Greatest fighters without longevity

[margaret thatcher]

Who were the best fighters who fizzled out quickly?

[DrDuke]

Riddick Bowe. Right after he became a champ.

[oogiebe]

Greatest? Can't tell that if they fizzled out fast, regardless of what they did.

Not counting deaths like Sal Sanchez, I would have liked to have seen what Baby Joe Mesi would have been like.

[oogiebe]

Riddick Bowe. Right after he became a champ.

True that!

[margaret thatcher]

Basically the ones you'd rate the highest in terms of their careers, no matter what that level was, it's obviously not going to be some massive atg given the criteria, but some guys can do a lot in a short time

[oogiebe]

Basically the ones you'd rate the highest in terms of their careers, no matter what that level was, it's obviously not going to be some massive atg given the criteria, but some guys can do a lot in a short time

Number of fights? Or length in term of years?

[oogiebe]

Tyrone Everett comes to mind

[margaret thatcher]

Basically the ones you'd rate the highest in terms of their careers, no matter what that level was, it's obviously not going to be some massive atg given the criteria, but some guys can do a lot in a short time

Number of fights? Or length in term of years?

Either bruh

[elmersalsa]

Sugar Ray Leonard from 1977 to 1982 was extraordinary. After that, his career was a complete joke in my view.

[watsupdoc87]

We'll never know with Valero
Although he couldn't really be classed great

[Seamus]

Kiyoshi Tanabe

[gilgamesh]

Salvador Sanchez was amazingly accomplished when he died at 23.

Kelly Pavlik had a hell of a run before his alcoholism got the better of him.

Fernando Vargas burnt out very quickly, but was pretty damn solid there for a few years.

[gilgamesh]

Sugar Ray Leonard from 1977 to 1982 was extraordinary. After that, his career was a complete joke in my view.

The win over Hagler is nothing to scoff at. After that his best days were certainly behind him, but even though I thought he lost in the 2nd Hearns fight I certainly wouldn't describe his performance as a joke. It was another great fight.

[gilgamesh]

Greatest? Can't tell that if they fizzled out fast, regardless of what they did.

Not counting deaths like Sal Sanchez, I would have liked to have seen what Baby Joe Mesi would have been like.

Baby Joe Mesi had just about plateaued. He barely scraped by Monte Barrett, and suffered career ending brain damage against Vassily Jirov who basically never accomplished anything else of note as a Heavyweight.

The next level he attempted stepping up would've resulted in a KO loss for him.

As far as retiring undefeated, he got out at the right time. He was gonna go no further. He would've made more money while being the guy getting his ass kicked by bigger names a few times though I figure.

He did at least manage to reach the lower Top 10 though, which in and of itself is something to be proud of.

[oogiebe]

Greatest? Can't tell that if they fizzled out fast, regardless of what they did.

Not counting deaths like Sal Sanchez, I would have liked to have seen what Baby Joe Mesi would have been like.

Baby Joe Mesi had just about plateaued. He barely scraped by Monte Barrett, and suffered career ending brain damage against Vassily Jirov who basically never accomplished anything else of note as a Heavyweight.

The next level he attempted stepping up would've resulted in a KO loss for him.

As far as retiring undefeated, he got out at the right time. He was gonna go no further. He would've made more money while being the guy getting his ass kicked by bigger names a few times though I figure.

He did at least manage to reach the lower Top 10 though, which in and of itself is something to be proud of.

Had he not been damaged by Jirov (remember he was beating him handily through 8) can't say where he would or wouldn't have gone. You may be right, but I'm not that certain and would have liked to have seen.

[gilgamesh]

Baby Joe Mesi had just about plateaued. He barely scraped by Monte Barrett, and suffered career ending brain damage against Vassily Jirov who basically never accomplished anything else of note as a Heavyweight.

The next level he attempted stepping up would've resulted in a KO loss for him.

As far as retiring undefeated, he got out at the right time. He was gonna go no further. He would've made more money while being the guy getting his ass kicked by bigger names a few times though I figure.

He did at least manage to reach the lower Top 10 though, which in and of itself is something to be proud of.

Had he not been damaged by Jirov (remember he was beating him handily through 8) can't say where he would or wouldn't have gone. You may be right, but I'm not that certain and would have liked to have seen.

I'm certain.

For Mesi at least he gets to live the rest of his life claiming "I retired undefeated like Marciano" I'm sure he loves that.

Jirov is only 2-2-1 as a Heavyweight yet he was able to drop Mesi 3 times, and give him career ending brain damage.

What do you think happens if he fights. Wlad, Lamon Brewster, David Tua (even 2003 Tua), Hasim Rahman, or god forbid Vitali or Lennox Lewis.

Trust me. He wasn't going no further.

Byrd would've blanked him. Ruiz would've jabbed and grabbed him to death. Andrew Golota in his career resurgence around '04 would've beat the sh*t out of him.

I even figure he'd have gotten his ass whooped by the likes of Kali Meehan.

Jirov was a very small Heavyweight, and he damn near killed him. Put him in there with a talented 220 plus pound guy, and Mesi gets the f*ck beat out of him quick.

[margaret thatcher]

I'll give Joe this: f@cking great KO of Williamson

[oogiebe]

Had he not been damaged by Jirov (remember he was beating him handily through 8) can't say where he would or wouldn't have gone. You may be right, but I'm not that certain and would have liked to have seen.

I'm certain.

For Mesi at least he gets to live the rest of his life claiming "I retired undefeated like Marciano" I'm sure he loves that.

Jirov is only 2-2-1 as a Heavyweight yet he was able to drop Mesi 3 times, and give him career ending brain damage.

What do you think happens if he fights. Wlad, Lamon Brewster, David Tua (even 2003 Tua), Hasim Rahman, or god forbid Vitali or Lennox Lewis.

Trust me. He wasn't going no further.

Byrd would've blanked him. Ruiz would've jabbed and grabbed him to death. Andrew Golota in his career resurgence around '04 would've beat the sh*t out of him.

I even figure he'd have gotten his ass whooped by the likes of Kali Meehan.

Jirov was a very small Heavyweight, and he damn near killed him. Put him in there with a talented 220 plus pound guy, and Mesi gets the f*ck beat out of him quick.

Glad you're certain

[oogiebe]

I'll give Joe this: f@cking great KO of Williamson

Yeah it was a great ko. Probably his best win.

[gilgamesh]

I'll give Joe this: f@cking great KO of Williamson

Yeah, that one, the win over Izon and the win over Monte Barrett are what got him ranked. I don't figure the win over Jirov advanced him any in terms of ranking, and of course he would've been removed from the rankings altogether shortly thereafter.

[Onetimeonly]

Wesley mouzon and Eddie Booker for what it's. Bowe is a great call and I'd add Donald curry for what was. Though Curry's stretch was longer than most remember. Leonard is a typical clown Elmer call.

[Flump]

Following on from Curry you could say Honeyghan. After Curry he demolished Bumphus & Hatcher and beat the top quality Blocker, then looked awful vs Vaca and was never really the same again, in spite of the rematch.

[Woldemar]

Masao Ohba

[elmersalsa]

Sugar Ray after 1982:
1983: no fights. Understandable, retina problems.

1984: Came back one fight, Kevin Howard dropped him. Sugar Ray "wins" by TKO. Strictly garbage! Strictly politics! HE retires, saying he doesn't have it anymore.

1985: 0 fights

1986: 0 fights

1987: 1 fight. His best fight, win or lose against Marvelous

1988: 1 fight. Two titles in one night against Donny Lalonde? What a joke!

1989: A "draw" against The Hitman and a snoozer against Manos de Piedra????

1990: 0 fights

1991: 1 fight. Chooses Terry Norris and got smacked around at age 34. BUT, Duran loss should count in his fight at age 33 against Hearns. Oh! Figures!

1992: 0 fights
1993: 0 fights
1994: 0 fights
1995: 0 fights
1996: 0 fights
1997: 1 fight. Got embarrassed by MACHO MAN

IF this is longevity, then maybe we should have another meaning of what we are talking about. ONLY 7 fights after 1982? WHAT a joke! What a circus!

[Ambling Alp II]

The last line sums up your posts pretty well.