Thread: Losing

I just wnat to know what you guys think about losing- why is it such a big deal in the sport today. I'm baffled.

I can appreciate some people may think Hatton should retire, but not if they think that just becaude he lost to Pacquiao. Hatton should only retire if he thinks his life style has caught up with him and he his no longer hungry for the sport.

So what... he lost to the two greatest fighters on the planet! what's the big deal

Ali lost 5 times
Duran lost 16 times
Sugar Ray Robinson lost 19 times
Jake Lamotta lost 19 times

There's still great fights for Hatton out there- if he wants them- Katsidas, Witter, Khan. I'd love to see all of them, and I don't think losing to the best is any reason to hang up your gloves.

I'm not a massive fan of Khan but when he got knocked out by Prescott and people said there was no way back for him I just thought it was ridiculous- he was a young immature fighter who made a mistake, so what!! you learn from it!

Losing is a part of the sport. not the end of a fighters career.

Originally Posted by Bethnal Green

I just wnat to know what you guys think about losing- why is it such a big deal in the sport today. I'm baffled.

I can appreciate some people may think Hatton should retire, but not if they think that just becaude he lost to Pacquiao. Hatton should only retire if he thinks his life style has caught up with him and he his no longer hungry for the sport.

So what... he lost to the two greatest fighters on the planet! what's the big deal

Ali lost 5 times
Duran lost 16 times
Sugar Ray Robinson lost 19 times
Jake Lamotta lost 19 times

There's still great fights for Hatton out there- if he wants them- Katsidas, Witter, Khan. I'd love to see all of them, and I don't think losing to the best is any reason to hang up your gloves.

I'm not a massive fan of Khan but when he got knocked out by Prescott and people said there was no way back for him I just thought it was ridiculous- he was a young immature fighter who made a mistake, so what!! you learn from it!

Losing is a part of the sport. not the end of a fighters career.

Its because hes been knocked the fuck out twice and this time badly. He was out cold. His punch resistance has fallen dramatically and its getting to the point where you have to worry whether all the punches he has taken has caught up to him. Hes never been the most defensive fighter. Its coz of the way hes lost, not because he lost.

Originally Posted by snakey

Originally Posted by Bethnal Green

I just wnat to know what you guys think about losing- why is it such a big deal in the sport today. I'm baffled.

I can appreciate some people may think Hatton should retire, but not if they think that just becaude he lost to Pacquiao. Hatton should only retire if he thinks his life style has caught up with him and he his no longer hungry for the sport.

So what... he lost to the two greatest fighters on the planet! what's the big deal

Ali lost 5 times
Duran lost 16 times
Sugar Ray Robinson lost 19 times
Jake Lamotta lost 19 times

There's still great fights for Hatton out there- if he wants them- Katsidas, Witter, Khan. I'd love to see all of them, and I don't think losing to the best is any reason to hang up your gloves.

I'm not a massive fan of Khan but when he got knocked out by Prescott and people said there was no way back for him I just thought it was ridiculous- he was a young immature fighter who made a mistake, so what!! you learn from it!

Losing is a part of the sport. not the end of a fighters career.

Its because hes been knocked the fuck out twice and this time badly. He was out cold. His punch resistance has fallen dramatically and its getting to the point where you have to worry whether all the punches he has taken has caught up to him. Hes never been the most defensive fighter. Its coz of the way hes lost, not because he lost.

Correct

Agree with the Khan comment, but with Hatton the calls to retire are due to the ineptitude of his performance and the fact that he doesn't need to fight & to do so might only damage him.

It's also worth pointing out how much guys like Lamotta, Robinson & Duran fought & for how long. Robinson lost only 5 fights in the first 20 years of his career all to HoFers, before losing it horribly at the end. Most of these guys lost most of their fights in their twilight & had far greater competition than Hatton has, often earning substantially less. If we could go back in time & make Ali retire after beating Spinks, Robinson after winning the Basilio rematch & Duran after the rubber match with Leonard (goes for both of em actually), I think almost all of us would do that. Fighters make their records worse by fighting on too long.

As said above, it was the nature of the loss. There is losing a tough fight and there is being out cold for a good minute or two. Hatton lost BAD. That needs some careful consideration.

Originally Posted by snakey

Originally Posted by Bethnal Green

I just wnat to know what you guys think about losing- why is it such a big deal in the sport today. I'm baffled.

I can appreciate some people may think Hatton should retire, but not if they think that just becaude he lost to Pacquiao. Hatton should only retire if he thinks his life style has caught up with him and he his no longer hungry for the sport.

So what... he lost to the two greatest fighters on the planet! what's the big deal

Ali lost 5 times
Duran lost 16 times
Sugar Ray Robinson lost 19 times
Jake Lamotta lost 19 times

There's still great fights for Hatton out there- if he wants them- Katsidas, Witter, Khan. I'd love to see all of them, and I don't think losing to the best is any reason to hang up your gloves.

I'm not a massive fan of Khan but when he got knocked out by Prescott and people said there was no way back for him I just thought it was ridiculous- he was a young immature fighter who made a mistake, so what!! you learn from it!

Losing is a part of the sport. not the end of a fighters career.

Its because hes been knocked the fuck out twice and this time badly. He was out cold. His punch resistance has fallen dramatically and its getting to the point where you have to worry whether all the punches he has taken has caught up to him. Hes never been the most defensive fighter. Its coz of the way hes lost, not because he lost.

100% Correct!!!

It's all about situations.

If you don't "have" to fight you don't fight.

Hatton has earned around £50 million quid. He has no need to fight anymore.

i was only using hatton to illustrate my point. I can completely understand people claiming that he should retire due to the nature of the knock out, even though i don't agree, when duran was knocked out in the second round that was a heavy knockout and he went on to have many more good fights.

I think as some of you are saying- money should be the deciding factor- thats a pretty poor argument. loads of fighters out there don't need the money- shoould they all stop? of course they shouldn't. if they love the sport and feel they can still compete they should box. I love Calzaghe but I don't agree with his retirement. It shouldn't be about having nothing left to prove. it should be about competing until you can't. whats hopkins had to prove the last few years? nothing. but he keeps going because he's a competitior.

My issue with losing is that is seems to be a much bigger thing in the sport today than in the past. i'm not just referring to hatton but all fighters. a loss seems to be huge now- where as in years gone by in was just part of the sport

Originally Posted by Bethnal Green

i was only using hatton to illustrate my point. I can completely understand people claiming that he should retire due to the nature of the knock out, even though i don't agree, when duran was knocked out in the second round that was a heavy knockout and he went on to have many more good fights.

I think as some of you are saying- money should be the deciding factor- thats a pretty poor argument. loads of fighters out there don't need the money- shoould they all stop? of course they shouldn't. if they love the sport and feel they can still compete they should box. I love Calzaghe but I don't agree with his retirement. It shouldn't be about having nothing left to prove. it should be about competing until you can't. whats hopkins had to prove the last few years? nothing. but he keeps going because he's a competitior.

My issue with losing is that is seems to be a much bigger thing in the sport today than in the past. i'm not just referring to hatton but all fighters. a loss seems to be huge now- where as in years gone by in was just part of the sport

That sentence is a terrible attitude to have. Boxing is a dangerous sport. If someone doesn't feel like getting between the ropes again than they have the right not to. Fighters should not compete till they can't, that's what leads to situations where a fighters legacy becomes stained a la Roy Jones Jr.

Hopkins is getting paid big money now.. something he didn't get for the majority of his career.

All fights and fighters are mainly motivated by money. If the money is not right the fight doesn't happen.

A guy like Hatton will go from making 10mill to 2mill. Does he want to risk more humiliation for such lesser dough? I don't think so.. Not when he doesn't need to.

winning = good

losing = bad


i refuse to look outside the box :-)

Often, it's not about the lost itself but how you lose and what can be the consequences of such lost. losing an unaninous decision, if you've not been pounded too much on the head that,s not so bad, if you get knocked out winter cold 2 times in a row or more, that gets not only embarrassing but very dangerous, it might not show up for a few years as the younger metabolism tend to cope for that period with the lethal and invisible injuries but as times pass by...
My brother had a cranial trauma, I am very well placed to talk about such trauma and believe me, if I would be a boxerand that I would get stone cold knocked 2 times in a row, I drop my gloves right away, there is no way on earth that self ego worths the fifth of what my bro has forever.

Originally Posted by JazMerkin

Agree with the Khan comment, but with Hatton the calls to retire are due to the ineptitude of his performance and the fact that he doesn't need to fight & to do so might only damage him.

It's also worth pointing out how much guys like Lamotta, Robinson & Duran fought & for how long. Robinson lost only 5 fights in the first 20 years of his career all to HoFers, before losing it horribly at the end. Most of these guys lost most of their fights in their twilight & had far greater competition than Hatton has, often earning substantially less. If we could go back in time & make Ali retire after beating Spinks, Robinson after winning the Basilio rematch & Duran after the rubber match with Leonard (goes for both of em actually), I think almost all of us would do that. Fighters make their records worse by fighting on too long.

Exactly, those guys are prime examples of why fighters absolutely should retire at the right time, all went on far too long.

That KO was 10 times worse than Duran's by Hearns, and there's nothing he can do to add to what he's already done in his career, he should call it a day.

If you're afraid of losing you shouldn't take part end of.

That goes for any sport. Losing is part of the parcel, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.

Great thread. I think that a fighter almost has to lose in order to grow and mature because that is the biggest setback a fighter can be dealt in the ring. Great champions overcome adversity and without adversity there are no great champions. Ali, Duran, Leonard, Pep, etc. all had loses and all came back to do great things and win titles. There is absolutely no shame in losing against the best, because when you constantly fight the best, a fighter will come up short sometimes. Durans loses were not because he wasn't great, it was because he fought the best and probabilty always prevails. Its more of a testament to his greatness than a flaw on his record. Its not about the numbers, its about what is behind the numbers.