Do you feel prime is when a fighter is at their best or their age?

Obviously, prime is when they are at their best. Not age.

 

Yea for me prime or "peaked" would be referring to the fighter peak best in his career. But I know it can be confusing, for the reason many fighters had their best or most famous or most significant victories when they weren't at their best (Mosley-Margarito, Cotto-Martinez, Marquez-Pacquiao 4, Hopkins-Trinidad, Mayweather-Delahoya, Foreman-Moorer, Chavez-Taylor, Duran-Barkley, Leonard I, just to name a few)

 

There are two kinds of prime.

1) Athletic prime (28-32 years old, optimal weight class)
2) Talent prime (When your athleticism is fading but you win using experience)

 

I agree with this.

 

The nature of boxing is such that there is no rule. It varies for each fighter. There is a difference between a fighter's time when he is at his peak physically, and when their skills and experience are at their peak.

I'd also say that the difference in level of prime and non-prime varies for each dude. For instance, a guy like Hopkins, who was still beating decent guys while pushing 50 years of age, was in his top form 10-15 years ago, but still able to beat the vast majority of his field despite being well past his prime fighting days, while other guys would have fallen well by the wayside ages ago.

 

I regard prime as when a fighter is at their peak of their ability rather than just a set age and a fighter is at their peak when their skills and physical ability combine at the moment in time to bring out their best.

So a fighter can be slightly passed their physical best and yet still be prime if their skills improved after their decline. Boxing is a skill based sport if it was just about physicality then the most naturally gifted and best conditioned fighter would always win and we have seen enough cases to prove that isn't the case.

Though a fighters prime isn't defined by when they have their most significant wins. A fighter can have his best wins past prime depending upon circumstances. Otherwise Foreman was prime when he beat Moorer at 45 and prime when he beat Frazier at 24 as well. Ali would have been defined as prime in the 70's when it was clear he was past his best but that's when he had his best wins.

 

Beeing at your physical peak means a lot. Your faster, stronger and have better reflexes and stamina. Most boxers, in my opinion, have their primes in terms of skill when they are at the height of their youth. There's always exceptions but they are just that - exceptions. A noteable one is Wladimir Klitschko, who despite his size and beeing at the age of 35 showed very swift movements against David Haye :blood

Nobody will convince me that Bernard Hopkins was in his prime when he beat Kelly Pavlik, or that Joe Calzaghe was when he fought Mikkel Kessler. Best wins and beeing prime is two different things.

 

:good

 

#Edited