saddest case is Muhammad Ali who had a tear in his membrane that seperates skull from brain. Probably caused by the beating he took from Holmes. Don King knew this but promoted the fight against Berbick anyway.

 

has to be an over the hill joe calzaghe.

he should never have stayed around so long and suffered the indignity of being knocked down by 2 chumps like hopkins and jones. it was a very sad thing to see.

 

:huh

 

I agree, if by "chumps" you mean "all-time great legends". What would happen to Calzaghe if he stuck around as long as those above mentioned "chumps"? What's Joe going to be doing in his mid 40's, besides avoiding a blemish on his record? Some kind of slap-boxing tournament?

 

I do not get why RJJ is mentioned here. Unlike most of others, he is rich and healthy, and even if he decides to stay for a year or two his glass chin will prevent him from taking too much punishment. At worst he will get KO'd by some gatekeepers before he realizes the need for retirement. He is only making fool of himself, but it is really nothing compared to what happened to Ali and is happening to Holyfield.

 

Can't really agree Bowe had stuck around too long at the time he fought Golota sure he got his ass (and nuts) handed to him but he was supposed to be in his prime, that he is still fighting today though is sad...

 

Leon Spinks would probably get my vote.

And every fight I see of Danny Williams I fear for him!

 

I get what you're saying here but it's still the brain taking dmg when you get KO'd not the "chin"

 

True, I remember Golota was supposed to be just another quick win for Bowe (who was already looking for some big fight, although I no longer remember the opponent), and probably even after first fight he thought it was just a fluke.

It is the brain, but the amount of damage will be quite different if your "chin" is good enough to get you through full distance of sustained beating (some Ali fights, Golota-Bowe) or if you just go down after first meaningful punch landed and it is over.

 

Most of Ali's damage is supposed to have been cause by him continuly being cuffed around the back of the neck at the base of the skull. When he was ducking and weaving.