Is Wladimir Klitschko past his prime at age 35?

[sunny31]

Physically yes

Technically no

I think someone has already eluded to this, that in general wlad isn't over reliant on his hand speed, but he has definitely slowed down. His feet though are still good, and his style is reliant on controlling distances and his jab, as long as he is allowed to impose those qualities he will be very difficult to beat. It is kind of like kostya tszyu at age 35 in many ways he did a lot of things better than when he was 25, this was highlighted by his second performance against sharmba mitchell when he was much more impressive, but for ricky hatton he needed to be a 25 year old kostya.

The question is does this same principal apply to Wlad? It could but not sure, I think any form of Haye gives Wlad big problems, I guess we will find out July 2.

[THE REED]

Considering he has only been the lineal champion in the heavyweight division for a year now, its hard to see how he can possibly be 'past his best'.

He is the best heavyweight in the world at the minute and a win over Haye will solidify him as the best heavyweight since Lewis.

That really doesn't have anything to do with being prime or not.

Bernard JUST WON the WBC LHW title... does that somehow mean he's prime?

Of course not, they aren't related.

[Nuurzhaelan]

It has to to with the comment on the main page of the boxing section of the ESPN site.

https://www.espn.com/boxing

But you know what makes me nervous Reed?

Wladimir is EXACTLY the same age - 35 years plus three months - as Roy Jones was in 2004 when he was stopped in round two by Antonio Tarver.

Yeah, and there were a lot of people who thought hatton would undo Pacquiao or that Maidana would spark Khan. Wladimir may not have a strong chin, but I also don't think it's quite as fragile as pundits do. I recall him taking one or two flush shots from Peter in their first fight without going down. He goes down fairly easily, but he also gets back up. Furthermore, haye seems to have the same style as Brewster. Wladimir was on his way to winning against Brewster until he exhausted himself. The second fight was pwnage. I think Wladimir will be fine.

[Who are you?]

No, I dont think Wladimir is past his prime.

35 is not that bad, yes for some fighters 35 is "old", but for other fighters (Calzaghe, Hopkins to name 2 recent examples), they can have the biggest wins of their careers after the age of 35.

Also, Wlad looked great in his last fight (KO 10 Sam Peter). There was no indication in that fight that Wlad's skills had diminished.

To be honest, I think Wlad is better now than he's ever been, particularly improvements he's shown post his 2003-2004 struggles. I actually think Wladimir has gotten better in the past 2 or 3 years.

I think Wlad's at his best.

[THE REED]

Yeah, and there were a lot of people who thought hatton would undo Pacquiao or that Maidana would spark Khan. Wladimir may not have a strong chin, but I also don't think it's quite as fragile as pundits do. I recall him taking one or two flush shots from Peter in their first fight without going down. He goes down fairly easily, but he also gets back up. Furthermore, haye seems to have the same style as Brewster. Wladimir was on his way to winning against Brewster until he exhausted himself. The second fight was pwnage. I think Wladimir will be fine.

I think when you barely ever get hit... it effects you WAY more when you actually do get hammered.

You're simply not used to it.

[THE REED]

No, I dont think Wladimir is past his prime.

35 is not that bad, yes for some fighters 35 is "old", but for other fighters (Calzaghe, Hopkins to name 2 recent examples), they can have the biggest wins of their careers after the age of 35.

Also, Wlad looked great in his last fight (KO 10 Sam Peter). There was no indication in that fight that Wlad's skills had diminished.

To be honest, I think Wlad is better now than he's ever been, particularly improvements he's shown post his 2003-2004 struggles. I actually think Wladimir has gotten better in the past 2 or 3 years.

I think Wlad's at his best.

Then again when he fought Peter... he was more or less fighting a walking punching bag... literally... a walking, plodding, punching bag.

That was nothing more than a gym workout.

[The Hammer]

If Wlad is the same as he was two years ago when he fought Chagaev, he'll easily win.

But was Haye waiting for Wlad to get older? Wlad has has a long boxing career, with hundreds of amateur fights in the early to mid 1990s - he won his first world title 11 years ago in 2000. He's been in some tough fights earlier in his career...

Still, regardless of whether Wlad is past his best or not, I think he's still good enough to stop Haye.

[THE REED]

If Wlad is the same as he was two years ago when he fought Chagaev, he'll easily win.

But was Haye waiting for Wlad to get older? Wlad has has a long boxing career, with hundreds of amateur fights in the early to mid 1990s - he won his first world title 11 years ago in 2000. He's been in some tough fights earlier in his career...

Still, regardless of whether Wlad is past his best or not, I think he's still good enough to stop Haye.

I actually think they are both good enough to stop each other to be honest.

That's what makes the fight so big.

I favor Wlad, but it should be very interesting.

[BostonGuy]

No way is Wlad pass it and actually he seems like he's getting better with age. Wlad takes care of himself, is always in shape and is a smarter fighter the last 3-4 years then he was and has a created a style which seems to unbeatable.

[shenmue]

Stop worrying guys, Haye getting knocked out in 8 days time.