by Sam Gregory: One way of looking to the future of boxing is to look to see who is up to be inducted into the boxing Hall-of-Fame. Once a fighter is retired for five years he’s eligible to be inducted into the IBHOF. I attended the 2007 induction ceremonies at the IBHOF. Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker and Ricardo Lopez were among the inductee’s.

I remember very well when Ricardo Lopez retired from boxing on Thanksgiving Day of 2002; I wrote his retirement bio for the website I happened to be writing for at the time. Looking back that helps put things in perspective because five years isn’t that long. I also wrote a retirement article for Lennox Lewis when he announced his retirement in February of 2004, that article was published in the April 2004 issue of Boxing Digest and in that piece I wrote that Lennox Lewis is sure to be inducted into the IBHOF. The five years went pretty fast because it was just this year that Lewis was enshrined into pugilistic immortality.

Thinking about these guys prompted me to look forward and see who we have to look forward to in the next couple of years.

The inductions for 2010 were already announced, those were the guys that retired no later than 2005. So who do we have to look forward to that retired in 06’ or even 07’? Some of the great fighters that were leading their division in 03’, 04’, 05’ and surly 06’ must be retiring soon right?

Guys like Marco Antonio Barrera and Eric Morales who were at the top of the super bantamweight and featherweight divisions in 03’ and 04’ must have retired by now right?

Eric Morales fought as recently as the summer of 2007 and “The Baby Faced Assassin”, one of my favorite featherweights of recent times? Barrera fought this year!

Lennox Lewis is a shining example of how I think it should be; he retired at the top of his game. And as I wrote in the final article; he “left the sport of boxing a true champion.” In Lennox’ own words he “wanted to go out a champion, physically and mentally intact, without the need for money or redemption of any loss.”

What is it that guys like Roy Jones Jr, Bernard Hopkins and Evander Holyfield have to prove by fighting way past their prime? And unlike Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones Jr, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins aren’t going to be champions of anything when they finally decide to retire. Hopkins came close. When he lost the fights to Jermain Taylor and moved up to the light heavyweight division winning the title from Antonio Tarver, why not go out on top? What was the point of fighting Winky Wright; or Joe Calzaghe and Kelly Pavlik with no titles on the line?

And what in the world is Roy Jones Jr trying to prove by not retiring while he’s ahead, behind, whatever he is, just retire for cryin’ out loud! And speaking of great fighters who should have hung up their gloves in their prime, Evander Holyfield is scheduled to fight Francois Botha on January 16th. The only place to license the fight was in a place called Kampala, Uganda; what’s the point?

Don’t get me wrong; I have no problem with a professional prize fighter or anyone for that matter using their trade and God given abilities to make a living…no matter how old they are. The last thing I want to see is the government telling anyone what they can and can’t legally do to earn a living. I just hate to see a great athlete wear him or herself out in a sport that is brutal on an ageing athlete, physically and mentally.

Evander Holyfield could have graciously bowed out after losing the heavyweight title to Lennox Lewis in 1999. Holyfield had a great cruiserweight and heavyweight career having fought and defeated the likes of Dwight Muhammad Qawi, (one of the best cruiserweight fights ever!) Carlos De Leon, James Tillis, Michael Dokes, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Bert Cooper and Larry Holmes. Holyfield’s three fights with Riddick Bowe were three of the greatest fights in heavyweight history! Every fight after the Lennox Lewis fights was meaningless and did little but stir up allegations of steroid use.

Roy Jones Jr is on the fast track to nowhere and Bernard Hopkins reneged on a promise he made to his mother to retire when he turned 40; in two weeks that will be five years ago.

I know historically boxers loved to go on fighting until they’re no more than faded memories of what they once were. Great men like Joe Louis fought well beyond the time they should have retired and to see them in their last couple fights only served as a reminder of how cruel boxing can be physically and mentally to a once strong healthy young man.

When a great fighter like Joe Calzaghe is smart enough to retire when he’s on top of his game there are always going to be critics who say he could have fought one more contender or he never would have beat so-and-so which is why he quite when he did.

Great fighters like Lewis and Calzaghe left us with the memories of great fighter’s who reached the peak of their career and retired while still at the top of the sport. Once great fighters like Hopkins, Holyfield and Roy Jones Jr end up blemishing their once great records with loses to fighters who never would have stood a chance against these guys in their prime.

The worst part of this situation is that many of these washed up fighter fights will happen on Pay Per View. There will always be somebody willing to pay for these fiasco’s which in turn encourages these fighters to keep going. It keeps the prices high in an already over priced market and just doesn’t do any good for the sport of boxing.