Slow burn to success

[tonyevs]

BJS recently commented on Eubank Jr being 32 yrs old and still having not won a recognised/respected world title.

I don`t regard 32 being old at all, and I remember Carl Froch was 31 yrs old before he won a world title. Froch of course went on to be recognised, whilst never the top guy in his division, certainly recognised as being the 2nd or 3rd best in his division for a good length of time.
Of course the difference between Froch and Eubank Jr being that Froch won a title after 6 years and no losses ... whilst Eubank Jr has been plodding along for almost 11 years and had 2 losses already.

What other recent world champions have won a world title and gone on to be recognised as one of the top guys in their division after the age of 32??

[margaret thatcher]

antonio tarver , 34-35 when he won first title

[JamesPhilips]

Joe Joyce?

[tonyevs]

From what I remember of Tarver - he seemed to lose as many big ones as he won, and never kept the momentum to be regarded as highly in his weight class as Froch was in his.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joe Joyce?

Needs to win a world title and then be regarded the best at HW.

[margaret thatcher]

From what I remember of Tarver - he seemed to lose as many big ones as he won, and never kept the momentum to be regarded as highly in his weight class as Froch was in his.

he was 3 belt unified champ + ko'd roy jones.......pretty sure he was #1 in the division and ranked even p4p top 10 at some point. froch didnt win his biggest fight either

undoubtly tarver was recognized as a top guy in his weight class and won a title after 32

[tonyevs]

From what I remember of Tarver - he seemed to lose as many big ones as he won, and never kept the momentum to be regarded as highly in his weight class as Froch was in his.

he was 3 belt unified champ + ko'd roy jones.......pretty sure he was #1 in the division and ranked even p4p top 10 at some point. froch didnt win his biggest fight either

undoubtly tarver was recognized as a top guy in his weight class and won a title after 32

Yes he was successful for sure. But having another skim over his record .. he won the title in 2003 .. and also lost it next fight in 2003; he won it again in 2004 ... and then lost it next fight in 2004; won it again in 2005 .. 2 fights later lost it in 2006; 2007 wins it again .. similar pattern of losing it again a year later.

I know Froch wasn`t the top guy in his division, although 2 losses in 6 years at the top, opposed to Tarver`s 5 losses over the 6 years he was operating at the top level. I feel he was more highly regarded in his division than what Tarver was in his.

[margaret thatcher]

at tarver's peak he was as highly as regarded as froch ever was. triple belt champ and ring champ, #1 in the division, in p4p lists. ko'd the #1 p4p fighter and was the talk of all boxing

are you asking which guys who didnt win a title until after 32 became clearly more successful than froch? you wont find many 'slow burners' if that's the case

[Foggy]

Glen Johnson, must have been mid 30s went on to beat Tarver and Jones

[dookus]

Whoops

[tonyevs]

at tarver's peak he was as highly as regarded as froch ever was. triple belt champ and ring champ, #1 in the division, in p4p lists. ko'd the #1 p4p fighter and was the talk of all boxing

are you asking which guys who didnt win a title until after 32 became clearly more successful than froch? you wont find many 'slow burners' if that's the case

Yep. Hence the question.

Tarver was similar to Froch in that he took 6 years to win a world's title - my question was aimed more at Eubank jr who has been pro 11yrs and still to win a recognised world's title.

[margaret thatcher]

ah, okay, the original question seemed more general than froch specific:

What other recent world champions have won a world title and gone on to be recognised as one of the top guys in their division after the age of 32??

id say tarver either way though tbh, won a title for the first time when he was going on 35, then ko'd the p4p #1

[bennie]

Swansea's blubbery and ageing Neville Meade was given no chance against young, unbeaten David Pearce for the Welsh heavyweight title in 1980 but he smashed Pearce in two rounds (under the Boxing News headline "Pearce's title") and went on a run of brutally quick wins that led to the British heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Gordon Ferris.

[Riddick Bowie]

Tarver turned pro very late and had been a pro only 6 years when he first challenged Roy Jones. So while he was even older than Eubank he hadn't been fighting professionally as long thus was 'fresher'.

Torver was recognised as THE MAN in his division when he KOd Jones. This is a fact, not up for debate. Surprised it's even being questioned. However, it was short-lived, his form being spotty against anyone not named Roy Jones (Harding, Johnson, Hopkins, Dawson etc)

There's not many examples for Eubank Jr to find encouragement in.

[Ruthless-RKO]

How old was Hopkins when he won a world title?

Mind you, he started late didn't he?

[stujones]

Hopkins immediately sprung to mind.

[Riddick Bowie]

Hopkins won his first world title at the ripe old age of 30, having previously challenged for them at 29 and 28.

He turned pro in 1988 at 23, losing a 4 rounder then coming back and starting proper in 1990 aged 25.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Caleb Truax

[mickey1975]

Jim Watt.

[Wee Tommy]

Jim Watt.

Good shout

[mickey1975]

Jim Watt.

Good shout

He only entered my head with Hearn saying nobody brings over opponents like Jacobs... Try Arguello, Tyson, Kostya, Hagler, Hearns, Chitalda, Tapia, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Azumah.....The casuals really believe boxing started in 2010!

[mickey1975]

And Duff made McCallum drive through from Leeds.

[Coco]

Hughie Fury!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hughie Fury!

He's still burning..

[Fray Bentos]

Jersey Joe Walcott
Dado Marino (who was a grandfather when he won the title)