Via Ken Hissner: There are two ways that some boxers have left the sport while still being world champions. One is retirement, and the other is due to death while still in office.
Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. retired in August 2017 with a 50-0 record and won five world championships. Rumors still going on at 44 still suggest he might be back for a “one more” fight!
This writer remembers how the IBF and WBA won the Welterweight lightweight championship Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor retired for two years and five months with a 36-0 record at the age of 35 before returning. He lost the only match of his career to Bobby Joe Young and then went on to win his last three matches.
As mentioned before, I always wonder if Mayweather will be back for “one more payday!” After surpassing Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record for some reason, “Money” decided to end his career against an MMA/UFC champion who had never fought amateur or professional. Notorious” McGregor. It should have been treated as an exhibition he had an exhibit after that war. He was inducted into IBHOF.
Heavyweight Champion Rocky “Brockton Blockbuster” Marciano retired at 32 with a 49-0 record, as mentioned earlier with 43 stops. He returned to training when Swedish boxer Ingemar “Ingo” Johansson defeated American Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title. Marciano is hoping to bring the title back to the US. He discovered that during training he did not have the same skills as when he retired, so he decided not to rematch. He was inducted into IBHOF.
Another retired heavyweight champion with the title of Gene “The Fighting Marine” Tunney, 65-1-1, at the age of 31 retired. He has had a successful life in business and real estate that keeps him so busy he doesn’t even consider returning to the ring. He was inducted into the IBHOF in 1990.
On the other hand, the heavyweight champion James “The Boiler” J. Jeffries retired at the age of 28 with a 19-0-2 record only to return to the ring after nearly six years of tasting defeat at the hands of champion Jack “The Galveston Giant” Johnson. He was inducted into IBHOF.
This is a very small list of champions who were undefeated when they retired. Now, another way a boxer can leave boxing with the title is by death. Let’s take a look at three of them.
One of them is Stanley “Michigan Killer” Ketchel, 49-5-3, with 46 saves, who held the middleweight belt in 1909. After his last defense, he won 3-2-1 in non-title defenses, including an unsuccessful attempt to win the heavyweight belt. Less than a year after his last defense, he was shot dead at the age of 24. He was inducted into the IBHOF in 1990.
WBC World Featherweight Champion Salvador “Chava” Sanchez, 44-1-1, with 32 cuts, a bright future ahead. He made ten defenses in two and a half years. Only the decisive majority victory in the favor of Patrick Ford and the split decisive victory over Pat Crowdell was a near loss of the title.
In August 1982, Sanchez was killed in a car accident at the age of 23. He was scheduled to fight Juan Laporte the following month at Madison Square Garden. He was inducted into the IBHOF in 1991.
WBC World Lightweight and former WBA Super Featherweight Champion Edwin “El Inca Dinamita” Valero, 27-0 with 27 stops, had a perfect record. Hailing from Merida, Venezuela, at the age of 28, he was found hanged in his cell. He was accused of murdering his wife.
Now he will most likely never be able to fight again but his death made it final!
I’m sure there are others that I didn’t include, but all of those previously mentioned have gained notoriety against fans around the world.
