Age is no excuse. Heavyweights past and present have defended their titles into their 40's. Vitali is one of them, hopkins is another fighter who has gone into his 50's Lewis shirked from the challenge that was right in front of him as he didn't have the stomach for it.
You guys really think Eubank Jr ducked Tommy Langford? I really, really doubt that. Either the elbow injury was 100% genuine which I think it was because Eubank has long had a problem with hyperextension of his elbows - this is why he doesn't throw as many jabs and straights as we'd like to see. Or he had the ITV Box Office deal in the pipeline so needed to get out of the Langford fight for that reason. He would totally demolish Langford, anyone who thinks otherwise is just a Eubank hater.
When we talk about ducks we should be referring to the avoidance of a fight for fear of losing. That to me is the definition of a duck. Avoiding a fight for a better option or because of injury is not really a duck in the classic use of the term for boxing.
But he retired and never fought again. He gave up his titles and allowed others to take over. So you cannot really admonish him for it. If he had "fake retired" and waited a year or two and came back with a different opponent and claiming to be the real champion, that would have been wrong. The only thing he did wrong was promise a rematch in the heat of the moment and before he'd thought it through. Y'know, these boxers, they do have a basic human right to retire whenever they want. They're not slaves who must carry on an fight for our satisfaction until they are all broken-down brain damaged wrecks. That happens enough anyway.
When the fight was first cancelled there wasn't even a mention of an elbow injury until the backlash, they released a statement saying they didn't want to participate in the fight because the Eubanks were concerned for the other fighters safety because they felt that Jr was above domestic level. This completely contradicts why they ducked out of the Jacobs WBA fight when they were #1 mandatory when they declined and decided to drop their ranking because they said they wanted to win the Lonsdale belt outright for the prestige. Something doesn't add up with the Eubanks. Timeline: Eubank beats Spike in an eliminator for Jacobs WBA title Eubank declines shot at Jacobs and in doing so loses WBA rankings because they want to win the Lonsdale belt outright Eubank then decides not to try and win the Lonsdale belt outright because they feel they are above domestic level (contradicting their previous statement) Eubank then calls out GGG live on air Eubank then doesn't sign a contract to fight GGG within the a deadline leading GGG to face Brook instead Eubank then moves out of 160 entirely to fight some unknown for a paper belt Such a strange and bizarre career path.
Fury when he shat himself from Alexander Ustinov after he had the cheek to turn up to a weigh in looking in fairly decent shape. Fury may well have beaten him, however the manner of him dropping the fight post weigh in was comedy gold.
The Eubanks are on their own bizarre path to Jokerville. I feel it's only going to weirder and more surreal as we follow them down that path, preferably from a safe distance.
I have to agree with that. Even though his uncle was suddenly ill (and subsequently died), the reaction that Fury gave a the weigh-in suggested that he wasn't happy about fighting Ustinov. I think he said "they are stitching me up, the man's had a full training camp!" To be fair, the Furys had every right to say "no" to Ustinov when Chisora dropped out at last minute, and it wouldn't have been a duck. But by waiting until after the weigh-in and letting slip the comment about Ustinov being in shape, it comes across as a duck.
I'm aware of the facts and don't doubt the contradictions but I just really don't think that Eubank avoided the fight because he feared Langford. Which is the essence of a duck for me. He did it for other reasons. I think Eubank could have fought Langford straight after Quinlan, literally starting the fight in the ring then and there and still win. I don't rate Langford. And yes Fury ducked Ustinov. I like Fury but that was a solid duck.
Retirement is not ducking. Lewis was past his best why the hell would he turn up for a beat down? His job was done there and was lucky to get the win. Nice to go out on a massive win against great hw
