I ask because while Floyd is gifted with speed, he has a strong fundamental skillset. We see the longevity that skills has blessed Hopkins with. Do you believe age will be equally kind to Floyd, or do you think a lack of speed and loss of leg movement will be his downfall?
Well it matters to everyone, it's just a matter to what extent and how someone can adjust. Floyd has the skills and intelligence to be successful as some of his physical gifts erode. He already has. Look at the 130 lb. fighter who glided across the ring against Vargas and Corrales. Look at the speed of his hands. He clearly lost a bit of this with his age and weight going up, but has fought at the highest level regardless.
Floyd has been past his prime for a while now and has remained effective. I worry about his inactivity tho.
It's like pitchers. Skilled guys know how to win even with deteriorating physical abilities. Floyd is no different.
hes just an extremely well schooled fighter. hes been fighting since he was a kid. i believe he is one of these guys who just gets better with age, someone like hopkins. 2 extremely intelligent fighters
I don't think that Floyd is past his prime. He does not fight as a 130 pounds fighter, because he is fighting bigger opponents and he needs to put more power in his punches and he does not lose form to punch harder like Cotto or any other common fighter. He has develop a pocket fighting where he can avoid punches in front of you and can counter punch with power but mantining the position and defense. he is the best all time in this regard. But to answer the question it does not matter. Ali was much better when he was Classius Clay and after his forced retire he came back and he never was the same, but looks at his fight and his resume. The most important thing is win, and if look closely and don't repeat the stupid things that the anti-Floyd said, Floyd has mantain almost the same kind of numbers of when he was young in boxing to this days. Almost 45% of the punches connected, almost 50% of the power punches and less than a 30% of punishment. How can somebody said that he has lost his prime when he has the same numbers as before no matter who is in front of him? But in the end if you can keep winning and being the best it does not matter if are in your prime or not.
Unlike some other athletically gifted boxers Floyd has learnt his trade in the gym working on solid fundamentals since he was a kid. He is past his best right now as is B Hop but it doesn't affect them as much as others.
Floyd it too gifted technically IMO to have too many problems. He also has the benefit of never having being in any wars or having taken a lot of punishment. His body will have benefited from the lay off if anything. Floyd never retired retired anyway. He always kept in shape and was likely in the gym every week.
There will be a lot of talk of him being past his prime and having slowed down during the lead up to the Ortiz fight. But after the final bell on fight night it will be the same old story imo.
I'm not so sure Floyd is significantly past his prime. The man is a gym rat, he doesn't put his body through extreme weight cutting and hasn't been in any "wars." He doesn't rely on pure athleticism like RJJ did and is techically one of the most sound boxers I have seen in my 35 years on this earth. And I don't even like the guy.
Floyds in the school of guys like Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles, Bernard Hopkins who's skill set will bring them success long after their physical attributes decline whereas guys like Roy Jones Jr, Pacman, Vargas, Mosley rely much more on their natural physical attributes to win (speed/power/athleticism) so once their speed and ferocity goes they're unable to rely on a superbly honed technical skill set to extend their careers.
Floyd has not been in many tough fights which is why he can fight on getting older. He fights one fight a year now.