Was watching Daniel Zaragoza and thinking about fighters who seemed to improve after they passed their (technically) physical primes. What other examples can you think of?
Jersey Joe Walcott springs to mind. Bob Fitzsimmons may have been, but I'm not completely sure what's considered his prime, or best performance. Guys like Moore and Hopkins are definitely good mentions when talking about longevity, but there best was clearly when they were still younger. Maybe early 30s at the latest.
Well, Mayweather is the only champion fighter ever who fought throughout his twenties and thirties undefeated. I feel he is better in his thirties because of how bad off he did Pac's shoulder. Tactical genius he never showed in his twenties but probably because he didn't think he had to.
Yeah, I think physical prime is one thing but some fighters adapt better to getting older and what they lose in pure physical attributes they replace with improvements in other areas - Hopkins learned he had to pace himself to make up for that natural decline in speed and energy and so he dictated the pace of most fights he was in in his thirties (and beyond).
Lennoxs Lewis Wlad/Vitali Klitschko Deontay Wilder Povetkin Tony Bellew Sergio Martinez Joe Calzaghe Adonis Stevenson Arthur Beterbiev Carl Froch Manny Pacquaio Johnny Nelson Glencoff Johnson
Foreman would have been the poster boy for this thread. His style was perfectly suited to the physical and mental maturity that comes with age. He may not have been as explosive but he certainly would have been less vulnerable to gassing and leaving himself exposed which were his only discernible flaws in his 20s.
A later starter, but Andries improved as he got into his thirties, and improved further and faster when he was 35+, maybe even peaking as a 40 year old depending on his real age.
I mean Im told that for heavyweights the prime is early 30s and that's most examples that spring to mind Vlad Lennox etc other then hopkins who was always pretty damn good