BoxRec

If heard that michael grant saw holy-bowe and decitet then to became a boxer. I think he was about 20 years old.

Jan wrote:If heard that michael grant saw holy-bowe and decitet then to became a boxer. I think he was about 20 years old.

A fair amount of good fighters were older than 18 when they took up boxing. I'm not sure, but I think Ken Norton was was 21 or so when he took up boxing. Jack Sharkey was around 20 I believe. There have been many more good and great fighters who started past 18, but it's 8 AM right now so I can't think of any

Rocky Marciano was 23 I believe. He lied to manager Al Weill about his age when turning pro.
I believe Hasim Rahman was around 20. Jameel McCline was also pretty "old".
There have been plenty more, but most of the great ones got an early start.

-KOKid-

-KOKid- wrote:Rocky Marciano was 23 I believe. He lied to manager Al Weill about his age when turning pro.
I believe Hasim Rahman was around 20. Jameel McCline was also pretty "old".
There have been plenty more, but most of the great ones got an early start.

-KOKid-

actually he was almost 25! he told weill he was 23 and had 12 wins, when in fact he had only 1 win!


too bad he got a late start, perhaps if he got a younger start he would have lasted longer and developed even more since he would be younger.



how bout ron lyle, didnt start till he was wut 30??



-antonio tarver and hopkins got later starts as well



jersey joe walcott started very young 16! but due to terrible luck, and a blown chance with blackburn due to freak luck and joe louis, he didnt reach his fighting pottential until in his 30s.

Idid not mean the professional-career , i ment the very first boxing-lesson.

as stated earlier, norton didnt start until he was in the marines, which obviously would make him over 18. liston didnt start boxing until he was in prison, but im not sure what his age was. hell he wasnt even sure what his age was, but im guessing over 18

Jan wrote:Idid not mean the professional-career , i ment the very first boxing-lesson.

well i can give u a definite answer right there.


JAMES BONECRUSHER SMITH - did not ever box before he was 23. He was in the army stationed up in germany and the coach saw how big and strong smith looked and asked bonecrusher to try it out. so right there, bonecrusher had his first lesson at about 23.


-another is earnie shavers, who did not discover boxing or have a lesson until he was over 20 and a friend asked him to come check out the gym. It was then in his first lesson that he discovered he had a punch, because he nailed the far more expeirenced heavyweight with his right hurting him badly, and popping the eye lids off the trainer who acted as if god brought him 1 million dollars yelled "i got my self a heavyweight champion of the world".



rocky marciano didnt start boxing in the army till around 20, but even then marciano hardly got any training and the bouts would be like tough man contests more than boxing matches. he didnt have his first real lesson till 25 with charley goldman.

marciano had a similar situation like shavers, except weill and the other trainers taking a look at marciaano as he walked in too spar did not think much of him. Weill and the gang saw this small short stubby armed pudgey kid come waltzing into the ring ackwardly, and goldman described marciano the first time he saw him as the philsbury doeboy. it wasnt until the sparring tryout session with the promishing young prospect wade chancey that weill and goldman begin to take rocky seriousely. (rocky getting badly outboxed and missing punches by 1000ft and looking wild and incredible crude suddenly crashed a over hand right into chancey knocking him into the ropes out on his feet ropes holding him up)

Anyone who isn't a heavyweight?

Ron Lyle

How old was Ray Mecer when he started?

Derrick Jefferson was also around 23 years old when he first had boxing gloves on his hands.

-KOKid-

Alex Garcia was a late starter and he did pretty well until he kind of fell apart. I think it would've caught up to him as he stepped up in competition as you could sometimes see him thinking what to do next in the ring

Jesse James Leija was either 19 or 20 when he started boxing.

His dad was a boxer but Leija never trained till a later age and we know he did very well in his boxing career.

Tom Sharkey was 20 and still in the navy when he started fighting, and he learned as he went along, as his first fights were similar to tough man contests. He didn't pick up a real trainer until after he KO'd Aussie Billy Smith in his third year as a professional prize fighter.

The old timers believed in getting them young so they could be moulded.

Cap