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No hypothetical matchups to fixate on, just a simple question what do you think a fighters legacy would be if he retired early. First up

Let's say Julio Cesar Chavez retires after his JWW title defense against Terrance Alli. At that point he would have ended his career with a record of 87-0.

I was planning on posting a similiar post.
What if since day one of John L. Sullivan, mandatory retirement for any boxer
was on their 36th birthday?
Whose records would be the most unblited?

Seamus wrote:No hypothetical matchups to fixate on, just a simple question what do you think a fighters legacy would be if he retired early. First up

Let's say Julio Cesar Chavez retires after his JWW title defense against Terrance Alli. At that point he would have ended his career with a record of 87-0.

This is a very interesting topic.

On JCC in particular, I'm too young to remember how he was perceived at that point, which makes it hard to predict how his legend would have grown since.

One thing's for sure though, since he hadn't (I believe) been knocked down by that point, and had shown amazing toughness against the likes of Taylor, people looking back on him now would find it hard to imagine him getting stopped by anyone.

Caractacus wrote:I was planning on posting a similiar post.
What if since day one of John L. Sullivan, mandatory retirement for any boxer
was on their 36th birthday?
Whose records would be the most unblited?

That would have meant Holyfield retiring after the second Tyson win, which would have left him with a great legacy.

Roy Jones would have still lost to Tarver and Johnson so his record wouldn't be untarnished, but his health would be in much better shape.

In Mexico, and maybe some other Latin American countries, I think Chavez would be considered easily top 10 alltime. Look how people makeover Marciano's 49-0. This would have been 87-0, and 25-0 in a title fights over 3 weight classes.

I was a big Chavez fan and for me I don't think the average American fan gives him enough credit much is made of his draw with Pernell Whitaker but Chavez lost to Frankie Randell a few months later so he was clearly past his prime by then , I think JCC would be a steady top ten fighter all time if he retired 86-0 and his legend would grow stronger as time went by .

What happened with the great Julio Cesar Chavez, that after he beat Meldrick Taylor, he did not fight a single worthy opponent before he met the great Pernell Whitaker. It looked like his team was matching carefully after the Taylor I fight. People wanted to see him fight someone worthy like Whitaker or Buddy McGirt. Some people wanted him to face Terry Norris, a fight that I COMPLETELY DISAGREE THAT SHOULD HAPPEN at the time. That is 14 pounds of difference. Even if they wanted to make it a catch weight fight, it would give advantage to Norris, not Chavez.

Can you imagine the legacy of RJJ if he had retired post Ruiz. It would have been amazing and then some. You'd pretty much have backed him against anyone at any weight after that one.

Noxy wrote:Can you imagine the legacy of RJJ if he had retired post Ruiz. It would have been amazing and then some. You'd pretty much have backed him against anyone at any weight after that one.

HE would not be top 10 even after he beat John Ruiz. That was garbage as it was.

HE would not be top 10 even after he beat John Ruiz. That was garbage as it was

However, that wasn't the talk at the time. Pundits were praising him to the skies, even wondering if he'd stay at HW and take on the other champs.

Seriously doubt that.
How about Ken Norton's legacy if he retires after the Holmes fight? He was 35 when he got ko'd by Shavers and even older for the Cooney fight. Those losses give some people the mistaken impression that he had a weak chin. If those fights don't happen, it's likely a lot more people would rate him higher than Charles, Walcott, Patterson, Schmeling, Sharkey etc.

What if Lou Ambers retired 3 fights early. He would have had a record of 90-6-7 without ever having been stopped.

elmersalsa wrote:What happened with the great Julio Cesar Chavez, that after he beat Meldrick Taylor, he did not fight a single worthy opponent before he met the great Pernell Whitaker. It looked like his team was matching carefully after the Taylor I fight. People wanted to see him fight someone worthy like Whitaker or Buddy McGirt. Some people wanted him to face Terry Norris, a fight that I COMPLETELY DISAGREE THAT SHOULD HAPPEN at the time. That is 14 pounds of difference. Even if they wanted to make it a catch weight fight, it would give advantage to Norris, not Chavez.

Mooted around '93.

Great quote from DK: "Man O'War was a great racehorse, but if I put a extra 20 pounds on him they would say I was cruel to the animal. So don't ask me to do that to Chavez."

What if Lou Ambers retires 3 fights early and ends his career with a record of 90-6-7 having never been stopped ?

elmersalsa wrote:What happened with the great Julio Cesar Chavez, that after he beat Meldrick Taylor, he did not fight a single worthy opponent before he met the great Pernell Whitaker.

Guys like Camacho, Haugen, Terrance Ali and Lightning Lonnie were not worthy opponents?

BUMP

Whitaker was past his prime when he schooled Chavez. Similar to hagler/Leonard & Tyson/holyfield that hindsight gives excuses to the favorite.

Roy Jones Jr stands above any-one if he retired after beating Ruiz he would be on the same level as Robinson/Ali/Armstrong in the VIP suite right now he's in the cellar with a dirty old mattress and no pillow

Off remembering both in their primes and the view of them back then. If both had retired just before their first loss, they would be considered all time p4p top tenners for sure. Particularly chavez.

Mike Tyson retires at 37-0, 33 KOs after stopping Carl Williams.