Best Performance Over the Hill

Two performances are the tops for me....Sugar Ray's 5th round knockout of Fullmer in the second fight of their series. Ray was 38 y/o.
and Duran beating Barkley, Duran was also 38 y/o....
Two all time great efforts...and also two of my favorite fights, btw.

 

If that is indeed the case, then let me ask you something. Do you feel that Ali was " shot ", when he fought George Foreman in 1974?

Because frankly, I don't think that he was. And I don't think that you nor even Suzie feel that way either. We all know what he did, and what he was still capable of doing.

 

Surprisingly, I haven't seen the fight Stonehands. I consider myself a big Duran fan, well he's my personal favourite, but it's one fight I haven't bothered getting off my supplier.

It certainly seems like a close affair. If you had Duran 3 rounds ahead, then even if you gave him the benefit of the doubt in some rounds it would still equate to a close decision. I don't believe you were wrapped in a Panamanian flag while watching the fight. That would have been left in your cupboard.

It's remarkable that Duran could hold his own with guys like Paz and Camacho when deep into his 40's who were over 10 years younger.

 

No, he wasn't. I did say in my previous post that Ali was 'over the hill' after he beat Foreman. If he wasn't 'over the hill' or 'shot' after beating Foreman he certainly was after beating Frazier for the third time. Ali was still a damn fine heavyweight during the early 70's. I think around the Foreman fight he started to evaporate slowly. But I tend to agree with Stonehands and come to the sensible conclusion he was 'over the hill' after Manilla.

 

Fair enough. Although I do feel, that he was still very competitve right up to the third Norton fight of 1976, ( when he arguably lost ).

 

It's not something that was sudden and definite regarding Ali. Some fighters look great for a period of time, then after a gruelling war, thats it. People also have different opinions when a certain fighters prime was and when a fighter became 'shot'. Ali's decline was steady. It wasn't like a heart monitor when the beat stops instantly. I think Ali was better against Frazier in the 'FOTC' than he was against Foreman even though he lost, but he was better against Foreman than he was against Shavers. I reckon after Manilla it was a case of......" Humpty dumpty sat on the wall, humpty dumpty had a great fall, etc etc ".

 

Duran pulled a few out of the hat, Dempsey vs Sharkey...Holmes over Mercer....Walcott over Charles( but was he just coming into his own)

 

I thought Foremans performance against a peak Holyfield was better than the one against Moorer.

 

Can't fault a 47 year old Foreman in his last fight against Briggs.

Most if not all felt he won, and he looked better than he had in previous years against the likes of Savarese.

 

this year has a lot of over the hill good performances

43 yr old hopkins against calzaghe, he even knock him down 1st round. He loss but it was a good losing performance and he made it a close fight.

Casa against katsidis - one of the best fights this year, classic boxer vs brawler

but the best ever is

60 yr old balboa against dixon:good

 

Tell you the truth I hardly ever use the term "over the Hill".

This is how I classify a Fighter



1. Green Novice

(sometimes in certain cases I add a "pre prime in here" for guys too experienced to be green, but not yet reached there prime yet."

2. Prime

3. Past Prime

4. Washed up/shot

 

The person who started this thread stated clearly that all fighters mentioned should be "over 40"! There have been a lot of great fighters and fights mentioned, but most of the fighters mentioned were not over 40.

I think George Foreman's win over Lou Savarese at age 48 was damn impressive. Granted, Savarese was not an elite heayvweight, but he was certainly no bum. He was a big, strong, decently-skilled fighter with an undefeated record.

Also, if George had gotten the decision like he should have against Shannon Briggs, that was another very impressive "win" from an almost-49-year-old Foreman against a big, strong, skilled fighter.

 

I thought George showed more technical skills against Moorer than he did against Holyfield. Foreman's punches were straighter and more intentioned against Moorer.