Most times when a fighter is at his prime it is usually at an earlier stage in his career but who are those that you feel just seemed to creep into their prime at a much later stage of their career
Disagree. Marquez got the chance to fight marquee fighters late in his career. And he did very good. That doesn't mean he was still in his prime. He was already a great fighter even before he became a champion. That's 10 years after he started his pro career.
Yeah, i thnk most of the guys who Scar named were more fighters who got big fights late on, rather than were necessarily peaking late.Valid enough mentions in their own way though.Add in Watt and Herol Graham to that list.Graham was about 11 years into his career when he took part in his first alphabet title fight. Dennis Andries is someone who i think legitimately got better later in his career, once he moved to Kronk.Maybe Lennox as well, though the younger version had assets the older one didn't.
Marquez was 26 when he got his first title shot after 6 years on the pro circuit and lost an undisputed decision to Freddy Norwood. Can you imagine today anyone ever picking Freddy Norwood over JMM? I feel he hit his prime at the age of 30 - 31. 10-11 years after turning pro which is very late for the little guys. I didn't just pull names out of the hat in answering this question. It was who peaked late in their career. Scartissue
often its about a talented fighter getting the right breaks. somebody like moore was treading water for a long time whilst gaining experience within a comfort zone. once he got the breaks he compensated youth for experience and because he had been treading water so long was prety well preserved. where as somebody like hopkins is just a sly old dog. A great fighter who has adapted and knows how to make 1 min steal a round.
The fight was very close. Some felt Marquez deserved a win. Norwood was an akward fighter. It's not that hard to imagine any version of Marquez having a tough time against Norwood.
I thought marquez beat norwood, pac and john at fw. I think fw is quite clearly his best division and when he looked his best as a fighter. There are fighter's who were good during their prime years but became better during or after their prime years such as lewis, hopkins and wlad. Walcott and moore are the most obvious answers to the thread.