Is The Sport of Boxing Worse Today?

By Tom Donelson

Is boxing worse today, than in the past? This is one exhortation that is repeated quite often. The constant refrain, “boxers today could not compete against those greats of the past” is echoed over and over.

There are some legitimate arguments for this point of view. With the numerous championship belts, a fighter finds himself competing for championships earlier in his career. 

In earlier generations, fighters may have fought 30 or 40 fights before getting a shot at a title, whereas many fighters today may be fighting for a championship with less than 20 fights under their belt.

These days, there are twice as many as weight divisions, and this also gives young fighters more opportunity to fight for titles. And with the number of sanctioning bodies added, you not only have younger fighters grabbing belts, but some fighters who just two decades ago would have been mere contenders. So there are serious questions about some of champions that are considered top fighters, when compared to champions of the past. 

Those are the negatives. Here are the trends that many critics miss.  First, the numbers of fighters available has increased.  With the fall of the Iron Curtain, a new crop of fighters are joining the professional ranks.  Fighters, who would fight as amateurs into their 30s, are fighting professionally today.  This has nearly doubled the number of fighters available for competition and increased the depth of boxing in general.

Another aspect to consider is that boxing is a sport where there is a diminishing return with one fight beyond a certain number of bouts.  Some fighters reach that platform before others, but there is a limit to the pounding a fighter can handle. 

Fighting a hundred fights could make you an experienced fighter, but could also make you a shot fighter.  While fighters do not fight as often, you can argue that by fighting less, a fighter can prolong his career and maintain his health. 

A fighter who fights maybe 50 fights in a career as opposed to 100 or more, may be more effective later in his career. Lennox Lewis was effective in his late 30s whereas Ali was a shot fighter by the time he reached 36.  Ali was involved in more wars early in his career and it showed by the time he fought Ernie Shavers and Leon Spinks.  

While some fighters like Archie Moore, continued to be effective late in their career, there were many more fighters who found themselves to be shot pugilists earlier in their careers. Many of today’s heavyweights are still effective beyond 30, and one reason is that they did not fight as much early in their career.

It is the catch-22 of boxing. You can fight a lot early and gain experience. The down side is that you take the risk of becoming a shot fighter early.  If a fighter reduces their fight schedule early in their career, they can actually fight longer. Another aspect is when a fighter reaches the top ten, a championship bout can earn a fighter a lot of money.

Boxers can earn more by fighting less, than was the case in the past.  This factor has also extended careers. Bottom line, many of today fighters are staying on top longer and more experienced fighters maintain their peak longer.

What can we conclude? We can conclude that there are many champions who should not be champions due to the number of titles available. Many young fighters are fighting for champions before they are ready. 

On the other side, we can actually support the argument that boxing is as good today as it was in the past.  here are many more fighters available, thus increasing the depth of boxing. Many boxing fans are not aware of the number of excellent European fighters, but they exist in increasing numbers. 

Many European fighters find that they can stay in Europe and make good money, rather than taking the risk of coming to America.  When you add the number of Latin American and Asian fighters, boxing has a whole planet to draw from. All of this adds to the overall quality.

It is the best of times and the worst of times in boxing.  There may be champions who are not truly champions, but there are great fighters lurking throughout the world who add to the quality of the sport.  So how good is boxing today? It may just depend on whether or not you believe the glass is half empty or half filled.