All boxers should be made to retire at age 35

Then Sergio has to retire, even though he's reaching his peak at the age of 36

 

No one has the right to tell someone else what to do with their life. There are boxers, even though over 35, can still compete.

 

no Martinez,Vitali,Hopskin,Mosley?...i beg to disagree.
every boxer is a different case.
i agree should be a comission who determine who is able to fight or not, like Holyfield for example.

 

Just think what would've happened with some of the great fighters if they retired before 35.

George Foreman made history and regained championship while being well into his 40s. On top of that, he was close to being broke before the comeback. Despite it, his health is OK. Larry Holmes also had no problems with fighting at his 40s and 50s.

Vitali Klitschko lost probably two rounds combined since he turned 35. Even Holyfield, who should've retired long ago by general consensus, had some good fights when he was 35+ (Tyson II, Moorer, Lewis II)

 

Give them all annual mandatory brain scans, but no forced retirement.

 

I respect your opinion but I disagree completely.

The problem most people have is they fail to realise age is just a number. Both in life and boxing.

As a few others have stated, what about Sergio Martinez, who is in the best form of his career. Should he retire right now simply because he is 36?

You have some boxers like Bernard Hopkins who can still do what they are doing at a high level and be very competitive at age 46, then you can have fighters who are completely shot at age 26. Just because you are a certain age doesn't mean you should be made to retire. Why should someone who is over a certain number be made to retire when they are clearly still fighting competitively and are not shot, and another should be allowed to continue to fight just because they are under a certain number but are completely shot to bits?

My point is age is not a sufficient indicator as to whether someone should be given a license to fight. Every fighter should be checked over thoroughly and honestly and a decision should be made from those observations as whether they are fit to fight.

 

It's their career. Let them do with it what they want. Roy may be hurting his legacy by fighting on, but it's not anyone but Roy's place to say he's not allowed to.

 

this is actually a great post. however, i disagree a bit. there should at least be exceptions. maybe the forced age should be 40, and even then some fighters such as Hopkins should get a pass. it's like, after 40, every fight is a win or retire condition. now that would be interesting. and split decisions don't count. but it is a good argument.

 

A much better solution to this topic :good

 

That's not a good argument, it's just as ******ed. So if someone is 41 and they get robbed by a home town decision they have to retire? What a ****ing stupid idea.

 

Riddick Bowe got damaged by 29

age limits mean nothing Vitali is near 40 and shows no damage signs

Hopkins is 45 has no obvious signs of damage

I think the KO'd 10 times is bull too because some guys jsut take dives and collect a check

not dives in the sense the fight was fixed but many fighters will collect the check and fall from the first real shot are able to get up and dont

 

Foreman over Moorer
the dominance from Vitali
the great technical battles of Azumah Nelson
Moore's ring wars with Durelle
Hopkins ' dismantling of Tito

i wouldn't want to miss it for the world

 

I disagree, but I appreciate other fans who respect all fighters health. I just think its hard to gauge when to tell a guy to stop doing something they love and have been doing most of their life. It also seems difficult to apply this because of the different circumstances of a fighters career. In the case of Maravilla he'd never boxed until age 20, whereas MAB already had 5 plus yrs. in his prizefighting career & maybe 35 would be too late for him. (In his case I wish he would retire since the man has nothing to prove and is an ATG). This is my favorite sport and I would like to see all fighters (known or unknown) lead a healthy life after their career. Maybe the commissions or doctors will come up with a better way of monitoring boxers, just don't think they should have a set age.

 

:rofl quit hating. there are always exceptions. maybe if they lose 3 fights after 40. just to make it interesting. they would fight with more urgency. think about it. the only reason hopkins got those previous losses was because he thought he was winning and didn't care to step it up. pascal actaully tested him and made him have to fight to win. taylor and calzaghe, those were sparring matches to him.

 

:good

Well, you can't forbid Holyfield to fight but he should do it back in his yard and not in official shows. Boxing is not comparable to other sports, you can't do it forever.