BoxRec

So often our heroes, the guys we loved and followed, fought on long past their primes. Which decline made you feel the saddest.
It really saddens me to see Roy Jones carry on. It seems he will until he is brutally KO'd again.
I imagine seeing the decline of Ali would have been pretty awful to watch, but I'm a bit young to have witnessed that.

Watching Ali take on Holmes and Berbick makes me hate what the Greatest had become.

Jerry Quarry was a heart Wrencher he had such great skills but when they left him he seemed pretty vulnerable. His heart never went anywhere but his skills diminished dramatically.

Marvin Hagler. At least with Muhammad Ali, Ray Robinson & co., you knew for definite they were past their best. Some people think Hagler was in his prime against Ray Leonard...

Ali was sad to watch , perhaps not the greatest fighter or boxer of all-time , but undoubtedly the greatest sportsman of all-time .


As a big Tito Trinidad fan , I found it painful to watch his total defeat at the hands of Winky .

livingstone cole wrote:I'll reserve my judgement until Holyfield gets splattered.

Did you miss his fight against Toney?

Ali was very sad, as was Matt Saad Muhammad, Meldrick Taylor and Earnie Shavers.

DoubleM wrote:Marvin Hagler. At least with Muhammad Ali, Ray Robinson & co., you knew for definite they were past their best. Some people think Hagler was in his prime against Ray Leonard...

At least Hagler got out with his faculties in tact and is still in good health. Also he didnt attempt any pointless comebacks like most fighters do and get hammered by a lesser fighter. And finally, without wanting to start this old thread again, Hagler didnt really lose even in his last fight!

dr_devious wrote:

DoubleM wrote:Marvin Hagler. At least with Muhammad Ali, Ray Robinson & co., you knew for definite they were past their best. Some people think Hagler was in his prime against Ray Leonard...

At least Hagler got out with his faculties in tact and is still in good health. Also he didnt attempt any pointless comebacks like most fighters do and get hammered by a lesser fighter. And finally, without wanting to start this old thread again, Hagler didnt really lose even in his last fight!

He got out with his health and dignity, but his legacy took a bashing. Most don't realize now, or didn't at the time, how past his prime Hagler was. The Hagler-Leonard fight is perhaps the most famous of all his fights, and it shows a plodding version of the once agile terror being made a fool of by the peoples' pretty boy (regardless of who won). I've known of a few people who have only seen the Hearns, Mugabi and Leonard fights and have turned round and said to me - 'yea, Hagler was great, but Leonard was better', or 'Hagler was a good brawler but could be outboxed' - as a fan it frustrates me because I know they haven't seen him anywhere near his best. By those fights he was far from the speedy, versatile destroyer of '79 to '82. At least with Ali-Holmes, nobody gives Holmes much credit for the win. Leonard is constantly praised for 'coming out of retirement and stepping up in weight to beat a monster' with no mention of Hagler's own disadvantages.

I dont agree Hagler's last few fights affected his legacy at all. His KO win over Hearns was one of the most thrilling fights ever, and his win over Mugabi wasnt far behind. Leonard didnt make a fool of Hagler, Leonard is an all time great in his own right that ran from Hagler and stole an iffy decision. It was the only way Leonard could fight against Hagler, otherwise he would have been carried out of the ring, whether Hagler was faded or not.

dr_devious wrote:I dont agree Hagler's last few fights affected his legacy at all. His KO win over Hearns was one of the most thrilling fights ever, and his win over Mugabi wasnt far behind. Leonard didnt make a fool of Hagler, Leonard is an all time great in his own right that ran from Hagler and stole an iffy decision. It was the only way Leonard could fight against Hagler, otherwise he would have been carried out of the ring, whether Hagler was faded or not.

I dont agree Hagler's last few fights affected his legacy at all.

I'm only talking about the Leonard fight - he was past his prime in the others but he still won.

Leonard didnt make a fool of Hagler

Hagler might very well have won in reality, but Leonard was still making him look terrible; outspeeding Hagler, making him miss, taunting him etc. I hate to watch it.

otherwise he would have been carried out of the ring, whether Hagler was faded or not.

Yes, you and I know that, but there are plenty of 'fans' out there who will say "Leonard whupped Hagler" with no regard for Hagler's own condition or how Leonard fought him.

My point is that I wish Hagler had never fought Leonard because I feel it hurt his legacy. Many use the Leonard fight as 'evidence' that some movers would beat Hagler, for instance, or how he could be confused by a clever fighter, or criticize Hagler's speed and footwork because of this fight. It's a shame because a peak Hagler was so much better.

There are so many. One guy coming to my mind -- on top of those already mentioned - is Roberto Duran.

Btw, the entire Mike Tyson story is pretty sad too.

The whole Quarry brothers saga late in their careers and post careers is heart breaking.
The family mantra was "Theres no quit in a Quarry".
Its a very admirable trait but nevertheless I personaly wish things didnt end the way that they did for those guys.

One that sticks in my mind is Riddick Bowe. He erroded his prime by fluctuations in weight (that CANNOT be healthy). Then gets beaten like a bell by Golota.

Saad Muhammed, Iran Barkley and Meldrick Taylor went on WAY past their primes - I saw a clip of a fat overweight Taylor on HBO legends: still trying to recapture his glory years, 10 years too late.

Terrible to see such a once great fighter who had the world at his feet, reduced to a parody of what he once was.

Theres been so many, persoanally I hated seeing Lloyd Honeyghan getting kncoked around by Vinny Pazienza and even Adrian Dodson in the latter stage of his career...

Seeing Tommy Hearns in his "comeback fight" last year, and hearing him trying to get SRL back in the ring again damn near brings me to tears. Also, if Arturo Gatti and Erik Morales fight world class opposition again, i'll have to add them to the list as well.

Sugar Ray Leonard
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson

Ali and Matthew Saad Muhammad were two that it was hard to watch in the end. Evander Holyfield is right up there as well and it seems that he is an accident waiting to happen. It was tough watching Chavez in the end also!

Another example is the great Bantam Jimmy Carruthers; his comeback was a bad memory for a good World Champion

..ezzard charles.....way way too long..way way past his prime...flat broke and felt he had no choice.....

The decline of Jimmy Young was very sad to watch. Young was one of the most skilled Heavyweights of the modern era. Beat monsters like Foreman and Lyle. Give Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton very, very close fights then by the end of his career was losing to club fighters like chuck Gardner.

The decline of Leon Spinks was just as sad to witness. Spinks was an awsome amateur, Olympic Champion, Heanyweight Champion of the World and ended his career getting beaten by club fighters, fighters making their professional debut and fighters who had not fought for about 17 years.

Both these fighters sad decline were in part their own doing due to their lifestyle and drink and drug problems. But it was still sad to watch these fine fighters fall apart like this.

Greg Page, because not only was his career ruined, but his life seems to have taken chronic bad turns as well.

I hear that Iran Barkley is in a bad state these days and its heartbreaking as Barkley was one of the most exciting and courageous fighters of his era imo...

Shawn O'Sullivan need to retire much sooner. He really got hurt in his last fights.