would we have seen a totally different boxing landscape?
it cant be a total coincidence that were now seeing a east european dominance, especially in the HW division.
whats the boxingscene consensus?
Hard to say but more and better competition is always a good thing in sports. It's a shame we will never know. Politics should transcend sports, not adversely affect them.
Then how do you explain muhammad ali and joe frazier becoming olympc gold medalist. Last time i checkt the soviet fighters where allowed to fight in the olympics. And it's not their fault that they couldn't fight soviet fighters.
Ive never heard a good answer for this. hell, Foreman KOed a Russian when he won his Gold Medal. if Soviets HAD to fight in the amateurs, then wouldnt that mean that the best boxers in Russia were fighting in the Olympics?
and although Soviets had to join the army, the army still would set people aside if they excelled in sports. a guy representing them in the Olympics was worth much more than a normal soldier.
Most of the Soviet men back then were forced to go in the army/military, especially the bigger,stronger Soviets....Most Soviet men had no freedom back then....My dad was in the Soviet army during the Cold War]
why it makes me laugh when people say 'the HW division is shit now because the east europeans are dominating'
its the first fucking chance theyve had to dominate and theyve took over sraight away!!!!
When Savon was older, Savon was the most successful am Heavyweight ever. Lewis, Ike etc couldn't KO Tua yet in the am's Tua got KO'd with the headgear.
On the top of the head where it's the most protected.
like i said, they where allowed to fight in the olympics and they still lost to muhammad ali, frazier, ...
Most of the Soviet men back then were forced to go in the army/military, especially the bigger,stronger Soviets....Most Soviet men had no freedom back then....My dad was in the Soviet army during the Cold War
The heavyweight division sucks man, only fighters who have skills in the heavy's are wladimir klitschko and david haye. Thats it.
exactly
one of the top boys now wouldnt have been allowed to fight 20 years ago
makes you wonder what would have happened if the soviets and cubans could have fought in the 60s, 70s 80s and 90s
The heavyweight division sucks man, only fighters who have skills in the heavy's are wladimir klitschko and david haye. Thats it.
First of all, Haye is a cruiserweight
Second of all, there are lots of fighters that have skill in the heavyweight division.
Ali,Foreman,Frazier,etc......Those guys werent even real world champions because they never fought the Soviets....If Soviets were allowed to turn pro back then it would've been a totally different story....Soviets are tougher and stronger than Americans, we could've produced champions back then if we were allowed to turn pro.
my theory is that a lot of this 'the heavyweight division is shit now' moaning is from americans who cant stand the fact that russkies are havin a go
the russians/east europeans are a tough bunch of bastards and deserve some respect imo
Chagaev dominated and beat Savon....TWICE!!
When Savon was older, Savon was the most successful am Heavyweight ever. Lewis, Ike etc couldn't KO Tua yet in the am's Tua got KO'd with the headgear.
In the higher weight classes most proberbly, they make less of an impact at the lower weights. I definatly think if Cubans were allowed to fight they would have a lot of champions, they have produced the very best am fighters, Savon KO'd tua!
Chagaev dominated and beat Savon....TWICE!!
In the higher weight classes most proberbly, they make less of an impact at the lower weights. I definatly think if Cubans were allowed to fight they would have a lot of champions, they have produced the very best am fighters, Savon KO'd tua!I agree, I think Savon was really something else, could have been the next Ali IMO, but you also gotta remember, in the amateurs, he was a man fighting kids. Most of the guys he beat like Tua or Briggs were 18-20, while he was well in his 20s.
In the higher weight classes most proberbly, they make less of an impact at the lower weights. I definatly think if Cubans were allowed to fight they would have a lot of champions, they have produced the very best am fighters, Savon KO'd tua!
Yes I believe we would have seen a totally different landscape. Honestly, I think the main difference is that from what I have sen, most American fighters fight very pretty, it's effective, but it also looks good if you know what I mean. Eastern Europeans don't look that pretty, they get dirty a lot of times, but it's just as effective, but people may think not because of the way they fight.