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By Cliff Rold - Stories of old, in fistic terms anyways, fighters winning big fights against younger men have always been a reliable source of feel good vibes. In the cases of men like Archie Moore coming back to defeat Yvonne Durelle, or Larry Holmes undressing an undefeated Ray Mercer, age in triumph provided special validations of even more special talents.
In homage to “The Incredibles,” and by proxy Ayn Rand, too much special isn’t special at all after a while.
In a most unscientific of analyses, this decade feels like a little too much of what should be a good thing. The order of things in athletics has typically been replacement, new blood flowing into the veins of the game for thriving futures. Just in the last year, we’ve instead seen results like Vitali Klitschko over Sam Peter, Bernard Hopkins over Kelly Pavlik, and Juan Manuel Marquez over Juan Diaz.
These weren’t fights where the age difference was a year or two; the victors stood tall with solid decades between them and their foes. There’s nothing wrong with losing to the men noted; two of them are shoo-in first ballot Hall of Famers. However, when age isn’t giving way… [details]
In homage to “The Incredibles,” and by proxy Ayn Rand, too much special isn’t special at all after a while.
In a most unscientific of analyses, this decade feels like a little too much of what should be a good thing. The order of things in athletics has typically been replacement, new blood flowing into the veins of the game for thriving futures. Just in the last year, we’ve instead seen results like Vitali Klitschko over Sam Peter, Bernard Hopkins over Kelly Pavlik, and Juan Manuel Marquez over Juan Diaz.
These weren’t fights where the age difference was a year or two; the victors stood tall with solid decades between them and their foes. There’s nothing wrong with losing to the men noted; two of them are shoo-in first ballot Hall of Famers. However, when age isn’t giving way… [details]
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