I don't think it is as pronounced as people think, though it is there, mainly due to less bouts and longer time in-between fights imo. You're only looking at the highest class of recent fighters - some, like Donaire, are bonafide freaks and extremely dedicated to boot. What about all the contenders, the Euro and National level guys etc? They don't have the benefits of supposed 'super PEDs', doctors and full time dedicated, year round periodised training camps. Most of them have to fit training around their jobs etc. You won't usually see them fighting at 40. The elite is not representative of Boxing as a whole. Also, Boxing has always had it's old masters and super young phenoms, respectively. Look at Jack Britton or Nipper Pat Daly. Heck, look at Jem Mace or Jem Belcher.
We can look at other sports for hints too. Have a look at Federer winning slams past 35 and maintaining a high level until almost 40. Have a look at how well Djokovic sits now at 34. Compare them to guys from as recently as the 80's even. Obviously different sports involve different variables but a common theme right now is better longevity and i'm not even overly talking steroids. Sports medicine and nutrition right now is insane compared to not that long ago. In boxing i agree it's a combination of a multitude of factors as others said. I wouldn't underrate the overall science tho.
And perhaps reduced competition. Those 35+ year olds are holding positions atop truncated divisions with fractured belts.
Comparing Fury's career to Ali's (up to Ali's FOTC) really exemplifies everything that has been mentioned in this thread. Fury doesn't really face many top 10 contenders on his way up to fight Wlad. Wlad fight happens when Fury is older than Ali was when Ali faced Liston. Fury fights a safety first fight. Doesn't rematch Wlad. He then is accused of using banned substances (which improve an older fighter's chances) and retires. Depending on your interpretation, Fury either was banned for PEDs, or took a gap year mental health sabbatical. Ali, before and after he beat Liston (twice!) faced plenty of Ring ranked opposition. He retired not due to cheating allegations, but for political reasons. When Fury returns, the belts are split basically between two guys. Fury fights warm-ups against very easy journeymen, and then fights Wilder. He proves he can beat Wilder, but rather than moving on and fighting Joshua, boxing politics force Fury to beat the same guy twice more. Both men age a couple more years during this trilogy. They don't need to fight younger guys while their trilogy keeps going on and on. Ali faced Bonavena and Quarry in quick succession during his return. Both were, IIRC, ranked and dangerous contenders. He beat both by stoppage, and then faced Frazier. Unlike Wilder or Joshua, Frazier got where he was by beating all the major top ranked guys for his undisputed title. Ali went on to fight long beyond Frazier I. Fury hasn't even gotten to the stepping stone of an undisputed match for the title he vacated.
1) More clever match making 2) Better training techniques 3) Much better nutrition and sports science 4) Less fights, longer rest periods in between big fights (there are some exceptions obviously) 5) Certain cases less sparring 6) Fight preparation including more videos to watch opponents and study opponents rather than a shock when someone comes to the ring 7) A lot of the time better stoppages, and trainers pulling out their fighters earlier the old school ethos of letting a fighter go out on his shield is becoming less commonly 8) Better medial advise including check for any issues concussions etc And full medical reports before the BBOC for instance 9) Better pay (not in all circumstances depending on the level that you are fighting in, but half decent fighters aren’t fighting for peanuts now and less reliance on making rent). 10) Better exposure for fighters (YouTube, social media’s) meaning that fighters are getting better fights on bigger platforms more sponsorship opportunity less need to fight 6 times a year. 11) Potentially with other streams taking a lot of the youth MMA in particular meaning a less big pool (more based on personal experience when I went to school half of year 7 went to boxing, my son in year 8 half his class either do BJJ or MMA and he said bar him he doesn’t know another person in his class who does boxing, and we live in a small town in North East England) There are countless reasons behind fighters last longer. Good thread!
Stay out of my posts and I will stay out of yours. I would rather not reply or have anything to do with your threads. You are a Passive Aggressive individual. You need to grow up.
Considering how you persist from thread to thread telling me I'm obsessed with steroids despite my telling you it's annoying (and before that, groundlessly accusing me of being a religion-hating communist, and a bitter ex-fighter who hated Ali before that), I think I've been pretty darn polite. But sure. I'm not going to go out of my way to engage you if you don't want me to. I'm also not going to stop talking about relevant stuff in a public thread, just because you personally don't want anyone talking about it, though.