Is Boxing an Old Man's Game Now?

[soul_survivor]

There was a time when boxing was regarded as a young man's game, in almost every division, 30 was regarded as old, 32 almost ancient, 35 shot.

Now, looking at The Ring's P4P list, 8 of the top P4P guys are 30 or over, 5 of them are 35+ and few of them look like losing to any young, hungry contender.

Looking at a list of the leading titlists in boxing, the vast majority are 30 or more.

Why is that? A trend I've been seeing is that fighters are taking longer to develop, maybe it's the rise of the eastern european nations and their long and arduous amateurs journeys. Few turn pro before the age of 25.

The lower divisions are slightly better off, especially with the explosion of talent from Japan but the ageing numbers are growing. Obviously fighters have better nutrients and an entire team of sports scientists looking after them but I think there is a deeper rooted problem: a lack of young talent coming through as the pool for fighters gets smaller and smaller.

What do you all think?

[Dr Rumack]

[jas]

i think the talent level of fighters in recent years has decreased

atlas said hopkins would not have been a champion in the 1980s

less youngsters are boxing

boxing is less popular

boxing is a tough sport

[SlySlickSmooth]

Because these up and comers are babies when they step up. They fight easy opponents instead of taking the chance to fight rough and tough journeyman who will take them through tough rounds.

[Larry the boss]

Fighters seem to want the glory without putting in the work these days..therefore the talent level,heart and toughness has dropped

[jaded]

You know 60 is the new 59.

[ShoulderRoll]

Old fighters have more knowledge of the art form of boxing. The new breed thinks it's all about speed and power.

[jmrf4435]

I honestly think its the nutrition and preservation techniques that are new to our era. With this addition fighters can have longer careers, I've also noticed boxing is such a learned game. Their are alot of subtleties fighters acquire from experience that are hard to notice to the naked eye

[bojangles1987]

i think the talent level of fighters in recent years has decreased

atlas said hopkins would not have been a champion in the 1980s

less youngsters are boxing

boxing is less popular

boxing is a tough sport

Atlas is plain wrong to think that about Hopkins.

But you're right. The best of the best still have the talent and skill, but there are less fighters with top shelf talent and skill.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

The problem is today's younger fighters aren't tested enough early in there career, as opposed to young fighters in years past... Guys like wilder, Russell jr, aren't tested the way guys like toney or marlin starling, or terry norris were when they were young..
This stunts a fighters learning curve, so it takes till their 30s to be a well schooled non-green fighter instead of being 25 like guys from decades ago..