By Shawn Krest

Boxing is a young man’s sport. It requires cat-quick reflexes, speed of hand and foot, and a young man’s mistaken belief that he is immortal. As the years mount, and the blows accumulate, alternative careers such as training, announcing, and hawking fat free grills look much more attractive.

Except that boxing is an old man’s sport. Whether it’s Burgess Meredith or Clint Eastwood, the crusty trainer is the one that gets all the good lines in the boxing film. HBO fans opted for Larry Merchant over Max Kellerman. And in the ring, Bernard Hopkins just beat a man seventeen years younger. When Roy Jones steps in against Joe Calzaghe next month, with a combined age of three quarters of a century, the only thing junior will be the suffix at the end of Jones’ name.

Age may not be anything more than a number, but using it to sort fighters goes a long way toward resolving the youth vs. experience debate.

Professional boxing is a sport with a steep learning curve. Of the sixteen weight classes in Ring Magazine’s rankings, only one—the oft ignored 105 pound strawweight division—is topped by a fighter younger than 26. No one in the pound-for-pound top ten is younger than 27.

After paying his dues, an elite boxer has a three or four year peak. Half of the pound-for-pound list are between the ages of 27 and 30, and six weight classes are topped by fighters in that four-year window.

However, fighters seem to be doing damage deep into their thirties. The other five fighters in the pound-for-pound list are 33 or older, and four classes are ruled by guys older than 33.

So forget pound-for-pound. Let’s look at the year-by-year rankings and crown the top boxer at each age.

The kids: It’s tough to sort prospects from suspects after a handful of impressive wins over suspect competition. Still, surfing the undercards of some recent high-profile main events give us a clue as to which kids we should be watching.

Age 18: Bantamweight Chris Avalos won on the Dawson-Tarver undercard, running his record to 7-0. He has five knockouts, but was taken to Majority Decision by a 7-4 fighter in his last bout. He also won’t last long atop this category, as he turns 19 on November 5.

Age 19: Another bantam tops this age group. Kid Dynamite, Qa’id Muhammad only has three fights, but he’s won them all by knockout. Super flyweight AJ Banal would have gotten the nod, except the one in his 17-1 record was a knockout loss in his last fight.

Age 20: Jorge Paez Jr. also has a loss in his last fight, but it was a majority decision, and his bloodlines earn him bonus points. Welterweight Danny Garcia (8-0) scored his seventh career knockout on the undercard of Hopkins-Pavlik and is also worth watching, as is southpaw light welter Anthony Lenk (4-0)

Age 21: As we hit the legal drinking age in the U.S., the depth increases significantly. Roman Gonzalez won the WBA title at 105 pounds in his last fight and stands at 21-0 (19). Others worth consideration are British phenom Amir Khan, light heavy Haxhi Krasniqi (25-2) and super bantam Jesus Rojas (17-0)

Age 22: A pair of 2004 US Olympians are the class of this age group. Vanes Martirosyan us unbeaten in 21 fights and moving up the light middleweight ranks. He gets the nod over fellow unbeaten Abner Mares, but not by much. Rey Bautista might end up being the best prospect, but he suffered a first-round knockout in his first title fight. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (37-0-1) fills out a very good year.

On the brink of greatness: The next four years see fighters move from prospect to contender status or struggle to overcome the first blemish on their record.

Age 23: WBC featherweight champion Jorge Linares owns a knockout over Oscar Larios, but he hasn’t fought yet this year. So our vote goes to undefeated lightweight Anthony Peterson. One loss sluggers Joel Julio and Michael Marrone, and two-loss Curtis Stevens round out the age.

Age 24: In what might be a controversial decision, we like the power of James Kirkland, a southpaw light middleweight with 20 stoppages in 23 fights over the slick style and touching back story of Lamont Peterson (25-0(12). Anthony Dirrell and Andy Lee (despite a recent loss) are worth watching as well.

Age 25: The first year where you could start thinking seriously about rating the top ten fighters. Highly touted Andre Berto, Amir Khan-slayer Breidis Prescott, James McGirt Jr., could have topped any of the younger age groups. Nonito Donaire is the reigning IBF Flyweight champion and has an impressive victory over Vic Darchinyan on his resume, but he only ranks a close second. The top 25-year old is Juan Diaz who held a lightweight world title for three and a half years and looks ready to make another run.

Age 26: Things accelerate rapidly as the 25-year olds get another year of experience. Super featherweight champion Edwin Valero is 24-0 with 24 knockouts, and he doesn’t crack the top two. Kelly Pavlik still rules the middleweight division, but his loss to Hopkins two weeks ago knocks him from the top spot in this age group. That goes to Bad Chad Dawson, who beat Antonio Tarver to secure his hold on the light heavyweight division.

In their prime: Ages 27 to 30 feature some of the sport’s biggest names.

Age 27: There are some well-known names here—Kendall Holt, Paul Malignaggi, Paul Williams, and Brian Viloria to name a few. The leader of the pack is a name that isn’t as well-known but probably deserves to be. Cristian Mijares has held the WBC Super Flyweight title for two years, recently added the WBA belt to his collection, and has a date with Vic Darchinyan this weekend as he seeks to add the IBF version.

Age 28: Samuel Peter looked like he was all done in his knockout loss to Vitali Klitschko. Meanwhile, another heavyweight, David Haye, looks like an up-and-comer. Hard to believe they’re the same age. Rocky Juarez and Miguel Cotto both had periods where they looked like a lock for this age group, but the current leader is middleweight Arthur Abraham.

Age 29: This one is a no-brainer. Nothing against the quality of competition, since the 29-year olds include Mikkel Kessler and Chris John. They just had the bad luck to be born in the same year as Manny Pacquiao.

Age 30: Sorry, Ricky Hatton. Maybe next year. Heads, we’ll choose Israel Vazquez. Tails is Antonio Margarito. It’s heads.

Showing some wear: Plenty of top notch fighters in the next few years, but a few too many hard fights, and a fighter may end up older than the calendar indicates.

Age 31: Plenty of fighters that inspire shouts of, “Really? He’s only 31?” Oscar Larios and Steve Forbes seem to have been around forever. Tomasz Adamek is embarking on a second career as a cruiserweight. Zab Judah is working on his second or third road to redemption. That leaves underrated welterweight Joshua Clottey as age group’s representative.

Age 32: Depth is falling off rapidly as we move into the thirtysomething years. Vic Darchinyan and cruiserweight kingpin Steve Cunnigham are worth considering, but Wladimir Klitschko cruises to a fairly easy win.

Age 33: Ivan Calderon takes another relatively easy age to call. Rafael Marquez’s back-to-back losses to Israel Vazquez increase Calderon’s margin of victory. O’Neill Bell and Sultan Ibragimov are in the next tier of fighters in this year.

Age 34: This might be the year when a fighter’s focus starts to shift from Las Vegas and Atlantic City to Canastota. Marco Antonio Barrera and Jose Luis Castillo will certainly be enshrined there when their fighting days are over. But the honor for 34-year olds goes to Zsolt Erdei, who is still perfect at light heavyweight.

The last stand: By the time they reach 35, fighters only have a few years, or in some cases, a few fights, to make a career statement and cash a big paycheck.

Age 35: Old heavyweights never die, they just turn 35. Lamon Brewster, Fres Oquendo and Nicolay Valuev were all born in ’73. None deserve serious consideration, since they share the year with a couple of historic fighters from lighter weights. Oscar de la Hoya is an all-time great, but Juan Manuel Marquez is the choice for this time period.

Age 36: Joe Calzaghe earns an easy victory here. Jean-Marc Mormeck, John Ruiz, and Clinton Woods were the only others worth mentioning.

Age 37: Speaking of last stands, this age group is packed. Vernon Forrest and Shane Mosley are here, but the age comes down to Joel Casamayor and Vitali Klitschko. The Klitschko brothers are co-champions again as Vitali joins 32-year old champ Wladimir.

Age 38: The scramble begins as depth starts drying out in the upper age groups. Verno Phillips put together a four-fight win streak, including a decision over Cory Spinks. That earns him a fight with Paul Williams and an age-group win over Jameel McCline and Montell Griffin.

The old guys: They’ve beaten the odds and are still standing tall, or, in some cases, at least standing.

Age 39: Roy Jones Jr. is the current leader, although that might change after the Calzaghe fight. Even though they both hold knockout victories over Jones, Antonio Tarver and Glencoffe Johnson have seen better days.

Age 40: James Toney only has one win in five fights, but he’s still a dangerous opponent. Javier Castillejo (one win in his last four) also deserved consideration. Old heavies Andrew Golota and Michael Moorer probably don’t.

Age 41: Bruce Seldon is still around and earns the win over Kevin Kelley and Thomas Reid

Age 42: No current fighters born in ’66 seem to still be toiling. Mike Tyson and Butterbean were the closest we could find.

Age 43: Bernard Hopkins. Seriously, did you think we’d pick Ron Bellamy?

Age 44: Virgil Hill last fought in November of last year, so he’s eligible for another couple weeks.

Age 45: Mark Breland hasn’t fought in 11 years, but he’s the closest we could find.

Age 46: Evander Holyfield hasn’t fought since last October, but he’s close to getting another title fight, this time against Valuev.

Age 47: Another heavyweight, Ray Mercer, earns the honor as the oldest heavyweight still campaigning at a high level.