How Does Artur Beterbiev Stack Up Against Other Great 40 Year Olds

I would bet he beats any 40 years old LHW and CW in any era.

 

I think Hopkins prime was about 40. He certainly faced his best opposition and had most of his best wins post 40.

 

40 year old hopkins could also be competitive with bivol

 

Not many 40 year old's have fought at that level in recent times to be honest.

 

Being "legit" at 40 really isn't unusual. Its 45 and beyond thats unusual. From the dawn of time HWs had multiple "legit" 40 year olds in Fitz and Goddard. Foreman was one of 3 top HWs born in 48 and 49 to be "legit" in their 40s. Foreman did much better than Holmes and Bugner in his 40s just like he was in his 20s but there were 3 competing at a highish level.

The answer to your question really depends on what Beterbievs doing going forward. So far hes 0-1 in his 40s. LHWs had Moore and Hopkins winning in their late 40s. Is this the beginning of the end for Beterbiev or a hiccup he rebounds from? We really don't know. But Beterbiev being elite at 40 isn't really unusual.

In terms of power or finishing ability, an older fighter can suddenly lose "it" when they are not otherwise washed as a boxer. Louis lost his power in his 30s despite otherwise still being really good. Foreman didn't score a knockdown again after the Moorer fight. Fitz and Goddard never scored knockouts after 40. Can Beterbiev still do it? We'll see.

Moore is probably the only fighter who was actually at his best in his 40s for medical reasons.

I'm not that high on Bivol so I'm more inclined to view the fight negative. If you think Bivols the best LHW you've ever seen or something you're going to view this different.

 

I don't know, there's a guy named Archie Moore who'd box his ears off

 

He was fighting nobody's in the late 90's, that helps. Apart from blown up welterweights which top level fighters did he face between getting beaten by Roy Jones and Jermain Taylor?

 

I agree. Most of his best wins were after 40. Even some of his losses after 40 were very good performances. He possibly looked past his best because he was fighting a higher level of competition such as Joe Calzaghe.

 

Probably the GOAT 40 year old. Better than late 30s Wlad too.

 

Briedis from his last time out could definitely hang with him. The current generation seems to be aging very well.

 

He boxed Taylor x2 lost close fights on points in both, then dominated southpaw Tarver for the lineal LHW title, then beat southpaw Ronald Wright, then lost a close one to southpaw Calzaghe, then dominated Kelly Pavlick.

That's a run of 6 consecutive fights against opposition that was rated top 10 p4p at the time.

 

Taylor was not limited. He was an excellent boxer puncher that happened to be a tad chinny. His boxing ability was excellent, but he withdrew into his shell after the Pavlik loss.