Should there be an age limit in boxing ?

I know. This is a controversial one,but the question gets asked all the time. Different fighters age better than others due to styles,ring wars etc. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were both shot by the time they got to their late thirties,but George Foreman and Larry Holmes were still comparatively fresh in their forties,albeit slow and way past their peak. Imo,the best way to handle this would be,tough stringent medicals on all fighters. Not cosmetic once overs. If more stringent checks had been applied,maybe Muhammad would have been stopped from taking those last two terrible fights !

 

I'd be more in favor of a minimum age, as it seems to me that most related cases of dementia occur in boxers who started getting hit in the head well before their brains were fully developed. Frazier was a crouching swarmer (like Dempsey and Marciano), a style with a short shelf life, so I don't consider him or those of his ilk when pondering questions like this.

Ali, Benitez and the Quarrys all started when they were very young.

Holmes, Foreman and Moore were relatively mature when they chose to take up the sport. Griffith got into it when he was older as well. If they were pressed into boxing by a pushy parent as early as Benitez and the Quarrys were, then they too might either be dead by now or sitting half comatose and drooling in a wheelchair. (We all know Griff's current problems didn't come from his long career in boxing, but from a back alley bashing long after he retired.)

 

Good post Duodenum. I never considered the minimum age factor,but it obviously adds up.

 

Agreed 100%. But 'back alley bashing' is a poor choice of words concerning the affable Mr Griffith.

 

There just needs to be more objective regulation in proboxing period, this is just a small part of it

 

Nah i reckon its time for a foreman/ali rematch

 

:thinkFair enough. It's just aggravating when idiot critics of the sport chalk his current difficulties to brain damage from his in ring activities. (Just like when they said Willie Pep died of pugilistica dementia at age 84. When someone gets to be past a certain age, assuming boxing to be the culprit is strictly rampant speculation.)

 

Some really good observations and thoughts. However, you are never going to get Mexico or the Philippines to adhere to a minimum age requirement. A lot of those guys fight to eat or at least the prospect of feeding their families.

 

I was only kidding. It was a joke concerning the gay thing that's always been levelled at him. 'Back alley bashing'.

Although once again, you do have a point.

 

everyones different so how do you choose an age.

i dont like the idea

 

Excellent post man, I really have nothing to add to that.

 

yes. whether too young or too old, if you are within a year or 3 of wearing a diaper, no fights for you. Time to go to bed and get your rest.:rasta

 

NO. as simple as that. why should their be an age limit ?
if you're still good enough when you're say 42 or so why shouldn't you be allowed to box ?
and some are still pretty good at an older age. look at archie moore