Retirement..age vs mileage?

[El Kabong]

Pressure fighters age out quicker than most...Tyson, Hatton, Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson, Aaron Pryor....those are the fighters with all the moving pieces and who take damage to inflict punishment of their own. At age 27-29 they slow down a great deal.

Guys who can hit and not get hit last longer.....guys who can absorb punishment can last even longer depending on who they are fighting. Ali took a lot of damage, James Toney, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe even...they lasted long stretches, but their health has/will suffer because of it.



I think you've got so many punches, so many rounds, so much damage you can take over an amount of time and there's only so much you can heal up afterwards. I think you have to take it on a fighter by fighter basis...look at Willie Pep, fought 241 fights and was still fresh as a daisy because he rarely got hit and then you've got 'The American Dream' David Reid who only fought 19 total bouts because ptosis and other eye troubles namely Tito Trinidad detatching his retina because Tito hit him hard and often, and he had eye troubles since the Olympic trials.

[Alpha]

Depends on the fighter really, I've always believed that everyone tends to lose a step around 28, in all types of sport.

For boxing you need to add in gym wars/ sparring, style, knockouts or wars. Then genetics comes into it and lifestyle. Many factors contribute.

[Spicoli]

I think mileage, wear and tear and it's quality have more to do with it than age. The thing is I think it's a minority of boxers that can actually choose to retire. Age and time pass as the young just try to get another taste of the once big checks and large venues with a belt and ultimately it's the mileage and reputation for it that keeps them in. Next thing you know you're Livingstone Bramble or Demarcus Corley. Many many guys today who are flirting with one tough war too many but the 'name' trumps common sense in match making and we see them again, Juan M Lopez, Mike Alvarado, Soto Karass, Adamek, Orlando Cruz, Brandon Rios are doing nothing but collecting damage and should already be out. Guys like Hopkins looked at age and mastered-manipulated it and it feels literally had two completely separate but successful careers. I guess you can say the same for Foreman who made age a selling point and proved that walking away before 30 and actually maturing and growing wise with age breathes life into a second career. A head like a oak tree stump and concussive right-left also helped.

[Slim the BoxingManiac]

I think mileage, wear and tear and it's quality have more to do with it than age. The thing is I think it's a minority of boxers that can actually choose to retire. Age and time pass as the young just try to get another taste of the once big checks and large venues with a belt and ultimately it's the mileage and reputation for it that keeps them in. Next thing you know you're Livingstone Bramble or Demarcus Corley. Many many guys today who are flirting with one tough war too many but the 'name' trumps common sense in match making and we see them again, Juan M Lopez, Mike Alvarado, Soto Karass, Adamek, Orlando Cruz, Brandon Rios are doing nothing but collecting damage and should already be out. Guys like Hopkins looked at age and mastered-manipulated it and it feels literally had two completely separate but successful careers. I guess you can say the same for Foreman who made age a selling point and proved that walking away before 30 and actually maturing and growing wise with age breathes life into a second career. A head like a oak tree stump and concussive right-left also helped.

I personally feel Old Foreman was superior to Young Foreman, and that he would have demolished any version of Tyson

[Master]

I think mileage, wear and tear and it's quality have more to do with it than age. The thing is I think it's a minority of boxers that can actually choose to retire. Age and time pass as the young just try to get another taste of the once big checks and large venues with a belt and ultimately it's the mileage and reputation for it that keeps them in. Next thing you know you're Livingstone Bramble or Demarcus Corley. Many many guys today who are flirting with one tough war too many but the 'name' trumps common sense in match making and we see them again, Juan M Lopez, Mike Alvarado, Soto Karass, Adamek, Orlando Cruz, Brandon Rios are doing nothing but collecting damage and should already be out. Guys like Hopkins looked at age and mastered-manipulated it and it feels literally had two completely separate but successful careers. I guess you can say the same for Foreman who made age a selling point and proved that walking away before 30 and actually maturing and growing wise with age breathes life into a second career. A head like a oak tree stump and concussive right-left also helped.

I personally feel Old Foreman was superior to Young Foreman, and that he would have demolished any version of Tyson

Old Foreman had the experience and intelligence to pace himself but not the physicality that youth would have given him. Add the 2 together and you get the near perfect heavyweight.

[p4pking]

Some good points. I’d think of it as being less about mileage, as punishment taken, and individuals genetics and brain chemistry. For someone like Hopkins, obviously he was better at 35 than 45, but he was able to use the mileage as experience, adapt his style and stay effective. Lots of guys have been like that. Obviously not being badly hurt along the way helps immensely. Someone like Foreman was just a freak of nature, but maybe the long layoff helped his body/brain recover. Whether guys are actually being concussed, and how their brain responds to that is paramount. It often happens in sparring and we never hear about it. It is a complex thing.

[Slim the BoxingManiac]

Yo can we talk about Archie Moore for a second

Dude was a legitimate boxing genius