It's a well documented realism that fighters stay in love with boxing long after she has divorced them and put their belongings on the curb.
Accepting the fact that they no longer have anything to offer a sport that has loved them unconditionally is a hard pill to swallow.
Tradition shows us that our boxing heroes will stay in the sport much too long, like a jilted lover—hopelessly searching for some reconciliatory winning streak that just might put them back in the good graces of their beloved.
Rocky Marciano, Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are the exception to this rule.
Considerable wealth, good health, and common sense awarded them the strength to say goodbye.
So why do we ridicule these men for calling it quits while their brain matter and thick wallets are still very much intact?
In most cases it's reminiscent of the classic western movie where the guy who has won all the the money at the poker table suddenly decides he has an important engagement and gets up to leave, taking the losers money with him.
Lately it's us—the fans—who have pulled out our loaded Colt .45s and clicked the hammer back in anger.
Marciano, Lewis, Mayweather, and most recently Calzaghe were told they had better sit back down and finish the game or else face the consequences of being judged in the court of public opinion for the rest of their days.
Marciano who retired after an incredible career record of 49-0 was ridiculed for fighting former champions such as Archie Moore and Joe Louis when they were visibly past their primes.
He was also raked over the coals for aborting his comeback in 1959 when Ingemar Johannson won the heavyweight championship from Floyd Patterson.
Lewis and Calzaghe were criticized for not finishing their business.
Lewis was told he needed a rematch with Vitali Klitschko; Calzaghe was ridiculed by me and others for not fighting Carl Froch.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the "Grand Pubah" of hated fighters.
The reason for this has many possibilities.
Maybe it's because he picked his battles well; big enough to matter, small enough to win.
It could be that Boxing's welterweight division was then and still is a hot bed of pugilistic talent and boxing fans wanted "Little Floyd" to stick around and clean-up the worlds greatest fighters.
The most likely scenario is the fact that Mayweather has an enormous ego and blatant arrogance; which caused many a hard core fight fan to want to see him stick around and get a much needed beat-down from Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito.
However, like the boy who cried wolf, many fans failed to believe him when he called it quits on June 7th 2008 with a record of 39-0 25 kos.
Since the success of Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao, it's once again a much debated issue.
If, when, or where he will make his anticipated return to the ring is still a well guarded secret.
Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.- Jonathan Kozol
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