Successsful fighters who took up boxing at a late age

I know Dwight Braxton (Dwight Muhammad Qawi) started boxing in his early twenties while he was in prison, and went on to become a feared world champion.

Who else?

 

Bernard Hopkins!

 

Rocky Marciano

 

He didn't start that old, but he went back to boxing when he was in prison.

 

how old was he?

I don't want to turn this into a mma vs. boxing thread, as I like both sports, but would you guys agree that it's easier to become a good mma fighter than a good boxer, if you start out late?

 

I think Marciano was in his late teens or early twenties. I'll have to go check that one again.

 

I think Marciano was 25 ..

I think Ray Mercer started late as well ..

 

Correction , Marciano was 24

 

:eeeek:

maybe when he turned pro. I mean boxers who started training boxing late.

 

Ray Mercer was 28

 

No.

 

Thats hard to tell but , I think Marciano went right into the pro ranks ..

 

okay, but i don't think Mercer did. He was a highly decorated amateur, no?

 

:dunno:

 

william joppy

 

• Ron Lyle (prison)
• George Foreman (had barely a dozen fights when he won the Gold Medal)
• Rocky Marciano (didn't start seriously boxing until his 20s)
• Michael Grant (didn't start his amateur career until he was in his 20s)
• Ray Mercer
• Sonny Liston (started boxing in prison when he was around 20)
• Lawrence Clay-Bey

 

I am not sure if I would consider him very succesful. ::

 

If you make millions of dollars, I'd say you are.

 

i meant guys who had successful careers in the ring.

 

He was a top-3 contender, fought on HBO a number of times, beat Andrew Golota and fought for the World Heavyweight Championship. :dunno:

 

Hasim Rahman started boxing at age twenty.

 

Julian Letterlough, RIP.

 

If memory serves, the guy who is fighting Chagev for the HW title in January, Matt Skelton, came from K1 and didn't start boxing until well into his thirties.

Does he count? I've seen him fight a fair few times, and he's pretty poor, to be fair, but I suppose getting a world title shot means he's been pretty successful... :dunno:

 

I remember when Skelton transitioned into boxing. I had no idea he'd do this well. I don't even know when he started kickboxing or if he had an amateur boxing career.

 

What about Cleybey then? ::

 

I was thinking more of his amateur career. He got started as an amateur pretty late, and he was a very successful amateur. He knocked out Joe Mesi to make the US Olympic Team, which he captained. In the Olympics, he scored a standing eight-count against Wladimir Klitschko, nearly beating him. He was a two-time AAU Super Heavyweight Champion and won a Bronze Medal at the World Championships.

 

McQueer.

 

His first pro boxing fight was in 2002- he was thirty-four and came after he'd been kickboxing from 1998-2001. He had no amateur career.

Whilst I wish him well and all, I can't see him beating Chagev next month. He is very slow and ponderous, even for a HW. His last fight against Michael Sprott was one of the most boring fights in recent history- both fighter's seemed to heavy to even bother throwing punches :doh:

 

Actually, Hopkins was boxing as an amateur up until he went into prison. He trained while in prison, and then took his time off after he got out and worked construction.

 

hopkins had 90 some amateur fights prior to turning pro.