can a shot fighter return to his original prime

[faisal]

is it possible, i mean there have been certain instances of it happening with exceptional fighters over the decades,duran was able to beat barkley down in 88 and by then every one thought he was shot,apart from willi peps fight against sanders i'm not sure if any one was able to sustain the same performances beyond those fights

[IntentionalButt]

Hamed's done, forget it. :yep

[Smith]

RJJ is better now than he was before the Tarver loss.

Although no, a fighter can never return.

[LiamE]

Yes.

Braddock.

[Ted Stickles]

You might see flashes of former greatness but it will only come in spurts..Thats why Roy wil have his moments against Joe but unfortunately he will most likely lose.Its a shame because i was always a great fan of Roys.....

[faisal]

RJJ is better now than he was before the Tarver loss.

Although no, a fighter can never return.
jones showed flashes of it nothing solid

[Borincano]

Braddock good answer if all is true of his bio. I don't believe you can come back if your shot. Remember, everyone has their own idea of what shot means. RJJ got caught twice and everyone jumped on the wagon that he was shot. I feel that he had to walk away from boxing for a little while when he won the HW title, but he got sucked in by all the trash talk from Tarver. He had to lose not weight, but muscle. Toney gained weight to become a HW, but RJJ build solid muscle. Another member on another thread stated that he knows that RJJ was on the juice? Age is now what is catching up to RJJ. He still has a chance to beat Joe. A slight chance.

[psychopath]

Nopes never . . . not unless the fighter is "IMMORTAL".

[PH|LLA]

in theory yes, sometimes a fighter becomes past his prime because of mental issues, problems with his team, etc, rather than his physical decline due to age. Like Mike Tyson for example.

[PH|LLA]

Yes. Joel Casamayor!
Casamayor is NOT back in his prime

[psychopath]

Yes. Joel Casamayor!

:yikes Huh? Think before you post . . . dumbfuck.

The Casamayor that merely survive against Sta Cruz and survive Katsidis is not even half of the Casamayor that fought Corales and Castillo.

[rodney]

Even with the assistance of the following:
--- Steriods,
--- HGH,
--- Viagra.
The answer:
--- No

[Bslice]

nah returning to your prime ain't possible, now reinventing yourself is

[LiamE]

Even with the assistance of the following:
--- Steriods,
--- HGH,
--- Viagra.
The answer:
--- No

Look, I've already told you the answer.

[Asterion]

No. A fighter's aging is a progressive decline.

[dave82]

curious. Did Foreman look shot before he defeated Moorer?

[PH|LLA]

curious. Did Foreman look shot before he defeated Moorer?
yes

[jimmie]

is it possible, i mean there have been certain instances of it happening with exceptional fighters over the decades,duran was able to beat barkley down in 88 and by then every one thought he was shot,apart from willi peps fight against sanders i'm not sure if any one was able to sustain the same performances beyond those fights

Well I dont think he can return to his prime but most great fighters have one last great fight left in him ala Duran-Barkley,Pep-Saddler 2,Robinson-Fullmer 2,Holmes-Mercer ETC. Now looking a guy in Morales situation or Fernando Vargas where they are shot beyoug repair its virtually impossible for me to see Vargas come back at 160 and pull of a win over Pavlik or Morales go and beat Casamayor or Juan Diaz when he couldnt even beat David Diaz. But maybe a guy like RJJ whos reflexes have eroded and his legs arent moving anymore but he still has that hand speed to make guys cover up in aww he could turn back the clock somewhat and beat a great fighter out there.

[dave82]

yes

Sweet :good
To knock out a guy like Moorer after losing to Tommy M is a great achievement

[jimmie]

Sweet :good
To knock out a guy like Moorer after losing to Tommy M is a great achievement

Also after Evander was landing 8 punch combos on his head all night just 3 years earlier.

[Borincano]

Sweet :good
To knock out a guy like Moorer after losing to Tommy M is a great achievement

Any HW that would hit and run could beat George. Moorer for some reason thought it was okay to stand in there and slug. George walked away and reinvented himself to a likable fighter instead of that Tysonish fighter he use to be. Morales is talking about coming back after a long rest. You never know, he might have a couple more fights left in him. Again, if RJJ had left the game after the win over Ruiz, he could have came back without getting knocked out like he did.

[cpnasty]

Evander wasn't shit after his loss to Moorer but his comback in 96 was amazing

[jimmie]

Evander wasn't shit after his loss to Moorer but his comback in 96 was amazing

Not just the Moorer loss but he had just been stopped by Bowe ending that extremly violent trilogy plus he was in his mid 30s he really shouldve been done. But he had one of those 2nd wind type deals in a boxers career he beat Tyson then Moorer and was on top of the world. Shane Mosley after the 2nd Wright fight most NOT ME thought he was done and he didnt even look hot vs decent oppostion Cruz and Estrada. But he put it together agian beating the shit out of Vargas who still had something left at that point,Collazo and a 1-2 point fight either way with Cotto and hes considered one of the best out there still.

[dave82]

Evander wasn't shit after his loss to Moorer but his comback in 96 was amazing

I thought his fight with Moorer could have gone either way so it wasnt a bad performance

[CJLightweight]

return - no

reinvent - yes

[MSTR]

RJJ is better now than he was before the Tarver loss.

Although no, a fighter can never return.

I wouldn't go that far, but he has certainly changed his style now so that he doesn't rely as much on his natural reflexes anymore. I think Roy is still a very tough fighter for anyone at the moment, based on the changes he has made. He isn't the same fighter that got KTFO by Glen Johnson, thats for sure.

[Florida boy]

shot and aging are two different things. you age naturally, you become shot from absorbing punches.

[Florida boy]

I wouldn't go that far, but he has certainly changed his style now so that he doesn't rely as much on his natural reflexes anymore. I think Roy is still a very tough fighter for anyone at the moment, based on the changes he has made. He isn't the same fighter that got KTFO by Glen Johnson, thats for sure.
hes using the high guard, kinda like winky, and hes not really relying as much(though he still carries that left low) on his reflexes.

[jimmie]

hes using the high guard, kinda like winky, and hes not really relying as much(though he still carries that left low) on his reflexes.

Hes jabbing slightly more as well. Hes being a bit more techniqual I noticed him throwing double lefthooks vs Tito and keeping his right hand up on his cheek. In the past hed just jump in from a wild angle throwing 2 lefthooks leaving his right either well above his head or down at his waist or around the chest.

[Florida boy]

Hes jabbing slightly more as well. Hes being a bit more techniqual I noticed him throwing double lefthooks vs Tito and keeping his right hand up on his cheek. In the past hed just jump in from a wild angle throwing 2 lefthooks leaving his right either well above his head or down at his waist or around the chest.
very true.

[la-califa]

Sometimes it can appear so due to selective matchmaking, but as soon as a big money fight happens against a good fighter in HIS prime , it all comes out in the wash. Example, Roger Mayweather beat a couple of "B" grade Mexican fighters to get the attention of Julio C. Chavez for a rematch. What happened? Roger got the beating of his life, & hanged them up...

[BewareofDawg]

Hes jabbing slightly more as well. Hes being a bit more techniqual I noticed him throwing double lefthooks vs Tito and keeping his right hand up on his cheek. In the past hed just jump in from a wild angle throwing 2 lefthooks leaving his right either well above his head or down at his waist or around the chest.
Can you imagine being able to jump in on a professional boxer and throw 2 left hooks while holding your right hand above your head???? Roy Jones was a freak of nature :deal

[Cruiser1]

A fighter can never return to his original prime but that doesn't mean he cannot have success later in his career. He just has to use other things such as ring intelligence and perhaps an assortment of veteran tricks to compensate for the physical attributes that have diminished.

[Decebal]

Well, I think that if he does return to a very good form, he wasn't shot, just out of shape. Take Tarver, for example. It turns out that his poor performances were due mostly to the fact that he was ill-prepared for the challenge in front of him. With much better preparation, he still looked faded, but not shot.

On the other hand, if you take Hopkins, who was in the best possible shape against Calzaghe, he was clearly badly faded, and there's nothing that can be done to change that, it seems; it's just age, taking its toll.

[PATSYS]

is it possible, i mean there have been certain instances of it happening with exceptional fighters over the decades,duran was able to beat barkley down in 88 and by then every one thought he was shot,apart from willi peps fight against sanders i'm not sure if any one was able to sustain the same performances beyond those fights

Not sure about going back to original prime but I am convinced that the 1996 Holyfield was better in many aspects compared to his prime 92 version.

[Pimp C]

Foreman did.

[BewareofDawg]

Foreman did.
He reinvented himself. He never returned to his prime. The Foreman that destroyed Frasier would destroy the one that beat Moorer.

[Jazzo]

Yes.

Definition of shot: When a loss occurs.

Lewis was pre-prime against McCall (equivalent of shot) and past his prime v Rahman (shot).
He was fine after McCall though.

[patscorpio]

curious. Did Foreman look shot before he defeated Moorer?

dont forget to mention the gift MD he got against alex stewart when in reality it should have been a stoppage loss for Foreman cuz he got brutalized in that fight

[David_TheMan]

I don't think a fighter can return to their prime, if they could it wouldn't be their prime. I do think they can become extremely effective again, using other skills and experience. I think Hopkins, Foreman, Holmes, and others have shown this.

[doug.ie]

Yes. Joel Casamayor!

ok...but at what point would you say he was 'shot' ?

[Arriba]

Yes. Joel Casamayor!

Casamayor is still very very shot. He got a gift wrapped decision against Santa Cruz and went life and death with a limited sort of fighter in Katsidis.

It's even more impressive than returning to his original prime because he's still able to get it done with nothing left.

[Fat Tony]

Foreman did.

He lost every round against Moorer before he knocked him out.
He should've lost against ordinary Axl Schulz.
He lost (but should've won) against Shannon Briggs.

-> He didn't.

[FROST]

Toney wasn't really shot, but almost everyone wrote him off after the Thadzi fight. He had to take the long, hard way back to the top to become the CW-champ against Jirov.

[rodney]

Look, I've already told you the answer.

Bradock never reached his prime before he fought Max Baer.
He worked, never trained properly, and fought to eat..
His experience and heart carried him.
And proper training , with proper diet and rest did not come until he was training for Baer.