Longest Primes?

Bob Fitzsimmons went from about 1890 when he went to America to 1902 with the Jeffries rematch. 12 years aint to shabby

 

I'll also take a fun punt at Eder Jofre here, who's prime is hard to establish and could have potentially stretched from '59 (Espinosa) to '73 (Legra), inclusive (a whopping 15 years).

This, naturally, includes his three-year retirement from the Bantamweight division, after which he came back, only to take lineal honors at Featherweight (putting his feet up had obviously served him well) - Did he ever look old during this 15-year timeframe?

 

Ricardo Lopez. 1985-2001 with no losses. Retired as light fly champ. Never DIDN'T have a prime.

 

Yes ,I think you could see he was slipping in the Mugabi fight.

 

I think you could make the case that Alexis Arguello hit his prime when he knocked out Olivares in 1974 and that it continued until around 1982 when he beat Ganigan. That's eight years fighting guys at the top level and the only guy who could beat him during this span was Vilomar Fernandez of all people.

Trying to pin down Archie Moore's prime is pretty difficult due to how long he was active, but I would put it as beginning in 1945 when he recorded his two wins against Marshall and that it stretched until 1954. That's nearly a ten year span which arguably constitutes his prime.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson
Hit his prime at the end of 1941. He had already beat Angott but the Zivic fight is a good starting point. He would maintain a really high level until the Joey Maxim fight.
11 years where one can't argue away losses as having occured pre or post prime, only 3 losses in this time period across 4 weight divisions.

 

From November, 1970 to February, 1979 (damn near the entire 70s decade) he went 49-1-1 with the lone loss and draw avenged twice a piece, respectively. That was during one of the Golden ages of the division, and he did it as a 5 foot nothing, feather fisted, one handed technician. Ricardo who?

I'm hitting a point in my life where I'm considering Canto very strongly for inclusion in my top 50 pound for pound greats.

 

Mike McCallum, maybe. Who was better, the McCallum who stopped former world champion Kalule, or the McCallum who went toe-to-toe with Kalambay in 1991? A lot of guys have long periods of greatness, but even within those you can pick out a smaller portion that constituted the fighter's true prime. With McCallum, he pretty much stayed at the same level from 1982 through 1991.

 

I thought he improved a lot technically during that time, but his effectiveness as a fighter was roughly the same. He was bigger and stronger compared to the crop he faced at Jr. Middle, not to mention they were generally inferior in skills to the guys he'd meet at Middleweight.

Basically, he swapped physical advantages for technical proficiency as he moved up. Just the way you'd want to do it, really.

 

I think Julio Cesar Chavez also has a pretty long run in his prime before earning his first loss to Frankie Randall.

 

We really can’t say any of today’s boxers, because we might think now that a fighter is in his prime, but we may look back when they’ve retired and think ‘Actually they wasn’t in their prime at that point’. Anyway, Archie Moore, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, Holmes has gotta be up there, Joe Louis.

 

Marquez, in recent times stands out. Was excellent for about 20 years and always remained active. Never really looked old in the ring.

 

JMM is a great shout. His beautiful technique and great skills has helped him last so long in the ring and giving some really memorable performances even as he got older. The way he’s still able to let his combinations flow past 30 is astounding.

 

I can't believe Floyd Patterson has been overlooked here. His career was miraculous.

 

Salido.