Fighters who failed to fulfill their potential, because they were too old when they started?

Archie Moore is a weird, weird case.

He got into boxing as a teenager and became a professional very young, but for whatever reasons he was just a non entity during his prime years.

He got his first title bout when he was almost forty, no spring chicken at all...

 

Adonis Stevenson started too late in the pros at age 29. He had a decent career but his level of opposition was so-so during his reign and the biggest crime was him ducking Sergey Kovalev.

 

At the same time, do you think fighting for longer in the amateurs helped him become a better boxer? He could have gone down the path of falling in love with his power/size, but didn't. Maybe all that time in the amateurs helped make him the rare big guy he was.

 

How about Ron Lyle? His biggest opponent was time.

Or for a list of guys who accomplished a lot, but maybe would have accomplished more, how about Qawi and Holmes? Qawi had no amateur career, learned to box in jail, and didn't step foot in an actual ring until age 25. Holmes didn't pick up a glove until he was 23 I believe. What if both of them had strolled into a boxing gym at age 12 and met real trainers? (and hell, maybe Qawi would never have gone to jail in the first place).

Or, for a guy who accomplished some, how about Ray Mercer? Never picked up a glove until age 23, won gold at age 27 (good run there, he knocked out every opponent). What if he walked into a boxing gym at age 12? He was pretty damn good when on. Maybe having a coach from a young age to instill good habits in him would have paid benefits throughout his career.

 

You could be right, that's a good observation. We've seen with guys such as Golovkin, Usyk, Loma, etc, that being in the amateurs longer can give a new pro a sense of maturity, confidence, and becoming closer to the "finished product" in terms of mastering their style and abilities.

It could be that if Lewis turned pro sooner he wouldn't have been as good. We saw he had some glaring flaws that McCall exposed, and he went life and death with Mercer even with the benefit of a longer amateur career, so it's possible he encounters even more bumps in the road. Either way, I think Lewis was destined for an ATG career. Perhaps if he met Steward sooner he could've avoided the majority of his hiccups.

 

Ray Mercer. Started late did very nicely. Might of been even better if turned pro in his early 20s

 

Ron Lyle is the first person who comes to mind for me.

K. O. Christner started very late, but I don't know that he could ever have been anything more than an opponent for the rated fighters.

 

That's a great example and a guy that had natural physical gifts that more than made up for his late start. IMO he is without question one of the hardest hitting light heavyweights ever. He is certainly right up there with Foster, Moore, Spinks in regards to just raw power.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head in regards to what you said about GGG, Uysk and Lomo but I do think Lomo waited a tad to long to go pro and he probably shouldn't have jumped weightclasses as much as he did.

It drives me nuts when some of the classic posters talk about how Uysk has only had 22 fights and let's see how he develops when the reality is he is one of the most complete heavyweights ever. Folks will say 335-15 as an amateur means nothing because they are three round fights but they don't understand that you have to win multiple three round fights against multiple opponents to medal. Turning pro late because a fighter chooses to stay an amateur longer is a good thing for fighters just like it's good for baseball players to develop in the minors. Too many guys rush to the pro's and get exposed. See Tim Tszyu for an example who got the brakes beat off him his last fight. He didn't have anywhere near the amateur pedigree his dad had and it showed.

 

The great thing about being in the amateurs for really any type of sport is that you get a lot more time to work on things without the overwhelming pressure and anxiety that comes with fighting for million dollar checks, global championships, paying sparring partners/coaches, bills, family, flying and getting acclimated to various foreign countries, etc.

The amateur can take their time to perfect their own style against the various styles he'll end up facing as a pro anyways. Swarmers, movers, counter punchers, sluggers, outside fighters, etc, you'll find pretty much the same things in the AMs. The only difference is the pro equivalents have more experience/better technique and they don't wear headgear. The sport doesn't drastically change suddenly in terms of the basics and you aren't going to suddenly find guys doing lethal forbidden moves or styles they read in a scroll at the top of a mountain. If the amateur is a tall guy who needs to work on their jab to learn how to keep guys off of them and master the range, better to practice that in the AMs where you aren't facing bloodthirsty pro killers trying to take your head off for 12 intense rounds, and you can instead practice the jab in multiple 4-rounders with a more protective ref.

 

I could name Luis Estaba and Pascual Perez to the list as they turned pro at 28 and 26 respectively. However, to the letter of the OP by @janitor - not fulfilling their potential - is a little askew to what they accomplished as long time champions in their respective classes with a robust amount of defenses. I would mention, however, Jimmy "The Cat' Dupree. A light heavyweight who turned pro at 25 and didn't start fighting 10 rounders until, he was about 29. He was one of the reasons Bob Foster was stripped of his title by the WBA. Jimmy was one of their top 2 contenders and Foster wasn't putting his signature on the dotted line. Dupree ended up fighting their #1 Vicente Rondon for the vacant title at the age of 35. He dropped Rondon but Rondon caught up with him. A bit younger and who knows what Jimmy could have done.

 

By all accounts Jimmy Dupree was drugged in the Rondon fight. Have been after the complete or long hls of that fight but unfortunately have only found the following:

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Nate Campbell

 

That is indeed strange. What an odd twist of fate.