Which heavyweight champion hurt his legacy the most by retiring in his prime or near

Spinks ( bacause of his first round loss )

 

Without doubt Jeffries.

Tunney is considered a great by most, although some feel he was a bit protected and hid behind a colour line. But the fights he did have, he looked good in.

Spinks is a bit like Tunney but only instead of shot Dempsey he had prime Tyson there.

Marciano maybe could have beaten Valdes but short of defeating a world class SHW, there's no way he improves himself.

Jeffries retired very early without facing the best black contenders, especially those about to hit the world scene big time. He could have stayed around and defeated Johnson, McVey and Jeanette. Probably ensures he's a top 3 lock today.

 

tunny got lucky with jack being out of shape, he was bound to lose at some point.

yes he would have added easily.

Marciano was going to get found out at some point, that's why he left the scene. Patterson, Liston and especially Ali's arrival would have ripped him apart, and I think he knew it. It was only the emergence of "easy-pickings" Ingemar lucking past Patterson that made him consider coming back.

I am surprised he was 32 though, he looked a lot older.

I think he knew his innings was over too.

 

I'm not sure any of them damaged their legacies if I'm honest.
Of those listed, maybe Jeffries.
But how much more could any of these guys have really enhamced their legacies?

 

Found out?

 

I don't think any of them hurt their legacy by retiring.
A big part of Marciano's mystique was is 0.
The lack of film makes many seem mythical.
I don't think Spinks was prime when he retired.

 

yeh he was great, but at some point the lucky breaks he got facing opposition would have run dry. He would never have got lucky against Ings, Patts and Liston..perhaps just Ings.

 

Tunney would have been favourite to beat the next three champs,imo so I pick him.
Jeffries could and should have fought better opposition than Finnegan and Munroe,his standing with me would have been considerably enhanced if he had fought Martin,Johnson ,and McVey.
Marciano did all that could be asked of him, he was having back problems and distrusted Weill, he was smart to go when he did. Spinks was done too imo, his knees were shot. His choice of challengers revealed his thoughts on being a long term champion at Heavyweight.

 

mostly below HW though. I don't consider this evidence for further performance at HW.

I disagree, at that stage Floyds speed would have been too much for the Rock.
By found out I mean his luck eeking out wins in fights he was losing wouldn't hold forever.

 

Marciano didn't need to face Patterson to get to 50-0. Floyd wasn't rated in the top 10 when Marciano retired.

Also, knowing how cautious D'Amato was with Patterson, it would be unlikely that he'd be pushing for a Marciano fight unless Marciano was seriously diminished.

 

I think we can all agree that Spinks was wise to retire. He basically had nowhere to go.