Age in boxing

great thread jack, curious to hear some theories

 

I think it is largely due to better management of damage done whether it be the amount of fights, the rounds sparring or the recuperation time between. The next biggest factor is that with better medicine, training, understanding of the body, athletes in all fields are performing better later in life. In the past ten years we have sprinters and jumpers in athletics performing at top clip well into their 30's... events previously thought to be the domain of the very young.

 

I think a lot of it is to do with how P4P seems to be more a career assessment now rather than anything else.

 

Nice thread. Surprised it hasn't merited more discussion so far.

For me, I'd say this is where modern nutrition plays a big part. Fighters today seem to look after their bodies a lot better than fighters of yesteryear, by paying closer attention to what they're putting in their bodies. It's probably extended their shelf life at least a bit, if not a lot.

The main reason though, to be franky honest about it, is that the competition just isn't there to drive the old men out.
In any competitive team sport, you don't see many old men of 35-40 in the team. If you do, then they're marvels. Even then, they're almost never the best player on that team.

It's the natural order of things...the old, no matter how they have looked after themselves, eventually make way for the young. A man of 35 will never physically be the same man he was at 25. Modern nutrition and training cannot change that.

 

I don't know much about sprinting so I can't comment on that.

In strongman events, it seems that guys only reach their peak once they're past the age of 30. Most competitiors seem to feel that they're at their physically strongest at around 35 years of age. It's not uncommon to see strongmen of 38, 39, 40 or even older still competing at the highest level. Mark Felix is a good example.

But then again, strongman isn't boxing. The physical demands are very different between the two sports. It's hard to say...

 

PEDs , foul style and its embrace by d public and d judges , but also some reduction of d intensity of fights & training although not even nearly as much as most believe , healthier life in average , ducks .

 

It's a sign that less and less good young fighters are coming up through the ranks.

Yes, less fights, and better medicine, and injury management, etc. have helped some fighters maintain their condition a little longer - but mostly it's a sign that there's nobody around, and guys with titles can hang around fighting non-threatening challengers for years.

Let's be realistic, Pacquiao and Mayweather were very probably better 5 years ago than they are now.
They aren't young, and they've been fighting their fair share of even OLDER fighters.

The list of new potential challengers and stars in almost every division is very short.
It's re-treads in most divisions.

 

At the 2011 world championships, of 24 semi-finalists in the 100 metres, only 4 were 30 or over, and only 1 of those (Kim Collins) got through to the final.

 

Fighters have less fights over a longer period. Also, particularly Western fighters do not seem to have 100+ fight amateur career anymore.

As mentioned too, nutrition and sports science has a lot more impact in the sport than it did even 15 years ago.

 

There have always been boxers able to fight at world class levels into their mid 30's.
There are more to day though.
I think better training and nutrition plays a major factor in this,
Also less fights.
This is not just in boxing. Most sports athletes are able to play at the higest levels in to their mid 30's as well. In some of these sports the sechudle has increased over the years.

 

very interesting, possibly life expectancy has also increased so it may be that fighters are reaching their primes at the same point in their careers when you account for that, for example fighters reach their prime at 40% of their life expectancy.

But I think it has more to do with the first two points you made, the number of fights and the intensity of training was higher

 

Yes, it's an argument that was more persuasive a few years back. It's trend that has tapered down in the past few years (esp with the Jamacian resurgence in the sprints) but it was pretty obvious earlier in the decade. Dwain Chambers has been doing well into his mid-30's.

Maybe it is cyclical, who knows?

 

I think too, people are turning pro later. It is rare to see anyone in the Developed World fighting as a pro at 16, and not that unusual to see people, even future world class boxers not turning pro until they 23/24, and older still for the Heavyweights.

Also looking at another sport:

In the 1970's it was not that unusual to see Football players retire in their late 20s. It was very unusual to see anyone other than a Goalkeeper still playing at the top level at 35. Now a days, it is very rare to see a player retire in his 20s, and I suspect the average age of retirement must be getting near to 35...

 

Yeah, perhaps the cycle of 'new drugs-new tests-new drugs' etc.