It's physiology. Testosterone starts declining and HGH has taken a nose dive compared to early 20s. Obviously PEDs help with this. But age 30 is past the growth stage and you no longer have the same recuperative abilities as when you were younger. In addition your brain starts to decline past the growth stage. No one has higher physical potential than they had in their early years. Obviously if they never reached their peak then they can surpass it, but top boxers push themselves to limits already.
Of course there are exceptions to every rule I can say the average height of a man from China is 5 foot 6, and its guaranteed someone will point out that there is a Chinese man in the NBA who is 6 foot 7. Just because there are exceptions to a rule, it doesnt dissprove the rule. There are outliers in every data set
i think he means the watered down low ranks of Pulev city, guys who come in to take a beating and give crud "boxers" like Pulev a record. i dont think he seriously means top level. He cant. Boxing is probably the most demanding o2 wise you can take up outside a short sprint.
It’s already been mentioned I believe, but sometimes a fighter will still be developing, skill wise, whilst physically in decline, so technically he could still be getting better. However, those that are technically at their peak whilst physically being at their peak will always decline in line with their physical decline. Of course all of this is assuming that they’re in tiptop shape. What I mean is, if you look at Breazeale’s age, he’s in physical decline, but realistically he was already in poor shape, so could actually be physically much better. But fighters like Loma are, in my opinion, declining in line with their age.
Mentality is also a big factor in boxing. Usually takes experience and seasoning to acquire the self belief that makes a great champion.
I think there's two kinds of Prime, a physical prime and a skilled/experience prime. For example right now Canelo and Anthony Joshua are in there physical primes, but will probably (skill-wise) be at there best in 3 or 4 years time.
Generally 28-30 is the prime imo. Physical peak meets mental peak. Boxing is as physical as it is mental.
Yes and he was better at 30 than he was at 35. So technically he was past his prime like virtually everybody at 35. He just declined at a slower rate.