This era seems suspect.

Honestly wouldnt be surprised if you were correct

 

If so, it evens out in the end. It's so prevalent that athletes feel the need to take them to be on a level playing field. And skill still rules all in boxing.

 

the only suspect out of the crew is Marquez, not because of his age, but because of the wars he went thru... most of the boxers you listed did not go thru the wars marquez did. Not saying anyone is guilty, just saying out of the boxers you listed is the most suspicious.

 

also, lets not go to far ahead...these guys do hiire conditioning coachs too, so we can make an arguement because they didnt have professionals like this in the olden days. Also more healthier food, scheduling, and workout routines.

 

I'm not particularly suspicious of any of the guys you mentioned.

Wlad has barely taken a clean punch in years - he's about as well-preserved as a fighter of his age could possibly be. Vitali hasn't taken much punishment either but he's noticeably slower and has been slowing down over the years, as you'd expect.

Hopkins is a freak. Guys like him don't come around very often. No matter how prevalent PEDs become, guys won't be fighting at this level until they're almost 50.

JMM has been through some tough fights lately but he's hardly Gatti. For the majority of his career, spent at 126, he was a more defensively-oriented fighter and didn't take a lot of unnecessary punishment.

Martinez has slown down quite a bit too - I don't think anyone could say he's the same fighter he was even 2 years ago.

Generally speaking, thanks to modern training, improved diets, superior athletes etc, most sportsmen are able to compete at the top for longer.

Now, I'm not saying for a minute that PEDs aren't a big problem in boxing but I don't find this argument convincing.

 

Or maybe, the up and coming fighters just aren't what they were back in the day.

 

cant say i agree with this, if you look at the top p4p fighters, half of them are 35+ years...

fmj - 36
Martinez - 38
Bhop - 47
marquez - 40
wlad - 37

then the rest of the crew is like 30+.....point saying is that the fighters are lasting longer in this era and spot light is still focus on them...in the 90s the p4p list was like ages 23-30.. now its 30-48....so the young guys are not having a chance to shine yet because of this.

 

Bingo. These guys in this era are not cut from the same cloth as the people mentioned in this thread.

 

Willie Pep
George Foreman
Archie Moore
Bob Fitzsimmons
Roberto Duran
Sugar Ray Robinson
Larry Holmes

These are all guys not from this generation that excelled in their mid to late 30's and beyond.

 

I fully agree. Although I think an interesting comparison would be to see what age athletes in other sports can stay elite to nowadays.

Although from the list mentioned, Vit and Wlad are both heavy weights and mature at a much older age anyway.

Martinez body is falling apart and is nowhere near the force he once was, he'll be a fantastic scalp for someone soon.

Hopkins lives the life and has forgotten more about that boxing than this forum combined will ever know.

Marquez could be suspect I'll give you that.

 

It's a fair question to ponder.

 

PED's have been used rampantly in athletics since the 1960's.

So....... no.

 

some fighters have the good fortune to pretty much handpick there opponents making there careers less damaging. meaning they last longer and there prime last longer. wlad hasnt gotten touch in forever. the hardest he got hit was vs tony thompson and that wasnt too much.

back in the day they fought more often, knowledge of medical information wasnt up to date like it is now, an u have more then one trainer now your strength and conditioning coach might add some years on to your career, u have people cooking the right kind of food for you. i dont think alot of these fighters back in the day had the knowledge like we do now.