Message to Floyd Mayweather JR: STAY AWAY from Boxing
By Gina L. Caliboso
Recently, one of my favorite Lakers (former) – Shaquille O’Neal, announced his retirement from basketball. And I got to thinking about how much O’Neal means to me. As a Lakers fan, of course, I remember those championship years. And, just to remain consistent, RSR fans, I’m still not watching the NBA finals between Dallas and Miami. Nonetheless, O’Neal, after he left the Lakers, remained in basketball. Until finally, his body just couldn’t take it anymore. A couple of Saturdays ago, we all saw how Bernard “Executioner” Hopkins beat a younger Jean Pascal and schooled him on the fine, but not always pretty, art and science of boxing.
So, as I mentioned before, what does retirement mean for a boxer? Hopkins stated he wishes to continue boxing until he is 50. For any athlete, retirement, or the consideration to retire, is always a tough one. There is always something missing from the sport the athlete helped evolve or change into a better one once that particularly excellent athlete decides to retire. As my colleague Kevin Nelson addressed the obvious concerns in boxing should, gulp, Pacquiao retire, I decided to take a look at the boxers that should definitely consider retiring and working as ambassadors for the sport. Hopkins is at the forefront for retirement, but I’ll look at that in 4 years. I’ll start with the welterweights.
For starters, just to put himself and sports fans out of misery, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, JR., needs to retire or simply disappear. But I don’t think his ego or 50 Cent will allow that to happen just yet. Mayweather, JR., has the bout at his beckoning with the Pacquiao camp supposedly maybe willing to consider putting it to contract. In his last two bouts, Mayweather, JR., has handily defeated Mosley and Marquez. And, surprise, surprise, if memory serves, Pacquiao has beaten both Mosley and Marquez. I’ll even mention Margarito.
As Marquez is now set to fight Pacquiao in the third installment of their fight history, it should be a good one. Mayweather, JR, the call has been made, the twitter, the Facebook, and the World Wide Web, all just want to know. Will you retire or fight Pacquiao? Can you answer the call please?
In the same division, there is Sugar Shane Mosley. We all saw the bout against Pacquiao. All the Showtime commentators stated that against Pacquiao, Mosley showed all the signs of an aging fighter. Mosley still remains one of my favorite fighters, but should he decide to remain in boxing, he might have to retool everything about his current boxing style and adapt. He is still strong and he can take a punch, but unless he becomes more aggressive and works inside, I’d recommend he retire. But he has to mentally decide to do so. His mind is definitely willing to continue fighting, but he has to do so with his body as well.
Taking a leap back into the lower divisions, I think that Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan might consider retirement. I say consider. In his last bout in the Bantamweight tournament, he defeated Yonnhy Perez with a 5th round technical decision. In his prior bout against Abner Mares, Darchinyan lost in a 12 round split decision.
Darchinyan is currently ranked #3 in the bantamweight division. But there is only one fighter that he needs to fight against – Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire. Donaire and Darchinyan went up against each other back in 2007 as flyweights with Donaire earning the 5th round TD. Donaire is the best fighter in the bantamweight division. Donaire and Darchinyan definitely need to face each other yet again.
As the Super 6 Middleweight tourney is now coming to a sort of quick close, I’m sure that King Arthur Abraham is perhaps considering the next stage of his career. Although he looked excellent in the opening fight of the tournament where he KO’d Taylor, Abraham’s weaknesses as a boxer have really shown itself. Yes, I’ll go over it again, his DQ over Dirrell, but most recently, in his loss against Ward, Abraham did not bring his best to the ring, but more importantly, Ward simply beat him with combinations and tactics. Ward defeated Abraham in an intelligently fought bout. Abraham may find it difficult to get a fight, but before he takes his leave of the ring, he should really go up against Dirrell.
It broke my heart to hear the most recent result for Roy Jones, JR. Jones’ last three bouts have not ended well and he is far from the Jones of old. In his most recent bout against Denis Lebedev, Jones lost in a 10th round KO. Prior to this bout in 2010, he lost against Hopkins in a 12 round unanimous decision. In his second bout in 2009, he fought and lost, rather badly, against Danny Green in the first round.
Retirement should be on the boxer’s own terms. My list is but a suggestion that each of the fighters I mentioned should consider the possibility. But obviously, there are some loose ends, some what ifs, if whether or not each of the boxers has anything more to prove. Or more importantly, if whether the boxer wants to end his career on a positive memory, rather than be remembered of how the boxer left his career. But eventually, all fighters have to give in to the final bell. For any fighter, hanging up the gloves is a difficult choice, but the choice is usually a good one. And for me, as a boxing fan and writer, the memory of a fighter is always a good one.