Speedsters aging well?

[wmute]

Regardless of Floyd Mayweather's Jr. place in boxing history, I think it is pretty safe to say that among slick boxers heavily relying on their reflexes, Floyd is quite unique in his aging more gracefully than others. What are other examples?

We all know from recent times that RJ, Pea, SRL were all shot by 35. Lifestyle and the type of skillset undoubtedly playing a role.

Who could we consider? Pep fought in his 40s, but his last title fight came before he was 30 I believe. Locche made it to 33, which is not bad in the 70s with that style.

i should say that Napoles' unearthly skills and more orthodox style saw him through for a little while longer, but I hesitate in classifying him as a speedster.

of course SRR did very good in his second run at 160, but he was heavily slipping compared to his prime IMO

who else?

[Sugarj]

Regardless of Floyd Mayweather's Jr. place in boxing history, I think it is pretty safe to say that among slick boxers heavily relying on their reflexes, Floyd is quite unique in his aging more gracefully than others. What are other examples?

We all know from recent times that RJ, Pea, SRL were all shot by 35. Lifestyle and the type of skillset undoubtedly playing a role.

Who could we consider? Pep fought in his 40s, but his last title fight came before he was 30 I believe. Locche made it to 33, which is not bad in the 70s with that style.

i should say that Napoles' unearthly skills and more orthodox style saw him through for a little while longer, but I hesitate in classifying him as a speedster.

of course SRR did very good in his second run at 160, but he was heavily slipping compared to his prime IMO

who else?

You'd be hard pushed to find a faster 40 year old than Roy Jones when he beat Jeff Lacy, his hand speed that night was electric. That was Jones's last great performance.

Hopkins looked fast against Pavlik.

Holmes looked pretty fast against Mercer.....at least in the hand speed department.

Floyd Patterson never lost his handspeed into his late 30s.

[violaandme]

Many of the greats loose it by that age and it has as much to do with what they did wrong as what floyd does right

for starters ******* and alcohol slow many greats as well as bloating up between fights and some nolonger train as hard

Floyd never bloats up he is always in the gym and he treats his body very good and trains hard all the time regardless of weather or not he has a fight on the board I am interested to see how long his body keeps up there are not many examples of fighters treating there bodies as well as he does they all seem to fall into the lifestyle eventually

[bklynboy]

Regardless of Floyd Mayweather's Jr. place in boxing history, I think it is pretty safe to say that among slick boxers heavily relying on their reflexes, Floyd is quite unique in his aging more gracefully than others. What are other examples?

We all know from recent times that RJ, Pea, SRL were all shot by 35. Lifestyle and the type of skillset undoubtedly playing a role.

Who could we consider? Pep fought in his 40s, but his last title fight came before he was 30 I believe. Locche made it to 33, which is not bad in the 70s with that style.

i should say that Napoles' unearthly skills and more orthodox style saw him through for a little while longer, but I hesitate in classifying him as a speedster.

of course SRR did very good in his second run at 160, but he was heavily slipping compared to his prime IMO

who else?

Ali, I suppose, could be included as well. He wasn't as fast but he adapted. Of course he should have retired after the 3rd Frazier fight - but that's another story. RJJ should also have retired.

[BKM-2010]

I was thinking of the same thing watching Floyd last Saterday. It's amazing how fast he still is and it's not even the handspeed that impresses me, it's the reflexes. The way he dodged backwards and did feints was so explosive and fast still. Along with the healthy lifestyle and constant training I think the fact that he has not taken any punishment in his fights helps a lot too. The man seems to have zero brain damage too.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

floyd and hopkins have aged better than say roy or others because:

1. they have good defense and dont take alot of punishment

2. they stay in the gym year round and arent like duran, bowe, hatton, etc guys that would blow up in weight between fights

3. they have great fundamentals and technique.... Floyd is clearly not the same floyd that fought corrales or gatti,, he doesnt have huge springs in his legs before, and combinations are not as often,,, but his skills, and fundamentals still allow him to be the best in the world

[Cardinal Buck]

I like to go on a tangent here and point out some extra quick aging speedsters: Norris, David Reid, Tyrell Biggs, Benitez, and Meldrick Taylor.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I like to go on a tangent here and point out some extra quick aging speedsters: Norris, David Reid, Tyrell Biggs, Benitez, and Meldrick Taylor.

yes,, meldrick taylor was the first one that came to mind when i read this thread

[Scott9945]

A young Hector Camacho was certainly a speedster and he was winning fights regularly for a long time.

[Counter Troll]

Mosley managed to remain relevant alot longer than your average "speedster". He was still regarded as elite well into his late 30's.

But then again, just about anybody could look fast against Margarito & Mayorga.