are old school fighters better than present day fighters??

[greynotsoold]

They may be better athletes, but since we are talking only about boxing, they are not better boxers. The skill level today is, for the most part, abysmal. I'm sure that these guys would be able to hit a baseball further, or dunk over, guys like Ezzard Charles or Harry Greb, but they are not better boxers. Boxing and being athletic in other areas have little to do with one another.

[jabsRstiff]

Yes equipment, and drugs have gotten better so has nutrition and strength and conditioning. So have athletes, in every sport Football Basketball Hockey etc guys are bigger faster and stronger and the numbers are there to back it up, Boxing is no different

So, a 147lb welterweight of today is somehow bigger and better conditioned than a 147lber from years past? There is absolutely no sign or proof of that, son.

[Spartacus Sully]

Yes equipment, and drugs have gotten better so has nutrition and strength and conditioning. So have athletes, in every sport Football Basketball Hockey etc guys are bigger faster and stronger and the numbers are there to back it up, Boxing is no different

what about baseball? babe ruth with 60 hr in 1927 then that other guy with 61 in 1960ish, with the only other 2 beating it haveing admitted to taking peds.

base ball has been around since 1700's and boxing the same, while track and field sports started mid 18th century with the olympics showing up in 1896, american foot ball starting around the same time in 1892 ish and basketball in 1891.

boxing and baseball are completely different from most sports, given its age and growth.

and if you really want to compare them equally then we would come to the conclusion that in 1890 boxers and baseball players were at the same peak of their field as football players, sprinters, and basketball players are today.

but of course, its just pure stupidity to expect all sports to grow at the same rate or even the same direction.

[Scott9945]

So, a 147lb welterweight of today is somehow bigger and better conditioned than a 147lber from years past? There is absolutely no sign or proof of that, son.

Well the 147 lb fighters are bigger, thanks to day before weigh ins. Someone like Antonio Margarito would never have been welterweight champion if he had to weigh in the morning of the fight.

[jabsRstiff]

Well the 147 lb fighters are bigger, thanks to day before weigh ins. Someone like Antonio Margarito would never have been welterweight champion if he had to weigh in the morning of the fight.

True......but all that says is the rules have changed which allow some naturally bigger men to compete against some naturally smaller men. Certainly doesn't say the training is what is making them bigger and stronger.

I know you know this, but had to say it before SCTrojan thinks he's correct.

[JAB5239]

Yes equipment, and drugs have gotten better so has nutrition and strength and conditioning. So have athletes, in every sport Football Basketball Hockey etc guys are bigger faster and stronger and the numbers are there to back it up, Boxing is no different

Since boxing is no different and the numbers are there you should have no problem showing me the ones that prove a fighter today is faster than a fighter from the 40's, or how a fighter that weighs 160 today is bigger than one from the 50's or even stronger? The numbers are NOT THERE and boxing is most certainly different because their are weight classes.

[jabsRstiff]

I think a lot of this supposedly high-tech training is not as effective as some believe. Look at major league baseball pitchers. Seems to me like they're not able to throw any harder or for longer than pitchers of the past, despite now having a bunch of fitness gurus putting them through all kinds of new training regimens.

Boxing is like pitching in baseball....you'll be best conditioned for it simply by boxing more and more.

[IronDanHamza]

I think a lot of this supposedly high-tech training is not as effective as some believe. Look at major league baseball pitchers. Seems to me like they're not able to throw any harder or for longer than pitchers of the past, despite now having a bunch of fitness gurus putting them through all kinds of new training regimens.

Boxing is like pitching in baseball....you'll be best conditioned for it simply by boxing more and more.

Floyd Mayweather is arguably the best conditioned fighter in the world today.

What he does in training is literally nothing different from a fighter in the 1900's. Literally.

[New England]

The athletes get better every generation boxing is no different.

the only thing they're getting is bigger. with the right athlete and sport that will mean faster and better. (longer strides, higher jumping, harder to hit or take down, etc)

they're getting bigger. that's beyond dispute. that has had no bearing on boxing.


in boxing you've got weight classes outside of the HW's, and they certainly aren't getting better.


some HW might come along in 3000 years who is ten feet tall with a 120 inch reach. if he's not just a barn animal he'd be too much for a HW from the 1800's who was 5'9" and 178 lbs.

as of right now that's nowhere near happening.

many of the best HW of all time were around or just above 200 lbs at their best.

[New England]

Floyd Mayweather is arguably the best conditioned fighter in the world today.

What he does in training is literally nothing different from a fighter in the 1900's. Literally.

i confess, i watch his training sessions pretty religiously when he's broadcasting them

they get on at about 7 or 8 PM and it's like christmas.


his "strength and conditioning coach" is leonard ellerbe

in other words he conditions himself by doing what he's done in the gym since he was six years old.

long ass rounds, too
that might be what sets him apart. the kid (grown man) keeps a pace that he can sustain for hours.