Is Boxing an Old Man's Game Now?

[-PANDA-]

2/3 years ago we all thought this generation of fighters would become superstars

khan, bradley and alexander were all highly regarded unified champions at one point. ortiz was supposed to become the next de la hoya, juanma was supposed to be the next trinidad (a smaller version anyway), donaire was supposed to be the next pacquiao and mares and gamboa were seen as future p4p rulers. they have all met their match now and we've seen the best they've had to offer

I think it's partly due to a decline in talent level, but it's also the way these fighters got pampered. fighters like dlh, trinidad and rjj were also pampered but they didn't seem to believe in their hype as much as this generation's fighters as they were always testing themselves against the division's best...even if it didn't always make financial sense

[boliodogs]

I have noticed how much older the fighters are when they turn pro and when the win titles. That is their mistake. Nothing has changed as far as when a boxer is at his best. A boxer on average is at their fastest and strongest between 24 and 29 and they start to slowly lose speed and power when they turn 30. Also only fighting twice a year was not the way champions did things 20 years ago. They defended their titles about 4 times a year and never complained about being overworked. Three months between fights is more than enough rest for a healthy boxer. Now you have a great fighter like Stevenson being champ at 37. He should have started younger and won the title at 27. Look at Bradley wasting his prime fighting about once every 8 months. He fights so seldom he gets rusty between fights. Mayweather, Trinidad, Mosley, Mayweather, Oscar and Pacquiao all started young and were champions by the time they were 21 to 23 years old. They spent their physically strongest years as world champions. A 25 year old boxer is faster and stronger than he will be at 35 and that hasn't changed. To bad GGG didn't turn pro many years before he did. At least GGG fights much more than twice each year. Canelo and Broner are doing things right. They are big stars when they are just entering their physical prime.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I have noticed how much older the fighters are when they turn pro and when the win titles. That is their mistake. Nothing has changed as far as when a boxer is at his best. A boxer on average is at their fastest and strongest between 24 and 29 and they start to slowly lose speed and power when they turn 30. Also only fighting twice a year was not the way champions did things 20 years ago. They defended their titles about 4 times a year and never complained about being overworked. Three months between fights is more than enough rest for a healthy boxer. Now you have a great fighter like Stevenson being champ at 37. He should have started younger and won the title at 27. Look at Bradley wasting his prime fighting about once every 8 months. He fights so seldom he gets rusty between fights. Mayweather, Trinidad, Mosley, Mayweather, Oscar and Pacquiao all started young and were champions by the time they were 21 to 23 years old. They spent their physically strongest years as world champions. A 25 year old boxer is faster and stronger than he will be at 35 and that hasn't changed. To bad GGG didn't turn pro many years before he did. At least GGG fights much more than twice each year. Canelo and Broner are doing things right. They are big stars when they are just entering their physical prime.

Good point about activity... A guy like quillen has totally stalled his improvement as a fighter by not being active..

And like you said, guys are still in their physical prime in the mid 20s, but mentally they aren't as advanced as guys from previous generations, due to inactivity and protective match making...

Boxing is as much mental as it is physical..

[RSBonos]

"nutrition" cough cough

It's a sport wide phenomenon.

[Luilun]

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?

You can thank HGH and steroids boxers back than didn't use them . You can also add ducking the best in the division or retiring to avoid the prime fighters

[soul_survivor]

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

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.

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..

All great points and there's something a lot of you are touching upon, the idea of not being tested at a young enough age and there is a decided lack of young talent in the sport, I'll touch on that in a bit.

2/3 years ago we all thought this generation of fighters would become superstars

khan, bradley and alexander were all highly regarded unified champions at one point. ortiz was supposed to become the next de la hoya, juanma was supposed to be the next trinidad (a smaller version anyway), donaire was supposed to be the next pacquiao and mares and gamboa were seen as future p4p rulers. they have all met their match now and we've seen the best they've had to offer

I think it's partly due to a decline in talent level, but it's also the way these fighters got pampered. fighters like dlh, trinidad and rjj were also pampered but they didn't seem to believe in their hype as much as this generation's fighters as they were always testing themselves against the division's best...even if it didn't always make financial sense

You started making some good points but dropped the ball. By the time Donaire started being labelled the next Pacquiao, he was already in his late 20s, Gamboa fought too sporadically at pretty much every stage of his career and especially in the last 2-3 years.

The real legitimate young talent, in their early 20s who could have been regarded as future stars are Khan, Bradley and Devon, so you're right about that and those guys have, to a certain extent, proven their worth. Khan has headlined in vegas twice, being a brit and one from a paksitani origin and ****** background, that speaks volume of his appeal. Fact is, some top names like Marquez and Floyd have refused to fight him.

Bradley spent too long wasting time trying to get a Pacman fight rather than building a reputation. And Devon is a guy who was just too hyped up.

You can thank HGH and steroids boxers back than didn't use them . You can also add ducking the best in the division or retiring to avoid the prime fighters

I'm not sure how big a part steroids or PEDs in general play if I'm being honest. They are rife in America, I know that, with countless scandals ripping American sports to shreds over the last 14 years and guys like MOsley and co. who have been caught using these substances haven't really had great careers over 30.

[-PBP-]

No. It's because the old fighters aren't giving these young guys opportunities. And the young guys are being overprotected and have management that micro manages their careers and cherry pick easy fights.

Then when they finally step up they get embarrassed because they have never been through adversity before.

[lefthook2daliva]

No.

It just seems that way because the HW division has been weak for many years.

[Zhang Yong Jun]

Good point about activity... A guy like quillen has totally stalled his improvement as a fighter by not being active..

And like you said, guys are still in their physical prime in the mid 20s, but mentally they aren't as advanced as guys from previous generations, due to inactivity and protective match making...

Boxing is as much mental as it is physical..

Late 20's early 20's (27-32) is when experience and physical prime fuses and a fighter or athlete in general reaches their peak.

[soul_survivor]

Late 20's early 20's (27-32) is when experience and physical prime fuses and a fighter or athlete in general reaches their peak.

That's not entirely true, most great fighters pre-2000 were champions and established names in their early to mid 20s, reached their absolute peaks in the late 20s and started to peter away in their 30s.

Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Ali, Duran (had some great comebacks though), Tyson, Frazier, Whitaker and so on.