BoxRec

as fans there is often call for these when a fighter is nearing the end, esp when the fighter has a good career but is coming off a loss. has a 'feel good' vibe to it to wrap up a career victorious


but how often do they actually happen, where someone announces ahead of time that this is their last one and they are just going out on it in celebration

examples

Anthony crolla

Hamed came back against Calvo but no one thought it would be his last fight.

Hatton is an obvious one but of course it didn't go to plan.

Coco wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 03:04 Hamed came back against but no one thought it would be his last fight.

Hatton is an obvious one but of course it didn't go to plan.

It did for me. Just had a really bad feeling in the arena that night.

Cotto probably thought he was going out with a win against Sadam Ali. But that didn’t go to plan.

Golota had an exhibition farewell bout vs Danell Nicholson. I think, that's more logical for farewell bouts than wittingly chosing some bum for an official fight.

Everyone knew that Carlos Monzon planned to go out with a win when he faced Rodrigo Valdez in Monaco in the summer of 1977. Monzon had outscored Valdez a year earlier to unify the world middleweight title but it was close until Monzon pulled out a big right hand to drop Valdez in the 14th round. Monzon, who was 34, had nothing left to prove as a fighter but he never shirked a rematch and he climbed up from an early knockdown to pummel Valdez in their second meeting on the way to a unanimous 15-round decision.
It was the great man's 14th successful defence (two more than Hagler) and he publicly announced his retirement a few days later.

Coco wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 03:04 Hamed came back against Calvo but no one thought it would be his last fight.

Hatton is an obvious one but of course it didn't go to plan.

It wasn't intended to be a one off for Hatton, but the start of a campaign - he was mentioning (calling it out is a bit much) a future fight with Brook or Khan.

maley1984 wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 03:02 Anthony crolla

Yes - that didn't smell nice to be honest. I don't think Crolla won that one.

I'm pretty sure Thomas Hearns always said his last fight was going to be his last - but he said that a few times I know.

stujones wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 07:31

Coco wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 03:04 Hamed came back against Calvo but no one thought it would be his last fight.

Hatton is an obvious one but of course it didn't go to plan.

It wasn't intended to be a one off for Hatton, but the start of a campaign - he was mentioning (calling it out is a bit much) a future fight with Brook or Khan.

Many said it was his first fight after a while. He should have had it over 8 rounds..

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 08:53

stujones wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 07:31

Coco wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 03:04 Hamed came back against Calvo but no one thought it would be his last fight.

Hatton is an obvious one but of course it didn't go to plan.

It wasn't intended to be a one off for Hatton, but the start of a campaign - he was mentioning (calling it out is a bit much) a future fight with Brook or Khan.

Many said it was his first fight after a while. He should have had it over 8 rounds..

I think better that he lost. His timing was comically bad that night. Didn't have it anymore and better not to take any more damage in the ring.

dookus wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 12:33

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 08:53

stujones wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 07:31

It wasn't intended to be a one off for Hatton, but the start of a campaign - he was mentioning (calling it out is a bit much) a future fight with Brook or Khan.

Many said it was his first fight after a while. He should have had it over 8 rounds..

I think better that he lost. His timing was comically bad that night. Didn't have it anymore and better not to take any more damage in the ring.

It wasn't great, although he faced a really awkward opponent style wise for Ricky (albeit not a true world class fighter, but an awkward fighter for Ricky's style) and he was rusty as anything. It was slightly hard to assess just how much Ricky had left due to the style of his opponent and the inactivity. It was a terrible fight for him really stylewise etc.

stujones wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 14:14

dookus wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 12:33

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 08:53

Many said it was his first fight after a while. He should have had it over 8 rounds..

I think better that he lost. His timing was comically bad that night. Didn't have it anymore and better not to take any more damage in the ring.

It wasn't great, although he faced a really awkward opponent style wise for Ricky (albeit not a true world class fighter, but an awkward fighter for Ricky's style) and he was rusty as anything. It was slightly hard to assess just how much Ricky had left due to the style of his opponent and the inactivity. It was a terrible fight for him really stylewise etc.

Yes, fair enough, he did have exactly the wrong type of opponent for a comeback fight. I couldn't get over how badly Hatton was missing though, and from early. Maybe he'd have looked better with more comeback fights, but I guess we'll never know. (Anyway, with Hatton's style, I'm glad he was saved taking punishment in more fights - win or lose.)

Ray Leonard insisted his fight with Hagler was going to be his last fight and if he had kept to that it would have been a great legacy,instead he carried on and was shown up by Norris and hammered by Comacho

Pete Buckley

Johnny Greaves left with a win.

Matt Macklin

Tony Booth

Didn’t Hopkins try it a few times

coghaugen11 wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 17:51 Didn’t Hopkins try it a few times

Smith Jr retired him right out of the ring

Andrew Flintoff?

Joe Calzaghe....everyone knew Jones was his Swan song

MasterG wrote: ↑01 Apr 2021, 05:29 Andrew Flintoff?

His farewell for Cricket was a 4 riund boxing match.

Carl Thompson.

Henry Maske?

Not a win but Saemi Hanagata announced her retirement before her last bout, and earned a draw with a very good Eri Matsuda (she's off to become a teacher IIRC)

Koki Kameda, kinda? He announced he would rematch Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, their bout wasn't sanctioned as a pro bout but more a... Unfriendly exhibition, Kameda stopped Wonjongkam and went out on a high of avenging the loss... Even in an exhibition