Why are fighters more successful at a older age now?

Actually it's a huge stretch ignoring it for athletic competition.

 

Percentile U.

 

My grandma might live to be 100. It doesn't mean her athletic prime was later than someone who died at 75.

The average white person in the US lives longer than the average black person. I don't think that has anything to do with the prime of a professional athlete.

Basically, I don't follow unless I see the right stats. Boxers still generally turn pro as young men and fight until they decide not to. It's not like the death rate of athletes aged 20-50 was much different back then compared to now.

 

Atheltes are a subset of people though, a sample of the population.

What was considered old at one point is not considered old any more.

I don't care enough about the topic to go into detailed statistical analysis, I'm just telling you an answer to the op.

If someone asks me what colour is the sky, I'll tell then blue, I just cba telling them why.

 

I don't see it. People didn't live as long back then largely due to infant mortality and poorer health care for the 50+ crowd. If you were healthy enough to turn pro back then, percentiles wouldn't explain being past it at a younger age. Anyone who turned pro would have a pretty normal life expectancy ahead of them. The other factors mentioned in this thread make more sense to me.

 

It's fine, not everyone sees stats the way mathematicians do, that's life I guess.

 

why?

if anything I would think wear and tear is more extensive with excessive body weight.

 

What everyone else said plus the "they fought more fights back then!" which was brought up.
Look at the Greatest, Sugar Ray. After turning pro he had, in 10-11 years, 133 ******* fights by the time of the St. Valentine's Massacre. Then went on to be a MW champ after retiring for a couple of years! Let Leonard, Hearns, etc...fight that many fights from age 20-30 and then attempt a comeback?
They'd either have many more losses on their record, nowhere near Ray's 131-1-1 after dispatching Jake or drinking their breakfast in a wheelchair through a straw!

 

Spot on, Reinhardt. imo. I said in another thread that it reflects badly on modern boxing that a fight in 2015 to decide the P4P best was contested between a 37 year old and a 35 year old, both fighting way above their natural weights. The fact is, the pool of talent is so shallow, fighters don't get exposed.

I think here are other factors too like fewer fights, better 'supplements' or heavier gloves but an uncomfortable possibility is that boxing is no longer what it was. If it were, we'd all be over on the general forum.

 

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This is a GREAT thread and a large variety of 100% relevant factors have been identified. It's a combination of things for sure.

 

HGH and peptides, incredibly hard to catch.
HGH is the "fountain of youth" among PEDs

Fighters are also better managed and take less risks, take less punishment.