is 26 too old to turn pro?

[Sam Donald]

i mean, lets say one was a well experienced amateur, fought internationally a couple of times and missed out on the olympic team

is it worth turning professional?

[Slyboots]

I'm sure one could but the prospect of a meaningful career would be slim to none, IMO.

[_original_]

Age didn't stop B-Hop, Rigo, Marciano or Nate Campbell (just to name a few).

[iron mike tyson]

a lot of boxers turn over in there mid 20s these days

[PUK_MY_DANG_34]

GGG is 31, he went pro in '06, I believe. That would make him 25 at the time?

[D-MiZe]

If you have to ask this question, no.

You don't have it in you.

[Slip Stream]

Theoretically one could turn pro whenever, but the best grow up in the gym. Its like any other discipline really, the ones that start earlier are better and more accustomed to the sport. 26 is young but for a boxer, its ancient to turn pro, again possible but the likelihood of success is infinitesimal.

[KidDinamita]

If you had a good amateur background why not? 26 is not that bad, Hopkins didn't go to the Olympics and is still doing strong at the age of 48, Nate Campbell started boxing late (but Nate has a fighter mentality in him) and even Sergio Martinez started late without going to the Olympics.

Try it out, train hard, dedicate yourself to training and protect yourself at all times. and please don't join those semi-pro bulls**t.

Can I ask what is your amateur record?

[BennyST]

I'm sure one could but the prospect of a meaningful career would be slim to none, IMO.

Why? 26 isn't that late. Veeraphol Sahaprom turned pro when he was 28 and has had a HOF career, becoming one of our generations greatest bantamweights.

[hayZ]

Can be done but a fighters athletic peak is usually between 25-29 and then after that athletically they slowly decline. You also spend years building up your career, so by the time you are actually at a good level you are already at the tail-end of your physical prime. Golovkin is 31, he won't be able to fight for too many years at the rate he is fighting at the moment. Mayweather isn't as quick as he was but he hasn't taken much punishment, he has live clean (no smoking/alcohol/no ballooning up in weight), he's a genetic freak and his defense is great which he can rely on instead of stepping up the ante and going for it, he can just use his defense and just counter. Froch is improving at this point because he turned pro late and hasn't had that many fights.

The older you get, the smarter you get in terms of your skillset, nutrition and training which allows you to extend your longevity. If you want to remain relevant for long, live clean on top of training hard (smart) and feed yourself nutritional food.