Is age only a number in boxing?

[riveraboxing]

Benard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver, Tony Ayala, Shane MosleyGeorge Foreman, Archie Moore, Nate Campbell, Evander Holeyfield, Ron Lyle, Dwight mohammed Qwai, Roy Jones, Larry Holmes, Tommy Morrison, Choi Tseveenpurev, Antonio Pitalua, Matt Skelton Audley Harrison. All these fighters i have named have had success from the age of 35+ some have had alot!! more success than others. But stiil proveing age is only a number

Kind of got to disagree with you... Hopkins has learned to adapt and doesn't rely on physical tools, Tarver has had success against other past their prime fighters (Johnson and Jones), Mosely has enough physical tools left to challenge even the elite (Cotto) but still past his prime, Larry Holmes had solid boxing skills and ring smarts to fall back on... IMO Morrison, Skelton and Harrison are bad examples

[cotto16]

It's not so much about age. It's about when you start PROFESSIONALLY boxing. THat's why Mexican fighters have such shorter careers. (Aside from the fact that they occupy the smaller weight divisions.)

Hopkins, for example started professionally boxing at the 22-24 range.

Tarver turned pro in his late 20's.

Archie Moore turned pro at around 20 (or 23 if you believe his mother). Relatively young, but not by todays standards.

While Mexican-born fighters start out at 15 or 16 sometimes and end up being finished around 32. Where a lot of boxers are just beginning the slide at that point.

Kind of got to disagree with you... Hopkins has learned to adapt and doesn't rely on physical tools, Tarver has had success against other past their prime fighters (Johnson and Jones), Mosely has enough physical tools left to challenge even the elite (Cotto) but still past his prime, Larry Holmes had solid boxing skills and ring smarts to fall back on... IMO Morrison, Skelton and Harrison are bad examples

But at the end of the day there still winning and haveing success

[riveraboxing]

Oh, I totally agree with you... Just wanted to point out how remarkable it is that these individuals are able to succeed past prime. Definitely wasn't being disrespectful

[DUnknown1]

"Is age only a number in boxing?"
It all depends on what boxer are we talking about.

A boxer who solely depend on physical talent will often see a great decline in their career as they get older.

A boxer who depends on a combination of skill and physical talent will last a great deal longer.

But a boxer who constantly adapts and learns from his physical weakness and is able to replace them with skill, that will truly make him withstand the tests of time.

[MANGLER]

Yep. They always say a fighter ages by the abuse he's taken, not his # of birthdays.

[MOREBASS]

Yes and no.


Yes, because everyone's body eventually deteriorates with age, some slower than others.

No, because as a fighter gains experience, he depends less on physical attributes and more on technique and strategy, which a lot of times is more valuable than some physical attributes.