you see this time and time again where an aging boxer ages overnight, i suppose we could use hopkins as an example. hopkins fought calzaghe, and looked old in that fight, he had trouble with the speed and workrate of calzaghe especially later in the fight, but then against pavlik, a slower ponderous fighter, hopkins looked brilliant. speed is the key to make old fighters look old, and that's normally when you get " he aged overnight". it's not that the boxer suddenly ages, it's just one time he beats a boxer, looks good, and then a fight later he fights a much faster boxer who makes the older guy look slow and old. mayweather showed that against mosley. mosley can come back, he can look good again, but against someone with the speed of mayweather, well then he's always going to have problems competing with that speed. pacquiao probably wishes he took that fight now. anyway, i thought i'll get that in. when you see an aging fighter fight someone fast, put money on it. that's the biggest key element in causing aging fighters problems. khan is the next fighter who seems to be using that key to his advantage, and he knows it, it's why he'll probably achieve alot more than some think.
This is true. But sometimes age is what makes a fighter look old The thought of Hopkins vs. Jones II is still scaring me.
oscar didn't look good against forbes either considering the advantages oscar had in that fight. forbes speed was causing him problems, it's why i put money on pac to beat him.
Do you think that a prime Mosley would have beaten today's FMJ? That's the question I kept asking myself. If a prime Mosley can't beat today's FMJ, then today's Mosley had no hope last weekend.
And except for Shane/Mosley in which case it was age and taking a blood test while trying to make weight day before fight whereas Mayweather didn't.
I agree with most of what you say. But alot of it is sthe style of the "old" fighter. When you use RJJ as an example... well the lightning fast reaction, his speed, that was his style. Take that away, there is not so much left.¨ Take away Tyson`s explosivenes, and his youthfull rage and what is left. This is extreme examples. A fighter relying on other factors, such as defence, reach, punching power will not fade so decisively.
ok, i agree, but what would cause more problems for the older fighter, a powerful puncher that is slower, or a fast boxer that doesn't hit as hard. personally i would hate to face the superior speed.the power will hurt, but only if it lands, and a slower boxer you can time more, which is why the likes of hopkins will always beat the pavlik's, but would have trouble with a more faster boxer of today. obviously theres other reasons aswell such as ability, styles, and so on, but speed is the key.
I guess speed is what fades first in the old fighter. Technique and punching power stays longer. So speed will eventually become a deciding factor. Given the "old" fighter is not injured. Another factor is that old people are proned to fall over more easily.:tired Styles makes fights though, and even a slow fighter can prove to be a real contender. I see a big difference between the american fighting style, which is very explosive and fast, and the german/european style wich are more technical/defensive. The latter will last longer (while being less entertaining) My conclusion is, I wouldn`t count the slowing fighter out on that alone, but speed is definately a big part of the game.