A fighters Prime..

[Rory McCloskey]

i dont know wether to post this on this forum or the boxer os the past forum so hell ill just post em on both... ive noticed alot latley that many of our discussions deal with "Prime vs Prime'' or how great was he in his prime..... ive have thought alot abotu the importance of a fighters prime and hwat it means to a fighters career.. i think the importance of when you hit your prime is often overlooked, and that some people dont realize that primes come at different ages..... a recent poster posted this...


Quote:
We never got to see a prime Tarver.



well what is this that hes doing right now?... just because your older doesnt mean u cant be in ur prime... fighters hit there prime at different ages.. look at a fighter like jersey joe walcott... he hit his prime in his mid to late 30's, then look at a fighter like tyson or rjj, they hit their prime in their early 20's, i think its a disadvantage in some asspects if u hit ur prime to early (of course there are some exceptions... i.e Muhammad Ali) .. ...

if u hit it to early then you burn out easier and you will not be remembered as a durable fighter who was great for a long time.. if u hit it to late, its hard to keep it going and prove how great u are.. i think that when u hit your prime is one of the key aspects to boxing, yet i dont think ive ever heard anyone mention that aspect?...

[thunderfromdownunder]

Quote:
We never got to see a prime Tarver.



well what is this that hes doing right now?... just because your older doesnt mean u cant be in ur prime... fighters hit there prime at different ages.. look at a fighter like jersey joe walcott... ...

and Bernard Hopkins, he was in his prime from about 36-39

[Ezzard]

Physical prime is suppsoed to be somewhere between 26-28 for the average person. In boxing the big boys seem to peak later than that and the smaller men earlier.

I guess a lot depends on style too. If you have a good defence and don't get involved in too many wars then you can stretch your prime out and your experience keeps improving and so do your skills. So a little bit of hand speed lost and fractionally duller reflexes are offset by cuter moves and more ring savvy. I think this is certainly the case with fighters like Hopkins, Jersey Joe etc...

I think the all action guys like Marciano burn out earlier because they ask so much more from their bodies.

What interests me is someone like Greb who was supposed to have been an all action fighter and yet he fought competitively in so many bouts. He must have been slipping an awful lot of punches, and must have had an underrated defence.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

ezzard,

VERY GOOD POINTS !!!!!!

- swarmers never last as long like frazier, marciano, dempsey. look at all the primes, they never lasted too long. frazier was never the same after ali I fight, and dempsey wasnt the same after his layoff. and marciano had to retire at 32. it is because they demand more of there body, u were spot on.


- as for defensive guys, they seem to be in less wars so perhaps thats why they last longer. thats why after walcott was in that war with rock, he was never the same. he retired after getting koncked out in 1.


- i also agree the bigger men prime later than smaller men.

[The Great John L]

- i also agree the bigger men prime later than smaller men.

Except for Tyson who peaked shortly before his 22nd birthday and then was washed up before he was 24. Or at least that seems to be the common opinion on this forum.