10 Boxers Who Should Retire Right Now
Boxing great and former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis tweeted Monday that "the ring is like a drug that never stops calling your name until it has taken everything it can from you."
Those words ring sadly true for far too many fighters who have either hung on too long or come back to boxing when it was clear to anyone looking that they no longer had what it takes.
Lewis was one of the smart ones, retiring after taking a tough fight on cuts from Vitali Klitschko in 2003 and resisting the many urgings from fans to give it one more go.
The following 10 men haven't heeded the former champ's words.
Some have hung on too long, and a couple of them have pulled the plug only to make the misguided decision to give it another run. All should retire, and they should do so immediately.
If you disagree with any of the fighters on this list or would like to add your own, you know what to do.
These are 10 boxers who should retire immediately.
Roy Jones Jr.
1 of 10
Record: 62-8, 45 KO
Last Fight: KO 6 Eric Watkins (8/16/15)
What He's Accomplished
Roy Jones Jr. is one of the greatest professional fighters of all time. His speed, timing and ring intelligence were absolutely unmatched during a run that saw him win world titles at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight while becoming the sport's undisputed top fighter.
Why He Should Retire
Jones' 2003 win over John Ruiz to capture the WBA Heavyweight Championship made him the first former middleweight champion to accomplish the feat in more than 100 years, but it also (in retrospect) signaled the end of his dominant run.
He suffered scary back-to-back knockout losses to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson the following year and still campaigns today at the age of 46, traveling the world and fighting nobodies in the hopes of securing a cruiserweight title shot.
Jones has won eight in a row dating back to 2011 (and has two more fights scheduled in the next month), but his elite speed and skill are sadly long gone. He's easy to hit now, and a match with a legitimate contender or challenger could turn into a disaster.
Antonio Tarver
2 of 10
Record: 31-6-1, 22 KO
Last Fight: D 12 Steve Cunningham (8/14/15)
What He's Accomplished
Antonio Tarver became the first man to legitimately defeat Jones Jr. and topple him off the mountain in the light heavyweight division with a stunning second-round knockout in 2004.
Why He Should Retire
Tarver now campaigns at heavyweight (where he sports a 3-0-1 record) and most recently fought to a lackluster draw against former cruiserweight titlist Cunningham in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card on Spike TV.
Tarver bizarrely claimed before the fight, per Jordan Moskowitz of BoxingScene.com, that he's not interested in a chance at Deontay Wilder's WBC Heavyweight Championship and that he's deserving of a crack at undisputed and long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Given that he looked terrible against Cunningham, largely throwing only one big shot at a time and looking gassed for long segments of the fight, it's probably best if the 46-year-old retires and doesn't get either.
Antonio DeMarco
3 of 10
Record: 31-5-1, 23 KO
Last Fight: L UD 10 Rances Barthelemy (6/21/15)
What He's Accomplished
Antonio DeMarco is a former lightweight world champion who is best known for his exciting, all-action style that produced many memorable wars throughout his career.
Why He Should Retire
Well, for one thing, he already did. DeMarco looked dreadful in losing every round (getting dropped by a light puncher) and a decision to Barthelemy in June. He's been involved in plenty of wars, has taken huge amounts of punishment and ultimately decided to retire shortly after the fight.
But DeMarco, per Dan Rafael of ESPN, only kept away from the game for about two months and will return in a shameless/shameful (take your pick) fight against Omar Figueroa on PBC in September.
DeMarco is extremely punchy and shopworn (just 3-3 in his last six with all the wins coming against lesser opposition), and Figueroa, while not much of a technical fighter, has the pop and aggression to inflict some unnecessary damage.
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James Toney
4 of 10
Record: 76-10-3, 46 KO
Last Fight: L UD 10 Charles Ellis (8/8/15)
What He's Accomplished
James Toney is a former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight world champion (he also won a heavyweight title, but the result was changed to a no-contest when he failed a drug test) who is known for his iron chin and defensive brilliance. In a career of 91 fights, he's never been knocked out.
Why He Needs to Retire
Toney stayed away from the ring for nearly two years after his loss to Jason Gavern in Matchroom Sport's Prizefighter Heavyweight Tournament in November 2013 before returning to face a seemingly safe foe in Ellis at a hotel in Missouri.
Yeah, that's the state of it.
Toney lost by wide scorecards (99-91, 98-92 and 97-93), conclusively showing that the 46-year-old, who can still take a punch, no longer has any business in the ring.
Michael Katsidis
5 of 10
Record: 31-7, 24 KO
Last Fight: UD 6 Rodynie Rafol (3/20/15)
What He's Accomplished
Michael Katsidis never won a full world championship, but he did hold an interim belt on two occasions. The Aussie is one of the most exciting warriors of his generation, known for his defense-averse style that has produced many memorable wars that saw him swollen, bloodied and fighting on against seemingly impossible odds.
Why He Should Retire
Katsidis retired in 2013 on the advice of his doctors after receiving negative results from an MRI and CAT scan that revealed scarring on his brain. That's scary and terrible news for any fighter, particularly one who got hit as much in the ring as Katsidis did.
He decided to return for one last go in his hometown in 2014 and has won three of four since, with the lone loss coming by a devastating second-round knockout against Tommy Coyle at Hull Arena last October.
That was about the last thing he needed, and he should really get out of the game, especially given his history of brain injuries, before something tragic happens.
David Price
6 of 10
Record: 19-3, 16 KO
Last Fight: L KO 2 Erkan Teper (7/17/15)
What He's Accomplished
David Price was a decorated amateur who won a super heavyweight bronze medal for the United Kingdom at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He was viewed by some as a possible future heavyweight world champion.
Why He Should Retire
Price is a ruined fighter after suffering three crushing knockout losses in his last seven fights. Some of that is physical (he can't take much of a punch), but a good deal of it is mental and not entirely his fault.
Tony Thompson did the deed twice, rising from his own knockdown in the rematch to stop Price three rounds later, but the American subsequently tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended in Britain. The loss prompted Price to split with his trainers and promoters and seek help from a sports psychologist.
Teper bullied him around the ring and knocked him out stiff with a left hand in Price's last fight. There's no need to press on after that result.
Alfredo Angulo
7 of 10
Record: 23-5, 19 KO
Last Fight: KO 5 Delray Raines (6/6/15)
What He's Accomplished
Alfredo "Perro" Angulo represented his native Mexico at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens and captured an interim world championship at junior middleweight. His 2011 knockout loss to James Kirkland ranks among the best all-action and brutal wars in recent memory.
Why He Should Retire
Perro has always been a one-trick pony. His only real path to victory (which he was pretty good at) was to outslug and out-tough his opponents by taking whatever punishment was necessary in order to land his harder, thudding shots.
That type of thing can only work well for so long before your body begins to break down, and if his recent fights (where he's just 3-4 over the last seven) are any indication, Angulo has firmly arrived at that point.
Angulo lost three in a row (knocking down Erislandy Lara before a gruesome eye injury forced him from the fight, getting shellacked by Canelo Alvarez and losing wide to James De La Rosa) before knocking out Raines, a cannon-fodder opponent, in June. This dog is all used up.
Robert Guerrero
8 of 10
Record: 33-3-1, 18 KO
Last Fight: SD 10 Aaron Martinez (6/6/15)
What He's Accomplished
Robert Guerrero won world titles at featherweight and super featherweight along with interim titles at lightweight and welterweight. He dropped a wide decision against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 2013 challenge for the full WBC Welterweight Championship, the biggest fight of his pro career.
Why He Should Retire
Guerrero took significant time off after losing to Mayweather and returned with a blood-and-guts win over Yoshihiro Kamegai last summer in a fight that took its toll on both men. His next fight was a brutal beatdown (which he survived with guts and guile) loss to Keith Thurman in the main event of PBC's inaugural card on NBC.
Most fighters would've taken some time off after two consecutive rough fights, but Guerrero got right back in the ring, suffering a knockdown and taking a controversial split decision from the unheralded Martinez in June. He clearly wasn't recovered, or perhaps he's just done.
Guerrero still has a name and a strong fighting spirit, so it's unlikely he calls it quits anytime soon, but all that seems left for him by this point is to be fed to a young, rising 147-pound fighter so he can make his bones.
John Molina Jr.
9 of 10
Record: 27-6, 22 KO
Last Fight: L UD 12 Adrien Broner (3/7/15)
What He's Accomplished
John Molina Jr. held a couple of minor titles, but his career isn't about those types of accolades. His bloody, brutal war with Lucas Matthysse late in 2014 was equal parts fun and disturbing to watch, and it likely ruined him. Molina's come-from-behind knockout of current titlist Mickey Bey (after losing the previous nine rounds of a 10-round fight) was an impressive feat.
Why He Should Retire
For one thing, Molina just received a seven-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a failed drug test after his thrashing by Broner. That loss was his third in a row, with the only competitive showing the career-ruining bloodbath against Matthysse, and the future is bleak.
Molina was always a tough but limited fighter, but his nonperformance against Broner (a fight he lost without putting forth much resistance) seemed to indicate the end is nigh.
Razor Ruddock
10 of 10
Record: 40-5-1, 30 KO
Last Fight: MD 6 Eric Barrak (5/22/15)
What He's Accomplished
Donovan "Razor" Ruddock was a punishing power puncher in the '80s and early '90s heavyweight scene. He holds wins over notables Mike Weaver, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, the late Michael Dokes and Greg Page. His first fight with Mike Tyson was a barnburner that many felt was stopped prematurely.
Why He Should Retire
Why the heck shouldn't he retire?
Ruddock recently returned after nearly 14 years away from the ring, and the 51-year-old former contender has looked dreadful in somehow winning two fights. He was easily outboxed by 44-year-old Raymond Olubowale for four rounds (of a scheduled six) and was knocked down before flooring his man with an uppercut in the fifth and getting a generous (at best) stoppage win from the referee.
Ruddock got a narrow majority-decision win over Barrak in a close fight that would never appear in any documentaries about pugilistic excellence.
Kevin McRae is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter @McRaeWrites.
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