I'm not sure about that, Wlad had more muscle mass at the age of 42 than most younger heavyweights...
As a whole muscle does begin to decline a little year by year in your 30s. However, this does not mean you can't build a good physique or shouldn't weight train.
For a forward agressive style it's very young, option 1 mostly. For a defensive counter puncher it is 30+. Logically, anything in-between will be option 2.
Some examples: Although he said he peaked against Gatti, I think Mayweather peaked during his 30's and gave his best boxing clinic against Canelo at age 36. I regard him as a defensive counter-puncher. Mike Tyson stands at the opposite in terms of style. He peaked during his 20's.
Some of the most elite endurance athletes are in their 40s. Goggins is 46. Cam Hanes is 54. I have no doubt you lose a little of it due to age but i doubt the amount is significant.
Physical prime is going to be the same for everyone, it's in their 20s. Now, we can say that for males, early 20s they may not have filled out completely yet, but between 22-25 they are definitely prime physically. Until recently it was considered old to be 30s and a top athlete. 'Science' and 'nutrition' doesn't change the biology of the species, though. Some tennis examples. Sampras retired at like 31-32 or something. Agassi was considered super old at 35. This recent generation, guys like Nadal/Djokovic/Federer only stayed on top at mid 30s because they were ultra-dominant GOAT players, everyone else plummeted in rankings during their 30s and retired before or around 35. Just like with boxing, you can slow down a bit, but make up for things with experience and skill for a while, but ultimately you become physically done with the speed and timing goes and the injuries add up. Even by late 20s, some of these players have chronic injuries and are post-prime. Andy Murray had a geriatric hip replacement in his early 30s, he was done even if his reflexes etc were still there. Hewitt also had hip surgery in his early 30s I believe. Also tennis will show you the difference physically with young players. They can lack experience and mental toughness, a bit like with boxing, and veterans can beat them due to that. But physically the late teens or early 20s have advantages in stamina and recovery. For instance guys like Nadal or the recent US champion, they just keep backing up 4+ hour matches because they're young and can recover. It makes a huge difference. Their energy levels are simply higher. This is why it's ridiculous when people shrug off the age differences in boxing. In the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy for instance. Even when Golovkin was 35, Canelo had a huge advantage physically and it is seen all the time in other sport. Fury, too, had a big advantage over Wlad, but the main point of that win is to compare it to AJ's. AJ also had a big youth advantage over Usyk recently to go with everything else, which just shows how superior Usyk actually is.
Peak, physical prime without accounting for skill? 22-23. Perfect mix of peak explosion along with the body filling out into its man bones along with the stamina to go all day. That's why most slam dunk contest winners in the NBA were this age, when the body is most explosive. Even getting into your mid to late 20s, you don't quite have the same bounce/explosion/quickness as your early 20s.
There are so many variables. I'm 30 and I am not as flexible as I used to be at 21. I dont have the same recovery or recuperative abilities as I did at 25. I still feel agile and fast as ever. Though that will probably go soon. Haven't noticed a dip in stamina yet. I would eat my 25 year old self in a fight though. Fast twitch athleticism and ability to recover is a kids game. But pure raw strength is an old mans arena.
Exactly. Also I am not sure about physical prime as there is a lot of paper work of scientists claiming that men are strongest at the age of 40-44
Physical prime in boxing, it depends on weight class and age. The little guys usually seem totally burned out at like 26, HW's come into their own after 30. I'd say most boxers as an average are most prime 23-33ish, give or take a couple years.
