Favorite 5 Fighters Who Knew when to retire vs Who Overstayed

5. Joe Calzaghe not a big fan of his, but I respect his high punch output and knowing when to walk away. & the more Hopkins won- the better it made Joe look!)

4. Aaron Pryor. He could have lost more than a few fights due to his eye injury- but he didnt try to fight to get some smoke money or needs. He fought 3 more times after his sole loss. I think he knew it was a matter of time before someone would drub him. So he left the game @ 39-1


3. Lennox Lewis- Neither Lennox nor Manny Steward wanted to take the Klitshcko fight when Johnson pulled out- but he would've been looked upon as a ducker. He was fortunate his power held up- as his stamina was poor and timing was off and was being outjabbed. Boy that telephone poll jab kept and power punching ripped that man's face off. He knew not to come back.


2. Carl Froch- His final fights Lucian Bute, Yusef Mack, Kessler Groves 2x. To have those high calibur fights at the end? and win? That KO punch to Groves II - no better way to walk away!


1. - JMM It didnt matter how many millions they dangled in his face for a 5th match...that KO over Pac wow! A bit suprised he came back to take on alvarado after his loss to Bradley. I feared he would lose to stylistic matchups...but he proved he was still the better fighter over Alvarado & never came back..that was 2014!

How many overstayed....boy o boy... to narrow this down to just five....:confused:

1. Holyfield. When he lost to Byrd, Toney & Larry Donald 3 losses in a row, yet he kept on, why?!

2. Ali I was pretty young when he lost to Holmes, but I wasnt so young I couldnt tell- he looked young but fought like he was old as hell. Nuff said. Then Berbick?


3. Roy Jones Jr. Loss after loss.. I think like most...he never should've went down to LHW - but he did. One loss was ok...but when one starts to fight his fans? Pitiful.


4. Bhop. Damn- he promised his mother and broke it. Kovalev just beat his ass. and got blasted out the damn ring by Joe Who? Joe Smith thats who.


5. Tito Trinidad. Hopkins loss was legit. but to see him come back and get dusted by a lone jab from Winky all night and a close fight with Jones...naw he never should have taken those 2 fights.

Rocky, Hagler, Floyd, Naz and Tim Bradley retired at the right time.

Stupid comebacks which is different to fighters who stayed too long and should have stayed retired Ricky Hatton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Graciano Rocchigiani, Haye and Asumah Nelson.

Naz retired at the right time ? He short changed us I felt with his career.

And let's not forget he has never officially retired - I asked him this a couple of years ago when I bumped into him in town and he smiled and said no he hadn't.

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Originally Posted by Mark TKO

Naz retired at the right time ? He short changed us I felt with his career.

And let's not forget he has never officially retired - I asked him this a couple of years ago when I bumped into him in town and he smiled and said no he hadn't.

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Naz last 2 fights showed he was past his destructive best and that started to happen when he had the public bust up with Ingle. Naz was getting knocked down by mediocre opponents by his standard and the decline was happening before our very eyes.

Do not think Eubank ever publicly retired either but we knew it was over for him too.

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Originally Posted by Master

Rocky, Hagler, Floyd, Naz and Tim Bradley retired at the right time.

Stupid comebacks which is different to fighters who stayed too long and should have stayed retired Ricky Hatton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Graciano Rocchigiani, Haye and Asumah Nelson.

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Overstay, way too many. stupid comebacks? By the dozens every era!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Mark TKO

Naz retired at the right time ? He short changed us I felt with his career.

And let's not forget he has never officially retired - I asked him this a couple of years ago when I bumped into him in town and he smiled and said no he hadn't.

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Now that Master mentioned it..I agree. He had no hunger left. MAB beat it out of him, he would've lost fights to sad to rewatch IMO. I know ya got a few fights, no one could pay you to rewatch LOL! Too many for me to name.



Speaking of the next stupid comeback...DLH.
3 letters enuff said.

Good thread. ;D

Overstayed (or ill-fated comebacks)..... yeah. That's a crowded list. :-\

My poster child for overstayed will always be Ali. What the HELL was anyone thinking letting Ali get humiliated by Larry Holmes... and THEN... to add injury to insult... allow him back in the ring against Trevor Berbick. Madness!

SRL isn't far behind. For as great as he was (TBE candidate for me)... he allowed himself to get whacked around in humiliating fashion. Shameful.

RJJ is definitely on that list. Not only did he get starched horribly when he was way past his prime. But then he compounds the circus atmosphere by playing paunchy punching bag to a fit, bigger Mike Tyson who was clearly holding back in their recent exhibition. Mike was laughing about it afterwards... but Roy was serious when he claimed he didn't like draws.

Yeah, @SlimTrae . As a Trinidad fan, I also thought he fought one or two fights too many. Roy could've taken him out had he wanted to.



The thing is..... the greater a fighter has been throughout his career..... the tougher it is to see him overstay his welcome and get beaten by opponents who otherwise would have no business being in there. At least Trinidad's last fight and loss was against RJJ. It would've been devastating to me to see him get crushed by some journeyman type fighter.


About retiring at the right time... I'm not so sure I agree on Hagler. He left on a LOSS and arguably still close to his prime. He just got pissed off at boxing and left.

Agreed on the Hagler reason he was pissed. Maybe that saved him overstaying.


@TitoFan the one thing we can take solace in is that every sport has ATGs that overstay.
#1 Has to be MJ... Jordan... the dude walked away with a last minute shot in the championship (that the ref could have called him for that ever-so-soft push)
And what did this dude do? he came back to play for Washington was it?


Shaquille O'neil the dominant one...found himself being benched the last season...damn Shaq!

Brett Favre in football. He had to comeback one more time and finished what? 4-12 with Minnesota? I think even Randy Moss played...for a few games and they just told him to GTFO!!!





Sven ottke has to be a top choice for leaving at the right time...one can only win so long on their home turf. His hometown fans even questioned his victories. 34-0 yet next to nobody knows who he is.


I'm on the fence with Andre Ward. I think he left too soon.

Ward struggled with Kovalev and would have not been able to unify at the higher weight. There was no obvious big fight for him so he was probably right to call it a day.

As above, Andre Ward.

His first fight against Kovalev was a draw at least and he must have realised he was lucky to get that win.

Too many injuries and he retired at the right time.

I still think Canelo will call him out in 2022.

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Originally Posted by imp

As above, Andre Ward.

His first fight against Kovalev was a draw at least and he must have realised he was lucky to get that win.

Too many injuries and he retired at the right time.

I still think Canelo will call him out in 2022.

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Ward is like Jazz, the better he is the less he is appreciated, Andre will never make a comeback and ruin that immaculate record of his. He has never lost a fight since he was 12 years of age.