BoxRec

Most fighters when they get past 35 have nothing left, yet some fight just as good or even better and dont slow down for a while. I found it interesting that some can do that. is it some become stronger and smarter???
SO NAME SOME FIGHTERS THAT SEEM TO NEVER AGE

here are some:

Jersey Joe walcott- He got better in his thirties and nearly beat joe louis twice at 33 and looked great and sharp and won the tittle at 37 with a brutal KO of ezzard charles. one of his best fights was when he was 38 against marciano. he looked like he had 20 year old legs and reflexes that night. The guy fought better when he was 33-38 years of age.

Bernard Hopkins: the man is 40 and still tough. He may have fought his best fight at 38 when he Knocked Out felix trinidad. His body hasnt shown any signs of lossing muscle or slowing down. he has a 25 year olds body and the man fought better when he was in his 30's.

Lennox Lewis- He didnt seem to lose much until he was around 38. Even in his thirties, he still had it beating holyfield and tyson and tua among others.

Archie Moore- The man fought his best fights in his thirties and seemed impossible to age. His last great fight was against marciano at age 42!!! he looked great in that fight and looked much younger than his age stated. was it determination??? smartness??? that made him fight so well in his thirties. he beat maxim three times at age 40 and then looked great against marciano. after marciano he was never really the same again, though he did have a fantastic fight against yuvon durelle who he would have killed 10 years earlier.

Some other Fighters:
Ray Robinson- he went from unbeatable to very good lol.
Earnie SHavers- fought his best fights in his low 30's. nearly knocked down holmes at age 35
Ken Norton- Nearly beat holmes at age 35, though that was his last good fight.
Larry Holmes- still beat the top contenders in his thirties

NAME SOME OTHER FIGHTERS

Dennis Andries, there was great suspicion that he was actually about 5 years older than he stated.

Won the WBC Lt Heavy title at 33,lost it, regained at 36, lost it, regained again at 37, won british cruiser title at 42, and also faught Thomas Hearns!

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000331

No great surprise that the most of the fighters in the original post (except SRR - he was a true freak) were ones that were never great movers etc. Most employed an 'economy of movement' and either out-thought their opponents or as in Shaves' case bombed them out

Sumbu Kalambay was another

George Forman

ShoeShine wrote:George Forman

Nahh, he damn sure wasn't in a young mans body.LMAO

Grimm wrote:

ShoeShine wrote:George Forman

Nahh, he damn sure wasn't in a young mans body.LMAO

LOL...yeah he was...a fat young mans body.

s9s wrote:Dennis Andries, there was great suspicion that he was actually about 5 years older than he stated.

Won the WBC Lt Heavy title at 33,lost it, regained at 36, lost it, regained again at 37, won british cruiser title at 42, and also faught Thomas Hearns!

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000331

Yeah I remember after he beat Sibson I think it was, the tv interviewer mentioned Andries being 33! and Andries replied something like 'look man I'm not 33 I'm 38!' .... does anyone else remember this.
I've always though Dennis was very underrated.
I think fighters who do well when they are older do so for a number of reasons... it could be their styles making for long careers (Saoul Mamby comes to mind) also these are often clever fighters who adapt their styles as they age and use the tricks that they have learnt over the years.
Also fighters who fight less often tend to have longer careers, this is the reason I think for so many top fighters being mid-30s and more as most fighters today fight just 3 to 4 times a year at most so ringwear is slower.
Whether this makes for better fighters generally though I'm not too sure.