Heavyweights & age through the era's

Very long amatuer careers and late starts.

Pulev turned pro at 29 years of age.
Thompson turned pro at 29 years of age.
Stiverne turned pro at 27 years of age.
Solis turned pro at 27 years of age.
Povetkin turned pro at 26 years of age.
Vitali turned pro at 25 years of age.

Helenus turned pro at 24 years of age.
Adamek turned pro at 23 years of age.
Arreola turned pro at 22 years of age.
Wlad turned pro at 20 years of age.
Fury turned pro at 20 years of age.

Past Champions:

Rocky Marciano 24(first Pro fight)
Lennox Lewis: 24
Larry Holmes: 24
Evander Holyfield: 22
Joe Frazier: 21
Joe Louis: 19
Mike Tyson: 19
Muhammad Ali:19
Ezzard Charles: 19
Floyd Patterson: 18

 

There is some young talent, you just have to know where to look.

The young guns who turned professional are:

Usyk! In my opinion has more upside than either Povetkin or Chagaev. He just turned pro.

Joshua is a super heavy with skills and some power. He's not the next Lennox Lewis but he's also not the next Audley Harrison either.

Glazkov is 29, and should be in the top ten soon.

Fury at 25 is a fringe level top 10 guy.

The amatuer are loaded with good heavies. Medzhidov is a huger puncher, and Dychko is a bit like Vitali Klitschko with less power, but better mobility.

 

But everything about you is clueless and baseless... You can read,correct ? You see how your worthless diatribe is mocked and ridiculed, right ?

 

Holy Cow!! Everyone on this list is older than Ali was when he fought Foreman!

 

I agree with the second part mostly.

 

Yeah, they are all older across the board.

The Top P4P Fighters and Champions Today:

Marquez: 40
Martinez: 38
Mayweather: 36
Stevenson: 36
Froch: 36
Pacman: 35
Rigondeaux: 33
Cotto: 33
Bradley: 30
Ward: 29

Ward in his 20s is the standout abnormality, has this ever occured?

 

You've got to ask yourself how does Marquez do it because he has been in tough fights on the way up and in with good fighters throughout his career.

 

One thing that many overlook today is the fact that past fighters may not have gotten a license to fight as a pro but fought as club fighters in smokers. Through this they got a lot of experience as well. That is why so many fighters used names like "Young" Jack Dempsey, "Young" Joe Louis, or other names which helped disguise their true identity. Thus, technically speaking they may have become pros at age 25 but had been paid semi-pros through these club fights. In his bio Iron Mike Tyson says he fought in some of those smoker bouts even while attempting to get on the Olympic team. The experience sure made him into a better boxer.

 

Athletes in almost every sport I can think of are performing better for longer and are able to return seemingly intact from what would have previously been career ending injuries. I don't see why boxing, a sport intensely focussed on acquired skill as well as physicality, should be any different.

I don't see American Football fans bemoaning the fact that the two most overwhelmingly valuable players, Brady and Manning, are 36 and 37 years old.

 

In my experience with sports I've always observed that when athlete gets older the first thing that goes is the old wheels. Even though his punching power remains almost unchanged, an aging athlete's legs get sore and slow down. It could well be that one of the reasons why older boxers are still in top form nowadays is because championship bouts now stop at 12 rather than 15 rounds. Perhaps if the old standard was brought back into place these aging boxers may well have to take a back seat to the newer ones. Well, maybe.

 

Modern surgical techniques, and 'sports science' are extending the careers of athletes today. A generation ago, Manning, wouldn't have played again. A knee surgery today that is routine such as in Brady's case. Once spelled the end of a career, or a career never to be played at the same level again, 'Namath'.

In events such as the Olympics, where PEDS are routinely screened for using the latest techniques, you just don't see the 40 year old athletes competative. Modern 'sports science' is a large part of extending the career of athletes. Not the only part, but big enough to not be ignored.