Just because a fighter loses doesn't mean he's "past prime"

[hectari]

Pacquiao has been going down hill since 2010. The man has been in some vicious fights and one of the most brutal KOs ever, no way that dude is the same or even close to the one from 2009.

Cotto just can't handle pressure fighters with high volume, put him in with a high volume presure fighter who can take his punch he starts running and getting on his bike.

Pac and Margarito stood their ground, Cotto always comes out early to try and dominant with pressure and power but if he cant break you he cowers and gets scared, its the bully mentality when you8 stand up to the bully and push him back he gets scared.

HE also got on his bike against Mosley. put Cotto against a boxer or mover he does very well.

[SilverMiles]

Perfectly describes Pacquiao right now, just because he lost to number 1 doesn't make him passed it.

How can he lose to his self?

But Manny is clearly past prime, has close to 70th fights, 36 years old, and has fought the best, at their best.

Work rate is way down but more importantly his heart isn't in the sport anymore.

[SilverMiles]

You can be past prime and still compete at the top level

It's crazy to think how good Manny was. Even past prime he's making fighters look second rate who are very good, some even great.

[hhs661]

Honestly, people look for a perfect boxer and when they see a blemish or ***** in the armour, they're quick to call someone past prime, shot, over hyped etc etc. It's really ****** and shows the lack of intellect of posters, but it doesn't equate to any fighter being past prime or not.


Prime years of an athlete differ, we don't know but I've always used the 28-32 year range in any sport. It's not 100% however, that's where I gauge certain athletes being in their prime. But we have guys that get better with age, start their careers later and get into too many wars as they come up. It's just too many variables to pinpoint when they've actually gone past their prime til they have consecutive bad outings like a Roy Jones

[boliodogs]

Past prime to me means the fighter is not quite as good as they were at their best. If you think the Pacquiao who just fought Mayweather is just as good as the Pacquiao who beat Hatton, Oscar and Cotto you need to get your eyes checked. Yes Pacquiao is still damn good but he is clearly past prime. A fighter does not have to be completely shot to hell like Jones or Toney to be past prime. Cotto, Pacquiao, Hopkins and Mayweather are all past prime. On average fighters start to go past their prime at 30 and go farther past it each year. Just because a fighter can still beat almost anyone doesn't mean they are not past prime. Most guys on this board think a fighter is past prime if he doesn't show the same speed and skill he once did. A fighter can be young and still be past prime. In my opinion Khan, Danny Garcia and Bradley are all past prime because they don't fight as well as they did at their best.

[SouthPawHitman]

Pretty much. If you lose, you suck.

Good post..

[LA_2_Vegas]

It depends what sort of KO it was and what sort of fight it was. For example, George Groves, someone who was in his physical prime against Froch, a ton of natural talent ..he might already be past it after suffering the type of KO he did. He's had a few fights since and looked a step slow - time will tell his prime years beaten out of him. Every punch takes something out of you

In general though, maybe there are different incarnations of ones prime - a physical prime and a professional prime. It might take a while to step back and realize where a fight lies on this spectrum - or if he will even last long enough to make it to a professional prime.

Those guys typically have long careers, might have suffered a loss back in the day and, for all intents and purposes, are a shade past their physical primes.....but they re-emerged, re-invented themselves, etc and are, in some ways, better than the physical prime versions of themselves. Wladimir Klitscko is an example of this I think - although I prefer to watch the young physical prime version of Wlad, there is no arguing that the post-KO version is the better fighter, he is in his 2nd prime,a professional prime.

Not everyone can last long enough or re-dedicate themselves in the same way so some never really have a 2nd prime. Hopkins entered this realm for a while (not anymore), Floyd hasn't suffered a loss but he is in the middle of a run as well. I'm sure there are many other examples.

Unfortunately I don't think Pac would be one of these types - his physical prime is gone and he might not really have the drive to make to put in the prep that Wlad Klitschko or Floyd do to maintain a 2nd prime . he was building a case by beating Bradley in the rematch and getting two other wins but when he reached the mountain top he was handled. We'll see (i expect a rematch)

[sicko]

Oscar lost to Trinidad (thought he was robbed though) and Mosley Twice yet Oscar went on to become a bigger Star and a bigger Draw than both fighters!