Why Are There So Many Old Fighters Today?

Probably because they are so much more skillful than the old fighters, that they take less punishment in the ring.







Easy now... I'm only joking!

 

Because it wasn't uncommon for fighters to have 70, 80 or more fights by the time they reach 30. Guys had to fight more than once a year to fatten their bank accounts. Now guys make 2-3 mil a fight, fighting nobodies and no hopes.

 

Fewer people getting in to boxing less good people to challenge

 

I saw the Tito Trinidad vs Campas fight this morning. Tito was 21 years old and 23-0 (19) and Campas was 23 and 56-0 (50). Then I saw this thread. You nailed it.

 

Fewer career fights, fighters are brought along more slowly, more attention to defence, better knowledge of physiology, better PED's, higher safety standards, generally better discipline. Big heavies with big power also tend to age better than small heavies.

I don't think this trend is unique to boxing.

 

Like others have said, a much lower amount of fights. Also drug and alcohol abuse isn’t very common with todays batch.

 

I think a fighter can be elite in their weight class and be early to mid 30's today. That would be nearly unheard of back in the day.

 

Far less fights. Diluted competition and proliferation of extra titles. PEDs.

 

Less fights and starting pro late.

 

Combination of:

1) Fewer fights relative to previous eras = less wear and tear
2) Fewer fights = fighters are older when they get big fight experience, so reach prime later
3) Improved sports science for training, diet, supplements and probably PEDs, so they remain in physical prime longer
4) Fighters at top of p4p rankings have highest profile. Fewer fights mean some fighters are older before they've built a profile big enough to get the big fights they need to rank at the top

 

according to ESPN the average length of career in North American major sports is as follows MLB 5.6 years, NHL 5.5 years, NBA4.8 years, NFL 3.5 years, MLS 3.2 years. I'd interpret this as meaning Boxers are lasting until their late thirties early forties because of a lack of young talent coming into the sport and lack of fights to develop the talent that does come into the sport.

 

There is the another element that has positively impacted, that being advances in sports medicine, injuries and health conditions that in bygone eras were career ending or limiting are now routinely treatable.

Even things like footwear boxers wore for roadwork were not ideal as either boots were worn or light soled shoes, neither good for your joints/spine with the constant jolting at each step.

The physio role within training camp now does a lot of injury prevention work eg none of the old touching toes while standing for stretches, no neck rolls, constantly looking at low impact training to supplement/minimise roadwork to limit injury to lower limb joints.

 

Have you seen the boxing records of old fighters? These guys fought practically every month or more and they're simply worn out:

SRR: 201 fights
Monzon: 200 fights
LaMotta: 106 total fights
Graziano: 86 fights
Dick Tiger: 82 fights
Marcel Cerdan: 114 fights
Tony Zale: 87 fights
Emile Griffith: 112 fights

By contrast Ray Leonard had only 40 pro fights