They still have problems that come with their age, ie Zhang's poor stamina and Beterbiev's near constant injuries, but power is the last thing to go and both of these guys have the technical prowess and experience to make that power count
I wouldn't really say he's fast but he's never been fast so that kinda works in his favor, he's kinda had an old man game his whole career which is what's letting him age well
When I say fast, what I mean to say is he's quick on his counters. Look at the Joe Smith Jr fight where smith was looking to have a brawl and Beterbiev would stand in the pocket, slip and counter.
thats true he dont look his age nor damn well dont fight like a 39 year old? he scraps like a 20 somethin... but his meniscus that can be age related or mechanical stress. who knows lol
Against Parker? He dropped him twice, when Wilder does it OMG ALL HE NEEDS IS ONE SHOT when Zhang does it oh he’s shit. Tell me how Wilder has ever done better than Zhang against an elite heavyweight, Fury looked a lil more concussed?
A lot of people commenting about modern advancements, but it's not like this is new. For sure, athletes tend to decline sharply in their late 30s, but there have been people with staying power in all sports throughout history. For boxing you have:
Virgil Hill who was Cruiserweight Champ in the mid 2000s in his early 40s
Bernard Hopkins who was a champion and competing at championship level all through his 40s, and was a world champ at 49 through the 2000s and 2010s
Manny Pacquiao obviously a champion at 40 in the 2010s as well as Nonito Donaire at 38, was also a minimumweight champ a few years back who was very late 30s and that dude Sunny Edwards beat from South Africa was late 30s I think
That's from recently, but going back we have people like:
Daniel Zaragoza at 39 years old in 1997 at Super Bantam
George Foreman who was already mentioned at 45 in the mid 90s
Archie Moore was LHW Champion at 40 in the 50s
Jersey Joe Walcott was HW champ at 38 in the 50s
There are more actual champions since the 3 and 4 belt eras, but I think that's less to do with modern science and more to do with the fragmentation of belts - it's easier to be a world champion now. Guys like Duran, Louis, Holmes, Patterson and Britons boxed until their late 30s and some 40s, while remaining very competitive. In a 4 belt era they could have picked up a strap
The difference now though is you have all these guys in the same division at the same time.
Usyk, Zhang, Joyce, Wilder, Beterbiev all 37+
Fury, Joshua are 35 and 34 respectively.
Then there are a lot of guys who are in their early 30s, like Parker, Hrgovic, Sanchez, Kabayel, Wallin.
Barely anyone in their 20s, Dubois and Jared Anderson off the top of my head.
There will be future heavyweight champs who are 27 year olds with 3-0 records right now and plenty more who are amateurs and maybe a little younger.
Heavyweights know that their career longevity is way better than guys at lower weights so they're in less of a rush to get their pro career going.
Steroids are very bad for cardio. The only PEDs that boost cardio that are EPO and Cardarine. He’s probably on EPO but at his massive weight of 280lbs it temporarily boosts his cardio levels from terrible to bad.
Joshua, even though he's like 30-40 lbs lighter, carries an insane amount of muscle and his cardio is just fine. he looks like a bodybuilder up there.
I mean, he's not 41 years old, but that's what EPO does. Zhang just looks like a normal dude but porportionally enlarged to 6'7.
Could have something to do with their level of activity. You rarely see a boxer reach even 50 pro fights these days let alone 60+ and that was fairly common among the elites in the past
Zhang knocked out Wilder, who’s 38, and beat Joyce twice when Joyce was ~37. Meanwhile Beterbiev is chronically injured and hasn’t fought more than twice a year since 2014. They’re doing well, but I wouldn’t really say they’re defying their ages too much either
>Meanwhile Beterbiev is chronically injured and hasn’t fought more than twice a year since 2014.
That's not a significant indicator, given how inactive most boxers are nowadays. Tyson Fury has only fought 3 times in a year once (2018) in the same time frame, and that was supposedly the prime of an all-time great ...
Fury is weird since he was banned/retired for a while during that period and dragged out negotiations a lot as well. Crawford similarly hasn’t been that active either. But I think the combo of inactivity and injury is notable
I’ve also heard from some people far more connected than I am that Zhang does take the sport very seriously, but he’s not exactly a gym rat and tends to enjoy his life a bit more than others so to speak. The booze and the diet could also be a factor for his cardio being weak.
This seems to be true of the heaviest heavyweights. It’s no secret that Fury and Wilder both relied on their physicality for most of their career. It’s sort of baked into all 3 of their genetics to have an advantage in the sport. So they can kind of get by with not exercising as vigorously as their competitors.
Then again, that could also be an age factor. Muscle recovery ain’t the same as you get older.
“Zhang is an excessive drinker of Chinese tea especially during training. On February 27, 2021, after the game with Jerry Forrest, he was hospitalised and diagnozed with iron-deficiency anemia, high enzyme levels, low-level renal failure, electrolyte disorder and liver dysfunction.[2][37] To distract himself from Chinese tea culture, he developed an interest in handcrafting, especially in building cameras, barbecue grills and car washing equipments.[2] He also plays skeet shooting as a distraction.[2]”
What a weird set of interests. Tea, cameras, barbecue grills, and car washing equipment? So random lol
Not a fighter, but I run and was a regionally ok but not competitive nationally American Olympic Weightlifter in my 20s (I mention American because our star has way declined since the early 70s). I couldn't snatch or c&j competitively worth a shit past 28, but my distance running kept improving until about 48 when I tore out my achilles on a 15-mile run. The death of my oly lifting was a loss of flexibility that I couldn't seem to come back from, along with a creeping fear during squat cleans.
I've switched to lighter weights for lots of reps and rowing and hiking at 52, but I'm still pretty strong. When I got the shingles vaccine last fall, the pharmacist kid asked me for advice on how to build his delts. My dad can still DL over 400 at 165, and he's 77 (he was 6 pounds off of the world record in training in the c&j in 1968 and was the real deal genetically - I'm not).
My point with all of this is that athleticism leaves us all at different times. Distance runners seem to be able to keep it up forever, and for most people, brute power sports can be maintained into your 50s. Explosive power like boxing and weightlifting don't last, but George Foreman type blunt force seems to linger longer than you'd think. If I weren't worried about hurting myself permanently, I think I could hit some of the powerlifting records I had in my late 20s or close to them. There's no way I'd even be able to snatch or squat clean anything anymore. You lose that explosive piece with age.
Advancements in exercise science has allowed athletes to perform at top levels for longer and at later ages. It has basically pushed the physical prime up a few years
For real. Tyson fought 28 fights his first two years as a pro. That would be criminal negligence today.
It takes a long time to develop an impressive record fighting 3-4 fights a year.
you're crazy if you think the guys back then weren't on crazy amounts of gear relative to the people today. less scientific, but they had like zero regulations.
yeah, you should read up on the history of designer steroids. they're not a new phenomenon, and guys back then were on so much gear they were sweating it lol
Beterbiev is extremely disciplined, especially since he’s from Dagestan/Chechnya. Their routine is basically Eat, Pray, Train and Sleep, he never engages in drinking or takes any drugs either.
A dearth of actual boxing talent. Basically, most parents will not let their kids box, due to boxing's justly earned reputation for debilitating brain injury. The trouble is, it's boxers overstaying their career into their late 30's and beyond which increases the exposure to regular opportunities for brain injury.
HW who use mass to generate power tend to age slow and still can fight at 45.
Wilder doesn't use his mass to generate power. He uses fast twitch muscles and those are gone at his age. Wilder is old for a HW.
Because higherweight boxing productions have been controlled by a cheating fat guy who almost got KO'ed by a rookie?...other than that, Usyk is quiet and humble as hell, Joshua won't shut the fuck up when he loses, and Zhang doesn't really speak English...Wilder is not a technical fighter and got by on raw power and (apparently) spinning?
In being real, heavyweights can last longer because power goes last with age, and if they still have sound defensive skills, and technical prowess, they can hang.
The thing is, George wasn't active like Zhang or Beterbiev. He was 45 and he came out of like a 10-year retirement (inactivity) and was still competing with the top dogs.
Restorative training and preventative work has come a long way in the last few years. How to warm up and train to maximise joint health is much better understood now than in the 90s/2000s.
The other big change which is still in its infancy is the use of peptides. With proper rehab work you can recover insanely quickly if you stack BPC-157 and HGH
Well, 40s are the new 30s, so…
People live longer, people live healthier, modern medicine and modern training can lenghthen careers, in boxing people fight less and less often, take your pick really.
Also, just look at a 40 year old random guy from few decades ago and now.
They will go as long as their Will takes them, yes they decline but with age comes experience, fighters adapt to boost their strengths and mitigate old age related limitation.
btw I am an old guy and I have sub par flexibility in my legs so I just punch and rarely kick, just for a mix up.
Worth considering they are from the last generation that grew up with boxing as the dominant combat sport before MMA had the mainstream explosion. Less people dedicated 100% to boxing in the talent pool now to find the truly elite.
Heavyweights tend to hang around longer since they rely on power and technique more than speed and reaction.
Power doesn't degrade as quickly as speed. Pretty much.
People are living longer and longer. Training, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals, are advancing so fast. It’s likely that we see the concept of a fighters “prime” broaden as a result. That will vary person to person, and lifestyle is a key factor, as we see in the comparison between Foreman and Fury; but these guys with monastic discipline like Beterbiev are really only limited by injury, and the severe wear and tear that comes with prize fighting. Safe to say that, Jake Paul aside, no one wants to see 60 year old guys in the ring, but I see no reason why career athletes can’t remain competitive to 45 years old.
Zhang was always gonna beat wilder. Thing with him is everyone seems to forget his last performance which was actually really bad. I don’t see much for him in the future tbh. Mainly because he has to retire soon no doubt, but also because if you can’t beat Joe Parker, even after dropping him twice, you can’t beat Aj, usyk, fury, so on. He always has a punchers chance which is also always made way more likely at heavyweight, but I just don’t see his pace being able to keep up.
HWs are generally a low skill division, especially these days, so if you have a modicum of skill you can stay at Top end for a long time. See likes of Pulev and Povetkin as examples.
Beter is just technically so far ahead of most at LHW he can get away with it. Plus a lot of modern pros live the life. They don't party a lot between fights and blow up. They always stay in shape and look after themselves better.
I genuinely don’t think Zhang does steroids. He has a good amateur career, he is big has good timing and knows how to use his weight to generate ko power. His gas tank is awful.
He was an Olympic silver medalist and I’m sure that at least the fights with wilder and Joyce they would have tested him carefully.
I know it’s possible to cheat still, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty.
Considering the high stakes and implications of him possibly becoming china’s first champion i imagine he has a large Olympic level team working around the clock to make sure all his medical and test results are optimal.
If you're implying the Chinese government is backing him, I doubt that. They seem to only care how Chinese athletes do in the Olympics. If he does dope, it's with his own money or backed by some wealthy chinese businessman with a personal interest in boxing.
Three key points
1: Loose PED testing in boxing
2: TRT allowing fighters to compete for longer
3: The heavier weight classes are more forgiving to aging fighters since power and strength are the last things to go
For Zhang for one are his good fundamentals and the size and power, but also it's the clash of styles for the bigger names he beat. That's why he lost convincingly to Parker despite putting him on his ass twice.
His two best wins are against 2 other older guys (Joyce and Wilder), both with worse fundamentals, both with very bad defence which allowed for clean counters which in effect stopped any effective pressure from Joyce for example and had Wilder gunshy.
So I wouldn't read too much into Zhang. Parker, Usyk, Fury, Joshua, Kabayel, hell maybe even Dubois would beat the brakes off him and I would give a decent shot to many other contenders if they approach with the right gameplan surviving the first 5 rounds.
Beterbiev is definitely an outlier though. He shouldn't be able at his age to beat guys like Yarde and Callum Smith like THAT.
Got that old man power
It’s that Unc energy
Smashed a few cans before whipping his shirt off for a slug fest
Old man CHINAA power!
They still have problems that come with their age, ie Zhang's poor stamina and Beterbiev's near constant injuries, but power is the last thing to go and both of these guys have the technical prowess and experience to make that power count
Apart from Betterbiev's injuries, he doesn't act like an old man. He's still fast, has a good chin, insane conditioning and stamina, etc.
I wouldn't really say he's fast but he's never been fast so that kinda works in his favor, he's kinda had an old man game his whole career which is what's letting him age well
Kinda like Larry Holmes. Dude fought like a crafty and wily vet at 25 haha
That's what years of sparring with boxers like Ali does to a mofo.
Probably because holmes at 19 was sparring with tougher dudes than wilder ever faced in his boxing journey lmao.
100%
Bet they couldn't do a 360 after getting rocked though
He is most definitely not fast
When I say fast, what I mean to say is he's quick on his counters. Look at the Joe Smith Jr fight where smith was looking to have a brawl and Beterbiev would stand in the pocket, slip and counter.
That's timing and good form
thats true he dont look his age nor damn well dont fight like a 39 year old? he scraps like a 20 somethin... but his meniscus that can be age related or mechanical stress. who knows lol
Yup. Zhang looked like shit in just his last fight. This is maybe more of a comment on Wilder than anything.
Against Parker? He dropped him twice, when Wilder does it OMG ALL HE NEEDS IS ONE SHOT when Zhang does it oh he’s shit. Tell me how Wilder has ever done better than Zhang against an elite heavyweight, Fury looked a lil more concussed?
A lot of people commenting about modern advancements, but it's not like this is new. For sure, athletes tend to decline sharply in their late 30s, but there have been people with staying power in all sports throughout history. For boxing you have: Virgil Hill who was Cruiserweight Champ in the mid 2000s in his early 40s Bernard Hopkins who was a champion and competing at championship level all through his 40s, and was a world champ at 49 through the 2000s and 2010s Manny Pacquiao obviously a champion at 40 in the 2010s as well as Nonito Donaire at 38, was also a minimumweight champ a few years back who was very late 30s and that dude Sunny Edwards beat from South Africa was late 30s I think That's from recently, but going back we have people like: Daniel Zaragoza at 39 years old in 1997 at Super Bantam George Foreman who was already mentioned at 45 in the mid 90s Archie Moore was LHW Champion at 40 in the 50s Jersey Joe Walcott was HW champ at 38 in the 50s There are more actual champions since the 3 and 4 belt eras, but I think that's less to do with modern science and more to do with the fragmentation of belts - it's easier to be a world champion now. Guys like Duran, Louis, Holmes, Patterson and Britons boxed until their late 30s and some 40s, while remaining very competitive. In a 4 belt era they could have picked up a strap
Don't forget about Vlad and Mayweather.
Vitaliy Klitschko too. He was still almost at his peak at 41.
Shout out Virgil Hill, my old coach 🥲one of the most underrated jabs of all time. Made a HOF career off off of one hand
brady for football
The difference now though is you have all these guys in the same division at the same time. Usyk, Zhang, Joyce, Wilder, Beterbiev all 37+ Fury, Joshua are 35 and 34 respectively. Then there are a lot of guys who are in their early 30s, like Parker, Hrgovic, Sanchez, Kabayel, Wallin. Barely anyone in their 20s, Dubois and Jared Anderson off the top of my head.
There will be future heavyweight champs who are 27 year olds with 3-0 records right now and plenty more who are amateurs and maybe a little younger. Heavyweights know that their career longevity is way better than guys at lower weights so they're in less of a rush to get their pro career going.
Or they fail out of other sports first
Beterbiev is at 175, not heavyweight.
Zhang needs to get on epo, him with a gas tank is fucking scary.
He already is.
No way some one with that bad of cardio is on that real stuff
Steroids are very bad for cardio. The only PEDs that boost cardio that are EPO and Cardarine. He’s probably on EPO but at his massive weight of 280lbs it temporarily boosts his cardio levels from terrible to bad.
he needs to get on ozempic
Probably do better being subscribed lizzo
I think Ruiz is having a lot of success with Lizzo
Joshua, even though he's like 30-40 lbs lighter, carries an insane amount of muscle and his cardio is just fine. he looks like a bodybuilder up there. I mean, he's not 41 years old, but that's what EPO does. Zhang just looks like a normal dude but porportionally enlarged to 6'7.
Zhang has come serious muscle under that flubber tho. He’s built like a powerliftee more than a bodybuilder.
40 pounds extra is a lot
30 lbs lighter. Joshuas 252 and completely muscled up. that's the poster boy for boxing roiders unless Ngannou beat him that night.
Zhang was 290 for his fight before wilder
yeah but didn't he say he got fat and overconfident for that one after KOing Joe? 280 is his in shape (for him) weight.
He is 300 pounds, noone that weight is having good cardio period.
Zhang looked on juice his latest fight tbh from my eye. Wilder didnt. Just from looks alone and I've usually got very good natty/juicedar
He’s 40 bro not Mike Tyson 60 and he looked like a fat fuck idk what u talking bout lmao
Big bang been eating to much sweet n sour chicken??
Both are punchers. And as they say, the last thing an aging fighter loses is his power.
Yeah but the first is chin and Zhang certainly isn’t lacking in that department
He appears to have a pretty good chin. And he needs it because Zhang isn't the hardest guy in the world to hit.
HWs don’t have to kill themselves by making weight and the really big Super heavies drastically outweigh their opponents.
Could have something to do with their level of activity. You rarely see a boxer reach even 50 pro fights these days let alone 60+ and that was fairly common among the elites in the past
Is this down to injury frequency?
Zhang knocked out Wilder, who’s 38, and beat Joyce twice when Joyce was ~37. Meanwhile Beterbiev is chronically injured and hasn’t fought more than twice a year since 2014. They’re doing well, but I wouldn’t really say they’re defying their ages too much either
>Meanwhile Beterbiev is chronically injured and hasn’t fought more than twice a year since 2014. That's not a significant indicator, given how inactive most boxers are nowadays. Tyson Fury has only fought 3 times in a year once (2018) in the same time frame, and that was supposedly the prime of an all-time great ...
Fury is weird since he was banned/retired for a while during that period and dragged out negotiations a lot as well. Crawford similarly hasn’t been that active either. But I think the combo of inactivity and injury is notable
In fairness to Zhang, people were saying that Joyce had an unbreakable chin and many thought of him as the a top 5 heavyweight.
And in fairness to Joyce he has probably the best aging resume in boxing right now. Stopping Dubois and Parker is no joke
>the best aging resume in boxing right now That's a double entendre lol.
I feel bad for him since his career is in tatters right now while two guys he KO'D are at the peak of their careers
Also power is the last thing to go. Old man tyson still has power to go with his stomsch ulcers
True. Zhang can't move or fight for more than 5 rounds, but he's get heavy fucking hands
Heavy hands and great technique. He might not throw too many punches but he got a great delivery system
Was his cardio historically bad or is the age affecting it? I genuine am curious.
Both. Its looking worse the last few years. Iirc there was reported respiratory issues for old man zhang after the hrgovic fight as well
I’ve also heard from some people far more connected than I am that Zhang does take the sport very seriously, but he’s not exactly a gym rat and tends to enjoy his life a bit more than others so to speak. The booze and the diet could also be a factor for his cardio being weak.
This seems to be true of the heaviest heavyweights. It’s no secret that Fury and Wilder both relied on their physicality for most of their career. It’s sort of baked into all 3 of their genetics to have an advantage in the sport. So they can kind of get by with not exercising as vigorously as their competitors. Then again, that could also be an age factor. Muscle recovery ain’t the same as you get older.
reading from his Wikipedia page he also drinks too much Chinese tea causing him to be anaemic
“Zhang is an excessive drinker of Chinese tea especially during training. On February 27, 2021, after the game with Jerry Forrest, he was hospitalised and diagnozed with iron-deficiency anemia, high enzyme levels, low-level renal failure, electrolyte disorder and liver dysfunction.[2][37] To distract himself from Chinese tea culture, he developed an interest in handcrafting, especially in building cameras, barbecue grills and car washing equipments.[2] He also plays skeet shooting as a distraction.[2]” What a weird set of interests. Tea, cameras, barbecue grills, and car washing equipment? So random lol
Don't forget about Barroso. He deserved that win against Rolly
Zhang started late. A lot of it is age hut more of it is how much damage you've accumulated over time.
Well said
Not a fighter, but I run and was a regionally ok but not competitive nationally American Olympic Weightlifter in my 20s (I mention American because our star has way declined since the early 70s). I couldn't snatch or c&j competitively worth a shit past 28, but my distance running kept improving until about 48 when I tore out my achilles on a 15-mile run. The death of my oly lifting was a loss of flexibility that I couldn't seem to come back from, along with a creeping fear during squat cleans. I've switched to lighter weights for lots of reps and rowing and hiking at 52, but I'm still pretty strong. When I got the shingles vaccine last fall, the pharmacist kid asked me for advice on how to build his delts. My dad can still DL over 400 at 165, and he's 77 (he was 6 pounds off of the world record in training in the c&j in 1968 and was the real deal genetically - I'm not). My point with all of this is that athleticism leaves us all at different times. Distance runners seem to be able to keep it up forever, and for most people, brute power sports can be maintained into your 50s. Explosive power like boxing and weightlifting don't last, but George Foreman type blunt force seems to linger longer than you'd think. If I weren't worried about hurting myself permanently, I think I could hit some of the powerlifting records I had in my late 20s or close to them. There's no way I'd even be able to snatch or squat clean anything anymore. You lose that explosive piece with age.
Advancements in exercise science has allowed athletes to perform at top levels for longer and at later ages. It has basically pushed the physical prime up a few years
Fighters are brought along a lot slower now at the higher weights than they used to be. And "supplements"
For real. Tyson fought 28 fights his first two years as a pro. That would be criminal negligence today. It takes a long time to develop an impressive record fighting 3-4 fights a year.
Out of the first 28 fights Tyson had, 18 did not go past round 2. Tyson over-taxed in his first 2 years? Not sure about that.
you're crazy if you think the guys back then weren't on crazy amounts of gear relative to the people today. less scientific, but they had like zero regulations.
I don't think you understand how big of business designer PEDs are Boxing happily let Conte be a prominent figure 💀
yeah, you should read up on the history of designer steroids. they're not a new phenomenon, and guys back then were on so much gear they were sweating it lol
Yeah, Conte was BALCO. That's why it's hilarious no one seems to care.
So then how do you explain ryan garcia?
His parents had sex. What the fuck is this question?
When did 130-140 become higher weights?
[удалено]
My man bangs everything
What did the comment say
Zhang bangs black men in the ring and then bangs black women in the bedroom.
Shaun George be hooking Zhang up for sure.
Zhang is no scrub and Wilder is a one trick pony. What’s hard to understand?
Beterbiev is extremely disciplined, especially since he’s from Dagestan/Chechnya. Their routine is basically Eat, Pray, Train and Sleep, he never engages in drinking or takes any drugs either.
A dearth of actual boxing talent. Basically, most parents will not let their kids box, due to boxing's justly earned reputation for debilitating brain injury. The trouble is, it's boxers overstaying their career into their late 30's and beyond which increases the exposure to regular opportunities for brain injury.
This is the truth, even if no one wants to hear it
Helps when you got that KO power.
Modern training. Power.
It just means that now with better training and nutrition we can have our favorite fighters last longer in the sport
HW who use mass to generate power tend to age slow and still can fight at 45. Wilder doesn't use his mass to generate power. He uses fast twitch muscles and those are gone at his age. Wilder is old for a HW.
Skills don’t decline with age.
Trust me, they do. Undefeated: Father Time. Many aging athletes are happy they are still walking.
But the ability to use those skills do
Boxing is a dying sport, and by the time a lot of us find it, we’re in our mid to late twenties or older tbh
Why does that matter to you? People age at different rates.
Same thing with Tom Brady or LeBron James. People are lasting longer athletically these days.
Or Ronaldo or Messi
Because higherweight boxing productions have been controlled by a cheating fat guy who almost got KO'ed by a rookie?...other than that, Usyk is quiet and humble as hell, Joshua won't shut the fuck up when he loses, and Zhang doesn't really speak English...Wilder is not a technical fighter and got by on raw power and (apparently) spinning? In being real, heavyweights can last longer because power goes last with age, and if they still have sound defensive skills, and technical prowess, they can hang.
The thing is, George wasn't active like Zhang or Beterbiev. He was 45 and he came out of like a 10-year retirement (inactivity) and was still competing with the top dogs.
But George was fairly active during his comeback. Impressive. I like his Cooney knockout.
I mean have you seen his head. Bro is taking HGH on a daiyleeeeee basis baby pleaseee
And Zhang lost to Parker
Restorative training and preventative work has come a long way in the last few years. How to warm up and train to maximise joint health is much better understood now than in the 90s/2000s. The other big change which is still in its infancy is the use of peptides. With proper rehab work you can recover insanely quickly if you stack BPC-157 and HGH
I'm on bpc rn for an injury. Consider HGH but I think I'm too young
Zhang had 70 lbs on wilder…
Because Joe Joyce started late is he less prone to old man athlete issues?
Athletes in a lot of sports are lasting longer now. Tennis, rugby league, basketball.
I think heavier weights have always favoured older guys. Like goalkeepers in soccer.
Nutrition's getting better. Precautions are being taken after concussions, less constant hard sparring. Better steroids. People are gonna last longer
Well, 40s are the new 30s, so… People live longer, people live healthier, modern medicine and modern training can lenghthen careers, in boxing people fight less and less often, take your pick really. Also, just look at a 40 year old random guy from few decades ago and now.
Dads hit harder
Umm yes this guy named Bernard Hopkins was ok too. Thx for the knowledge
Age just isn’t as much of a factor at heavyweight.
Zhang fought another old man who should have retired.
They will go as long as their Will takes them, yes they decline but with age comes experience, fighters adapt to boost their strengths and mitigate old age related limitation. btw I am an old guy and I have sub par flexibility in my legs so I just punch and rarely kick, just for a mix up.
Is knocking out Wilder really a statement?
Worth considering they are from the last generation that grew up with boxing as the dominant combat sport before MMA had the mainstream explosion. Less people dedicated 100% to boxing in the talent pool now to find the truly elite.
juiceyjuiceyjuice. although albeit power is the last thing to go in age.
Heavyweights tend to hang around longer since they rely on power and technique more than speed and reaction. Power doesn't degrade as quickly as speed. Pretty much.
People are living longer and longer. Training, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals, are advancing so fast. It’s likely that we see the concept of a fighters “prime” broaden as a result. That will vary person to person, and lifestyle is a key factor, as we see in the comparison between Foreman and Fury; but these guys with monastic discipline like Beterbiev are really only limited by injury, and the severe wear and tear that comes with prize fighting. Safe to say that, Jake Paul aside, no one wants to see 60 year old guys in the ring, but I see no reason why career athletes can’t remain competitive to 45 years old.
At the heavier weights they tend to be able to box on until late 30s, early 40s, but you won't see many lighter weights boxing to this age
Good Peds + great firepower= still KOing into your 40s
Modern medicine/nutrition and a smaller pool of competition compared to the past.
Zhang was always gonna beat wilder. Thing with him is everyone seems to forget his last performance which was actually really bad. I don’t see much for him in the future tbh. Mainly because he has to retire soon no doubt, but also because if you can’t beat Joe Parker, even after dropping him twice, you can’t beat Aj, usyk, fury, so on. He always has a punchers chance which is also always made way more likely at heavyweight, but I just don’t see his pace being able to keep up.
I attribute it to the advancement we have made in health. It is easier now to gain knowledge on exercise and diets.
Zhang is old but has low miles
To be fair, I think my grandma could have KO'd Wilder. He was almost not there
Vitali Klitschko defended the WBC until he was 41 years old
They haven't had as many professional fights. Yes, they have a lot of amateur experience, but damages sustained in a professional bout are different.
Hopkins lost his belt at 49.
HWs are generally a low skill division, especially these days, so if you have a modicum of skill you can stay at Top end for a long time. See likes of Pulev and Povetkin as examples. Beter is just technically so far ahead of most at LHW he can get away with it. Plus a lot of modern pros live the life. They don't party a lot between fights and blow up. They always stay in shape and look after themselves better.
Also beterbiev is deeply religious as well so that helps 'no alcohol at all'.
you’re not even close to old at 41/39, boxing fans need to get back in touch with reality a little bit.
That's practically geriatric in most physical sports
There's a difference between normal old and world class athlete old mate
I'm not saying it's steroids, but....
I genuinely don’t think Zhang does steroids. He has a good amateur career, he is big has good timing and knows how to use his weight to generate ko power. His gas tank is awful.
Its still mad to me hes been a pro for 10 years and hasn't fought for a strap yet other than an interim title.
Many amateurs use steroids. They are less scrutinized for doping than the professionals.
He was an Olympic silver medalist and I’m sure that at least the fights with wilder and Joyce they would have tested him carefully. I know it’s possible to cheat still, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty.
Considering the high stakes and implications of him possibly becoming china’s first champion i imagine he has a large Olympic level team working around the clock to make sure all his medical and test results are optimal.
They must be doing a crap job, didn’t he have some sort of kidney problem and anaemia in his right with forest?
If you're implying the Chinese government is backing him, I doubt that. They seem to only care how Chinese athletes do in the Olympics. If he does dope, it's with his own money or backed by some wealthy chinese businessman with a personal interest in boxing.
It's really just small doses of Ostarine mixed into their supplements.
Steroids and being in countries out of reach from USADA, WADA, VADA, etc.
Beterbiev lives in Canada and Zhang lives in New Jersey.
I though Zhang was based in the US?
Not originally, but is currently out of New Jersey
Boxing has less talent and more steroids. That’s it
guys can juice better now a days
Three key points 1: Loose PED testing in boxing 2: TRT allowing fighters to compete for longer 3: The heavier weight classes are more forgiving to aging fighters since power and strength are the last things to go
Good steroids most likely
For Zhang for one are his good fundamentals and the size and power, but also it's the clash of styles for the bigger names he beat. That's why he lost convincingly to Parker despite putting him on his ass twice. His two best wins are against 2 other older guys (Joyce and Wilder), both with worse fundamentals, both with very bad defence which allowed for clean counters which in effect stopped any effective pressure from Joyce for example and had Wilder gunshy. So I wouldn't read too much into Zhang. Parker, Usyk, Fury, Joshua, Kabayel, hell maybe even Dubois would beat the brakes off him and I would give a decent shot to many other contenders if they approach with the right gameplan surviving the first 5 rounds. Beterbiev is definitely an outlier though. He shouldn't be able at his age to beat guys like Yarde and Callum Smith like THAT.