I haven’t done one of these for awhile, but I don’t like to call out the same person repeatedly who doesn’t get the message. Therefore, you won’t be seeing Roy Jones or Antwun Echols on this list, even thought it’s obvious. Guys like that fight on for their own reasons. I call them out once, then leave it alone. I am adding three new entries who make this list due to recent performances, age, career momentum, etc.
Ivan Calderon – Can he still fight? Yes, but like Pernell Whittaker before him, very few undersized slicksters are going to make much noise past 35 years old. Even Trinidad couldn’t pound some sense into Whittaker, much like Rafael Marquez couldn’t pound sense into Mark ‘Too Sharp” Johnson. They’d never legitimately lost before… so why stop after one? Let’s hope Calderon doesn’t exercise a rematch clause agaisnt Giovanni Segura, and gets the message sooner. Willie Pep may have pulled off a similar miracle against a bigger stronger opponent in Sandy Saddler, but just opened the door to get beat up in 2 more fights. He dominated the lower weight classes for years, with every disadvantage except speed and pure talent. There is nothing left to do, except take too much punishment.
Audley Harrison – With Gold Medal busts Henry Tillman and Andrew Maynard, we knew pretty early on in their careers they were going nowhere fast. Multiple knockout losses to smaller fighters are a good indication. Audley kept teasing us. He’d look awful in a couple of outings, then he’d avenge a loss, or score a big KO, and some would believe again. Only one of his losses were by knockout, so it kept us thinking if he could just get motivated, he could be something. However, for a man who always enjoyed talking more than fighting, he couldn’t even beat one of his own. David Haye was the perfect foil for a motivated Harrison to have a back and forth, both men on the canvas, war. Haye was also a man he could score a highlight reel knockout over, before succumbing to the more talented Chagaev or Klitschko brothers. Instead he froze, and still got knocked out brutally. Now, he is being called out as an opponent. Don’t go there, Audley. Minimize the embarrassment, and walk away now.
Shane Mosley – Like Calderon, Mosley now falls into the category of “yes, he can still fight, but so what”. He has definitely slipped, and even though he deserved the decision against Sergio Mora, it was a close fight. Mora was the type of fighter Mosley used to dominate in-between big fights, as a tune-up. Now, he is struggling. He’s been a champion at 3 weight classes, is too small for Middleweight, and unless a dominant champion emerges at 140lbs, he has nothing left to conquer. Even if one does, the lessons of Chris Byrd, Roy Jones, and Sugar Ray Leonard should be well learned. Don’t drop in weight late in your career. It drains you of everything. A third fight with Oscar or Forrest is impossible now, and if he thought the loss to Mayweather was embarrassing, he does not want to get Pacquiao in the ring. He may even be stopped at this point. He’s made enough money, taken enough punches, and should stop now, so that we can finally look back fondly at his career.
Honorable mention: Allan Green. I’ll give it a 175lb fight or two before I add him… but I don’t see this going well for him.
Chris Strait
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