ANY pro athlete in their mid thirties no matter how good they are isn't in their prime - and no, this does not mean Mayweather is susceptible to losing to Manny Peduiao. Mayweather could be at the end of his career at 40 and he still would handily beat Peduiao.
He's taken two separate beatings that could've ended his career (the kind that have ended many) and suffered injury trouble and surgery that could've also ended his career and he's been fighting at the world class level for about a decade, matched against 16 former/future/current world champions, and has been in several fights where he has taken tons of damage, win or lose. You can't tell me after Torres, Margarito, Pacquiao, Mayweather, Clottey, Judah and Mosley, with all the damage he ate in those fights, after three weight classes and being a champion four times that he's still in his prime. His ring age and his real age are nowhere near each other, I would think. I can't think of anybody I've seen who has been through similar and is still in their prime, at any age. He's still a good athlete, but he's depleted.
Floyd fought 4 rounds in 2 years (between the Mosley and Cotto fights). And he fought agaist Cotto at 154. He is obviously past his prime.
...I know he's taken a lot of punishment, but do you think his last performance showed he's clearly declining? Not sure about that. He looked pretty good.
I'd say Frazier had clearly declined when he fought the third with Ali...but he was also laying a beating on Ali for a lot of that fight, and looking beastly...but, see, Ali had been clearly declining for years too. Floyd has done that much of his own share of declining. Like I said, none of these guys are still in their primes. It's just that the very least of the lot is still a very good fighter, and they're all still hanging tough. They have that kind of pedigree. But, it shouldn't fool anyone into thinking they haven't deteriorated.
Is he at his physical best? No. Should be expected to beat with ease every 147 & 154 boxer? Yes he should. So far he has.
i think he slipped alot in this fight from ortiz or mosley... im just trying to figure out if it was because cotto performed so well or floyd simply slipped so much
I'm trying to figure out how a guy who is 35 years is in his prime years. I'll come back to this thread when I figure it out.
I honestly don't think Floyd slipped that much at all. He was fighting someone that I'm sure had 12-15 pounds on him. Floyd is not a 154 pound fighter at all. He had to use 10 oz gloves that helped Miguel tighten up his defense. Miguel is a HOF fighter but Floyd made it look tremendously easy when they were in the middle just boxing. When it was on the ropes, Floyd got hit some than we are used to see but he parried and blocked most of Miguel's attempts. No one at 147 is going to push Floyd into the ropes like this. Floyd said that he wasn't going to run and he didn't. For the most part, he came to brawl with a much bigger man. Props to him.
Really ? Compare there careers. Floyd at LW vs. Now. The difference is higher than Pac I would say. Floyd has been on the decline athletically for years. Pac looks vulnerable at times because he is not a "Great" boxer and has problems ad******g. But his athletic ability is a big part of why he is still on top. Pac's hiring of Ariza/Teri Tom was the best thing for him. While Floyd thinks of it as them cheating, maybe it was just down to good nutrition and training that tricks the body in adapting to be better even at this stage of his career instead of staying "stagnant" or worse, declining.