BoxRec

i am making a list of what I think the following fighters primes were, tell me what u think



Rocky Marciano 1951-55 peak 1953


Mike Tyson 1986-90 peak 1988


Jersey Joe Walcott 1947-52 peak 1947


Archie Moore 1946-55 peak 1952


ezzard charles 1946-51 peak 1948


Evander Holyfield 1986-96 peak 1987


Lennox Lewis 1992-2002 peak 1997


Marvin Hagler 1977-85 peak 1980


Sugar Ray Leonard 1979-82 Peak 1980


Jack Dempsey 1918-23 peak 1919


Sonny Liston 1958-63 Peak 1960


Floyd Patterson 1956-67 Peak 1960


Joe Louis 1935-42 Peak 1938


Max Schmeling 1930-38 Peak 1936


Emile Griffith 1961-1967 Peak 1962


Dick Tiger 1960-66 Peak 1962


Carlos Monzon 1969-74 Peak 1970


Sugar Ray Robinson 1942-51 Peak 1949


Sam Langford 1903-1914 Peak 1911


Muhammad Ali 1963-67 Peak 1967


Joe Frazier 1967-71 Peak 1971


Harold Johnson 1949-54 Peak 1954


Roy Jones 1993-1999 Peak 1994


Bernard Hopkins 1997-2003 Peak 2001


Willie Pep 1942-50 Peak 1949


azumah Nelson 1982-89 Peak 1984


Carlos Ortiz 1959-67 Peak 1964


Roberto Duran 1972 -1980 Peak 1978


Thomas Hearns 1980-88 Peak 1982


Pernell Whitaker 1987-93 Peak 1990


Julio Cesar Chavez 1985-92 Peak 1988


Larry Holmes 1977-83 Peak 1981


George Foreman 1971-74 Peak 1973



Terry Mcgovern 1898-1901 peak 1900


wilfred benitez 1976-82 peak 1981


Alexis Arguello 1974-80 Peak 1978

you put too much emphasis on prime years.

Holyfield's prime was '91. He was going to absolutely KTFO Tyson then. NO doubt about it.

Hopkins' prime was '97 or '98 when he smashed unbeaten, tip-top shape Glenn Johnson.

I don't call them prime years: rather, I try and see why a guy is in the Hof, for example, in which years did he prove himself. Tony Zale, for example, has a rather spotty record and there are dozens of MWs with records much better. But he had one stretch where every fight was with top ten opponents or for world titles, and in that span he was 29-4 w/ 25kos. Charles had two runs of that quality in his career, and another nearly as good.
Decagon makes several very astute points , especially bout Patterson and Chavez.
The hardest think about judging a boxers prime is that it is only partially physicl, as boxing is such an inteeligence driven sport; frankly it kes lots and lotsof round to learn the "tricks of the trade" and that has to cut into your physicality. Moore's brains let him fight 20 years byeond where legs alone would have taken him.

Mike Tyson's prime was 1986 to 1988, with 1987 being his peak.

No way was he anywhere near his best in 1989.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:Floyd Patterson 1956-67 Peak 1960

Patterson to me is a strange one in that I find it difficult to pick a 'prime' period in his career as far as ring performance goes. I say this because in some ways I feel that he became a better fighter after the Liston fights. I put in some fine performances around 67-70 and often against much better opponents than he defended his title against.

I have often thought that this may be due to the fact that Pattersons major problem as a fighter was a psychological one and by 1967 he had matured a little more and gained a bit more confidence in his own abilities as a fighter. There was also not the added pressure of being World Champion to contend with either.

Just a thought.

Pattersons prime would have been 1962 at 27. Unfortunately he was only fighting Liston at this time. If you watch his tapes he was unbelievably quick with greater stamina around 1957. Their was never any great decline in his abiliities as he got older, because he was so dedicated. Even in 72 vs. Ali he was still a pretty good mover, but no longer the puncher he once was. The 56 version was faster with better stamina & punching ability. I do not agree that he was better after he lost the title. He in all honesty was terribly hampered by D'amato's feud with the IBC. I think as he got older, he became a more thinking fighter, not relying on his physical gifts that had eroded to a degree.

Decagon wrote:Great topic! Here are my thoughts:

• Rocky Marciano 1951-55 peak 1953: I’d put his peak a few years earlier.
• Mike Tyson 1986-90 peak 1988 I’d take his prime into his fights with Ruddock.
• Jersey Joe Walcott 1947-52 peak 1947 I’d go 1944-1951.
• Archie Moore 1946-55 peak 1952: Big disagreement here. Pound-for-pound, Moore was at his best at middleweight. He lost more often simply because he fought better competition. I’d put his prime at 1942 to 1952, with his peak at 1947.
• ezzard charles 1946-51 peak 1948: Good.
• Evander Holyfield 1986-96 peak 1987: Holyfield was pretty raw at cruiserweight, and he looked good in the Moorer rematch.
• Lennox Lewis 1992-2002 peak 1997: HUGE disagreement here. The Lewis of the Bruno fight in 1993 simply wasn’t in his prime. I might go with 1995 to 2001.
• Marvin Hagler 1977-85 peak 1980: Not bad. It’s hard to argue that Hagler wasn’t in his prime in the Hearns fight, so I won’t.
• Sugar Ray Leonard 1979-82 Peak 1980: Leonard really had two primes, from 1979 to 1982 and 1987 to 1989.
• Jack Dempsey 1918-23 peak 1919: Acceptable.
• Sonny Liston 1958-63 Peak 1960: Yeah.
• Floyd Patterson 1956-67 Peak 1960: I’d say that Patterson’s prime started after he lost the title and wasn’t afraid to fight anyone.
• Joe Louis 1935-42 Peak 1938: You’re saying that Louis was in his prime six months into his pro career? LOL. His prime started after the Schmelling loss, when Blackburn taught him to keep his left up.
• Max Schmeling 1930-38 Peak 1936: I’d go 1929 to 1933.
• Emile Griffith 1961-1967 Peak 1962: Why not start his prime in 1960?
• Dick Tiger 1960-66 Peak 1962: I’d go 1957-1967.
• Carlos Monzon 1969-74 Peak 1970: Yup.
• Sugar Ray Robinson 1942-51 Peak 1949: He peaked much earlier than that.
• Sam Langford 1903-1914 Peak 1911: That’s his prime as a pound-for-pound fighter. His prime as a heavyweight would start a little later.
• Muhammad Ali 1963-67 Peak 1967: Yup
• Joe Frazier 1967-71 Peak 1971: 1966-1971.
• Harold Johnson 1949-54 Peak 1954: Yup
• Roy Jones 1993-1999 Peak 1994: Yup
• Bernard Hopkins 1997-2003 Peak 2001: Maybe.
• Willie Pep 1942-50 Peak 1949: Call me crazy, but I think Willie Pep’s prime ended with the plane crash.
• Azumah Nelson 1982-89 Peak 1984: Nelson was still green in 1982. I’d go 1984 to 1993.
• Carlos Ortiz 1959-67 Peak 1964: Yup
• Roberto Duran 1972 -1980 Peak 1978: No. Duran was still very young in 1972, and he was arguably a better fighter in 1983. I’d make his prime from 1975 to 1980.
• Thomas Hearns 1980-88 Peak 1982: Yup
• Pernell Whitaker 1987-93 Peak 1990: Yup
• Julio Cesar Chavez 1985-92 Peak 1988: Chavez’s prime ended when he moved up to 140.
• Larry Holmes 1977-83 Peak 1981: Yup
• George Foreman 1971-74 Peak 1973: Yup
• Terry Mcgovern 1898-1901 peak 1900: Meh.
• Wilfred benitez 1976-82 peak 1981: Yup
• Alexis Arguello 1974-80 Peak 1978: I‘d extend his prime a few years, to 1982.

walcott was retired in 44. walcott was defintley not in his prime in 45, he was only 185lb and lost an 8 round decision to a journeyman. walcott reached his prime in 46 or 47 when he finally started beating heavyweight contenders. u have to include 1952 as his prime, he was heavyweight champion and outpointed charles and fought one of the best fights of his career against marciano.



no moore lost more in early 40s because he didnt have his same defense, ring savvy, and ring technician skills he had in his later years. ive watched tape of moore in the early 40s and IMO he was a better fighter in the early 50s when he became a fully fledged 175lb HIS BEST WEIGHT. moore was a top 50 heavyweight of all time and had a heavyweight prime EARLY 50S. so u have to count that too



joe louis beat max baer in 1935 which LOUIS HIMSELF said was his best fight of his career. though louis was not at his peak, he was defintley in his prime in 1935.


max schmeling said his peak was 1936 vs joe louis. i think we should listen to max.





ur wrong about langford, langfords prime as a heavyweight was defintley 1910-1914 where he was 185-200lb at the peak of his career. to say he was in his heavyweight prime after 1914 is ludicrous. he lost to bums, and started losing to wills alot more. langford even got dominated by fred fulton which goes to show u how gone langford was. 1911 langford knocks out fred fulton and harry wills easily, please stop saying langfords heavyweight prime was later on because facts and his record says otherwise.



robinson peaked in 1949 when he beat top 10 welterweight kid gavilan IMO



nelson fought one of the best fights of his career vs sanchez, he was defintley in his prime then.



peps arguebally best fight was the rematch vs saddler, ive seen film of pep pre plane crash and i did not notice any aging or slowing down signs post plane crash until after the 3rd saddler fight.



aruello was not in his prime at lightweight, he was up 5lb his best fighting weight and started to struggle more in some of his fights against less competition. arguello was defintley not in his prime vs pryor.