MYTH OR NOT- AGGRESSIVE SLUGGERS DONT HAVE A LONG CAREER!

i've heard this said many a time, i heard larry merchant say this about tyson, marciano, frazier etc
they say that fighters of the marciano-tyson-frazier mold cant have long careers instead short blazing careers.

i mean lets see, tyson fought for 20 years. 3 nd half years he fought with good defense, he became a slugger and took alot of shots for the other 17 years. but still he looked great even after 20 years for onli a few rounds tho (cos of heart and hunger reasons)

tua as been a pro since 1992 or 1993 and is still fighting, he relys more on his cross arm peek a boo unlike tyson who relys mainly on head movement. both similar type of fighters.

what do you guys think, is this a myth?

No it's not a myth. aggressive sluggers don't have a long career. But they're sure fun to watch.

If all boxers fights like Floyd Mayweather Jr, boxing would be a boring sport.

Foreman was an aggressive fighter and he went on to fight a very long time so I dunno.
Overall there may be a lot of truth in it. Training like Hatton for instance is bound to take its toll on the body and wear it down somewhat. Proof is in the pudding though, many aggressive sluggers have had shortish (and spectacular) careers.

i forgot to say, only for heavyweights.
and i wont count foreman, i know he's a slugger but i mean short stocky sluggers like tyson, frazier , marciano tua.

Jake Lamotta
George Foreman
Marvin Hagler all had pretty long careers.



Sorry i was just about to reply then i see you was only on about Heavyweights but yes in most cases sluggers don't last long because of the punches they take ect.

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Originally Posted by Lionheart Lacy

i've heard this said many a time, i heard larry merchant say this about tyson, marciano, frazier etc
they say that fighters of the marciano-tyson-frazier mold cant have long careers instead short blazing careers.

i mean lets see, tyson fought for 20 years. 3 nd half years he fought with good defense, he became a slugger and took alot of shots for the other 17 years. but still he looked great even after 20 years for onli a few rounds tho (cos of heart and hunger reasons)

tua as been a pro since 1992 or 1993 and is still fighting, he relys more on his cross arm peek a boo unlike tyson who relys mainly on head movement. both similar type of fighters.

what do you guys think, is this a myth?

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They may have fought that long but when he said short careers he meant in the aspect of where they are on top of their game in prime condition.....They absorb a lot of shots and it takes from thir physical prime

I know it's criminal to call him just a slugger but Duran lasted through 5 decades, some fighters are just born to last. JCC too.

Look at the sorry state of Meldrick Taylor, or Pernell Whitaker at the moment, I don't there are any hard and fast rules, fighters just burn out when father time knocks on the door.

There will always be exceptions to the case, but in general I would have to say this is true. (Perhaps it should be that the shouldn't rather than don't have long careers...)

Careers and there length depends on what goes on in the gym. Ive seen many end there.

George Foreman had an extremely long career

excellent example big dan, CC from me mate;) even tho not a heavyweight he fought for ages with a similar style to Tyson, great head movement, sometimes used the cross defense (peekaboo like archie moore). he lasted for 5 decades.

what i really wanted to know was if a tyson sort of style last for a long time, 1) would he have been able to do all the headmovement and footwork he did in his prime, later in his career?
2)would he still have kept the EXPLOSIVE power.

i think if you have a good defense like a tyson or a duran then you could last, the explosiveness does stay with u as Duran proved, he moved up in weight and was knocking down guys who went all the to the heavyweight division (iran barkley).

i think hunger is a big factor too. i dont think tyson would have been able to last 5 decades cos he would have got bored even if he stayed with rooney. but big dan u put it nicely, SOME FIGHTERS ARE BORN TO LAST. duran said it, he didnt wanna retire cos thats all he knew how to do, FIGHT.

;)

I know what you mean Lacy, I think fighters that have never been sparked out cold tend to be the ones that have long careers, Hopkins, Winky, Mayweather, Vitali Klitschko, their bodies will wear out due to injuries long before people whink "Oh my god there's no way this guy should carry on". Fighters like Holyfield, Morales, Kevin Kelly and many others at the minute, your watching from behind the sofa these days because they've faded so badly and have taking too many beatings.

Sluggers do have long careers but they are not relevant for long. Especially the ones who abandon defense. You cant be an old man still slugging. If you want to have a long career and still matter eventually you going to add some boxing into the mix. You always have sluggers that ran into a boxer that box their head off and after that theirs go down hill.

As far as overgeneralization goes, of course sluggers that stand and trade are going to have shorter careers, as their 'slugger' moniker implies they take and give more punishment.

There will be anomolies, gym work will come into play, noone will take the exact
same punishment as anyone else, and factors outside of the ring will have impact (i.e. drugs, prostitutes, and living like a rock star) but.............

As a rule of thumb someone that stands there and gets hit a lot won't have as long of a career
as someone that's more defensive.

its my fault for not expaining properly, but i'll try n explain.

ofcourse sluggers like gatti and now katsidis type of fighters who give and take, are exciting fighters but eventually wear out, more so mentally than physically imo.

i shouldnt have mentioned marciano or tua altho tua shows alot more defense than marciano and fraizer.

its comin to me now what i was trying to write in the first place, sorry about this!
i wondered if a SLICK aggressive fighter like TYSON be able to do his thang even in the later years, be slick with his head movement, have decent footwork. guys that dont get hit alot but are aggressive. HW or not.

i got my answer now, a great example would be Roberto Duran (thanks to big dan)! he fought for 5 decades. AWESOME. also iw atched the tyson williams fight today and saw he still had the explosiveness. i think it depends on the fighter, the hunger etc. but a pure slugger l;ike marciano, gatti, katsidis dont have long careers AT TOP LEVEL!

thanks all of you for the replies! ;) :)

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Originally Posted by Lyle

George Foreman had an extremely long career

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I would rather say, it depends on the attitude of the boxer. Tyson did not last long because of his attitude.Boxers who don't last long usually have attitudinal problems that are unusual.

For example, I am predicting that Manny PAcquaio will not last long because he somewhat like hates training and keeping in shape. When you hear somebody talking about the physical fatigue he is having during training, it's sure he won't last long in boxing.He will find other ways to earn a living. Jake Lamotta is also a good example to this.