Throw in the Towel: 10 Boxers Who Should Seriously Consider Retirement

When does a boxer retire? Does he do it when he feels like he's financially secure? When he feels like he's gotten all the fight out of his system? When he's accomplished everything he wanted or realized that he just doesn't have what it takes to keep fighting anymore? 

Sometimes a boxer just needs to know when to throw in the towel and call it quits on his career. Boxing is a brutal sport and the longer boxers stay in it, the more punishment they'll receive on their end.

When a boxer stays too long in the sport, they sustain more damage than they've ever received in their whole career. Sadly, sometimes once great boxers become names for younger boxer's careers because they've stayed in the ring too long.

Here is a list of boxers who I feel should either retire now or some time in the near future. Their time in this sport has either come, is here or is coming up soon.

Roy Jones Jr. (54-8, 40 KO)

Seriously, this guy's been hurt way to many times in the past few years.

Now, you're probably thinking that Jones retired already after his devastating knockout by the hands of Denis Lebedev (skip to 2:40). Jones actually stated during the Froch and Johnson fight that he isn't retiring just yet.

Jones really needs to thinking about retiring—he has lost three of his last three fights. He lost two in brutal knockouts by Lebedev and Danny Green and one incredibly boring, uneventful and foul-filled match against fellow old man Bernard Hopkins.

Jones needs to realize that he's way past his prime before he gets seriously hurt even more. 

Right now he's acting like a punching bag for his opponents and he's absorbing more punishment than he did when he was in his prime. He's being used as a name right now to add on to his opponents' resumes.

He has already left his mark in boxing by being the first person to win both a middleweight belt and a heavyweight belt in over 100 years. Jones also held an impressive seven belts at once in the light heavyweight division

Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KO)

I really think Evander Holyfield should retire from boxing right now.

Holyfield had a senior citizen match earlier this year against Brian Nielsen.

Holyfield won't stop until he's a havyweight champion of the world again and we all know where that road leads. Any heavyweight boxer who wants a belt has to go through one of the Klitschko brothers and I think he could get seriously hurt in the process.

Holyfield actually came close to completing his goal when he took on WBA champ Valuev but came short. Since then Holyfield has taken on opponents who are as old as he is but whose skills and abilities were far below his own.

Holyfield has accomplished more than most boxers could ever hope for.

He is the former undisputed champion in the cruiserweight and heavyweight division. Holyfield is also probably the greatest cruiserweight in the history of boxing with his constant domination of the division throughout his career.

I think he needs to retire before he gets his wish, is granted a title shot and gets hurt.

Whatever happens though we should remember him for what he has done throughout his career—instead of his last couple of fights.

Antonio Tarver (28-6, 19 KO)

I don't think that the Magic Man has it anymore.

If you don't know who Tarver is, he played Mason "The Line" Dixon in the final Rocky movie. 

Tarver was the first man to successively defeat Roy Jones Jr. (I'm not counting Jones' DQ). Doing so, he won the WBC, WBA, IBO, WBF, IBA, NBA and The Ring light heavyweight Titles.

He's going to be facing off against Danny Green later this year. Before then he fought twice against Chad Dawson and once against Nagy Aguilera. Tarver lost to Dawson twice and was unable to land anything effective against the young fighter. Tarver beat Aguilera, but he was a less-than-stellar fighter who was making his heavyweight debut.

His losses against Dawson left Tarver in an uphill battle to try to resurrect his boxing career.

Tarver just doesn't have as much time as other fighters would to revive his career at 42 and his match against Green should help establish that. 

Brian Nielsen (64-3, 43 KO)

Some of you might not know who Nielsen is, but he's one of Denmark's most famous boxers who holds a notable victory over Larry Holmes.

Nielsen is a notorious cherry picker and probably the biggest of all time. He has fought most of his fights against opponents who are either already on the decline of their careers or in their late 30s or 40s.

He also fought all but four of his fights in Denmark which gave him a constant home court advantage.

Nielsen actually retired in 2002, but came out of retirement in 2011 to add one more name to his resume of old boxers—Evander Holyfield. It's funny how he came out of retirement at the age of 45 when most fighters would go into retirement years before that age.

This turned out to be a huge mistake on Nielsen's part because he was decimated in their match. Nielsen came into the fight flabby and out of shape against a fit and cut Holyfield.

He hasn't announced his retirement yet, but I hope he does soon because he really shouldn't be in the ring anymore. If he is he'll either end up fighting D-level boxers or B-level boxers past their prime. 

Marco Antonio Barerra (67-7, 44 KO)

This actually came as a surprise to me because I honestly had no idea that Barerra was still an active fighter.

Turns out that he has played around with retirement and took various breaks during his career, but still remains active now.

Barerra is 37 years old and actually had a fight earlier this year against Jose Arias, who's actually six years older. He decimated his opponent, but his opponent was old and his skill level was far below that of Barerra's previous opponents.

At this point in Barerra's career, I feel like his best years are already behind him. He can probably beat out lesser opponents, but he'd have a harder time challenging and beating some of the top-tier opponents today.

He hasn't stepped into the ring against a top-tier opponent since fighting Khan back in 2009. 

His body has endured so many wars and beatings in his career spanning 75 fights. Most people likely remember the matches he had against Morales three times, Pacquiao twice and being the only man to dethrone Prince Naseem.

James Toney (73-6-3, 44 KO)

I'm almost afraid to write about James Toney and say why I think he should retire. He doesn't really like it when people talk badly about him and he actually reads what people say about him on Bleacher Report.

I'll just go on and say why I think he needs to retire though and hope he never comes to my doorstep asking to fight me.

Toney is 42 years old and has gained almost 100 pounds since he won the IBF middleweight title. In his last fight against Damon Reed, Toney tipped the scales at 257 which is the heaviest he has ever entered the ring in his career.

He has also received a lot of punishment. Toney was getting hit with bigger and more frequent shots than he has in his career against bigger heavy weights.

During an Outside the Lines show, they interviewed Toney. Turns out he was diagnosed with damage to his pituitary gland. This was likely caused by the numerous blows he received to the head. The damage seems to be one of the reasons why he jumped up so high in weight.

His speech has also been a cause of concern. Notice the difference between the way he talked in 1994 and how he talks now.

Despite all of this, Toney feels that he still has what it takes to fight. Even if he's still able to box, I feel as if he should retire from the sport before he's seriously hurt and his life is threatened even more than it is now. 

Sugar Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO)

What can I say about Mosley? His best years are way behind him.

Now some of you might argue that he could keep boxing if he wanted to and his last couple of fights have been dismal because he lost to the best. Losses against the top two pound-for-pound boxers around and a draw against a middleweight isn't that bad.

Let me just say this: Mosley isn't the same fighter that he use to be.

His performances in his last three fights were dismal. People complained that he's done nothing but survive in his last three fights just so he could get a paycheck. 

I think that Mosley still has the same set of skills that he had when he was younger but he just can't pull the trigger. When I was watching his fight against Pacquiao, there were several instances where Pacquiao was open but he was just unable to pull the trigger on him.

Even in his Floyd fight, Mosley was criticized for not having the killer instinct to take Floyd out after hurting him in the second round.

While I think Mosley should retire, he probably won't.  

Hector Camacho Sr. (79-6-3, 38 KO)

I'm actually pretty uncertain about Camacho Sr. here. I'm not exactly sure if he has officially retired from the sport, but he did have a fight last year against Saul Duran (36-16-2).

The last time I've seen or heard of him was that he was on ¡Mira Quien Baila! in 2010, which is America's equivalent to Dancing with the Stars.

He's 49, turning 50 years old. If he does decide to fight this year, he'll be one of the oldest boxers to do so and would have fought in four different decades.

Camacho Sr. has also faced a lot of problems outside the ring which have hampered his boxing career. For instance, he got into trouble for domestic abuse and burglary. 

He has an impressive career spanning from the super featherweight division and going as high as the super middleweight division. He has also never been knocked out and holds wins over two of the best pound-for-pound boxers in history, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Jose Luis Castillo (62-11-1, 53 KO)

Jose Luis Castillo—the man that many people believe beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their first fight against each other.

Castillo actually retired after his loss to Alfonso Gomez (pictured above) back in 2010. 

He said that after his performance that night against Gomez, he realized that he just didn't have it anymore. Castillo simply couldn't do anything against the younger fighter who handed him a beating until he retired in the sixth round.

Castillo returned three months later though and took Robert Valenzuela at a career high 158 pounds and won. Supposedly it was because Castillo needed more money and he was going to get it by doing what he does best—fighting. 

Castillo's last fight was against Jorge Paez Jr. whose father interestingly enough fought Castillo and lost back in 1999. Castillo looked his age against the young fighter who kept his distance and dominated his opponent. Castillo looked slower and unable to pull the trigger against the young fighter.

I know that Castillo is fighting for money, and there's nothing wrong with that. A man has got to make a living doing what he does best, right?

I just think he'll be used as a springboard for young fighters' careers and take a beating in the process. 

Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO)

Bernard Hopkins—the man that time has forgotten in the ring.

Hopkins is actually doing fantastic right now by recently becoming the oldest boxer to ever win a world title. At the age of 46, he defeated Jean Pascal. He broke George Foreman's record by schooling his young opponent and getting into his head over 12 rounds.

Now, I think that Hopkins should retire after his Chad Dawson fight because every fighter wants to retire while he's on top. He doesn't have to keep fighting for money either because he's fairly set as well as being able to get any other job in the boxing business without trouble.

I just hope that it doesn't take a brutal loss or career-ending injury for Hopkins to retire.

I know he's incredibly fit for his age, but his age will catch up to him eventually and he should retire before that time comes.