Why have modern fighters not evolved to be better than SRR

[sonnyboyx2]

Why with modern sports science, nutrition and modern training equipment etc. have modern/today's fighters not evolved to be greater fighters/boxer than Sugar Ray Robinson. It is 65-70yrs since Sugar Ray Robinson ruled the boxing world, yet we have not seen a fighter come close to matching his greatness or his incredible ability. But before Sugar Ray Robinson, we had great fighters like Willie Pep, Henry Armstrong, Harry Grebb who some historians even claimed could have been on a par with Robinson.

[rightsideup]

This is a very good topic. I think Robinson and the fighters you mentioned fought more often against consistently better competition because to make money before tv came into play your schedule had to be full. Each of the fighters you mentioned was a physical marvel with Robinson being the most well rounded. The next Era to come close to these fellows was the 70's and early eighties as far as pure talent and sizzle but those fighters lacked the activity of the one's you mentioned.

[nivek535]

Why with modern sports science, nutrition and modern training equipment etc. have modern/today's fighters not evolved to be greater fighters/boxer than Sugar Ray Robinson. It is 65-70yrs since Sugar Ray Robinson ruled the boxing world, yet we have not seen a fighter come close to matching his greatness or his incredible ability. But before Sugar Ray Robinson, we had great fighters like Willie Pep, Henry Armstrong, Harry Grebb who some historians even claimed could have been on a par with Robinson.

because people dwell in the past, its not easy to let go .

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Lack of activity...

Plus I think robinson was a once in a lifetime talent like Michael Jordan, tiger woods, babe Ruth, etc...

[juggernaut666]

because people dwell in the past, its not easy to let go .

Exactly,boxing fans tend to look at old footage like its magic,personally I see guys like Graziano at 5'5 and using his head as a shield being destroyed today by any capable fighter ...one forgets to look at the competition they only see the fighter who is better than his less than impressive foe.

[Scott9945]

Exactly,boxing fans tend to look at old footage like its magic,personally I see guys like Graziano at 5'5 and using his head as a shield being destroyed today by any capable fighter ...one forgets to look at the competition they only see the fighter who is better than his less than impressive foe.

Graziano was listed at 5'7, and like most fighters back then would probably be in a different division with day before weigh ins.

[NChristo]

You're going to get a Michael Jordan in every sport who people hold on a higher pedestal to everyone else because of what they achieved and their incredible skill, he is boxings highest bar and because Robinson is on that pedestal everyone else is immediately going to come up short, no one is going to be better then Robinson they are going to either be in on same level as him or just below / he's the peak of the boxing pyramid for all time.

Since Robinson we've had Ali, Roberto Duran, Ray Leonard, Whitaker, Mayweather (ye ye say what you want the man is a phenomenal talent), Roy Jones, Eder Jofre, Jose Napoles, Michael Spinks, Ezzard Charles (same years as Robinson but whatever), Carlos Monzon and plenty of boxers who are each amazing talents and the complete package but no matter who they beat, how amazing they look in the ring or how well they dominate their division they're always going to come up short too Robinson.

The reason is that we like the idea of having this 'deity' in the sport that we can all see as the best, on top of being the complete package like all the boxers above he had the public image and the resume to back this status and allow to put him up there without much argument at all, fact is though that even though Robinson had god like skills and intangibles there are other boxers who could be rated up there with him skill wise it's just silly to say other wise, same with the other sports like Basketball with Bird, Johnson, Kobe (not too big a fan of Basketball anymore but I know a little bit), Football you have Maradonna / Pele on the pedestal but there's plenty who could be put up there with them, Baseball Babe Ruth etc etc.

[Ray Corso]

The catagory p4p was thought of watching Robinson, get it!
He was a once in a life time talent!
He is superior to any other fighter and thats the opinion of other great fighters!
What more do you need to know?
Other than actually study on how to teach and learn the sport!
If you knew how to teach a 4 punch combo you would have a better understanding WHY Robinson is the p4p King!

When you have all the talent then ad all the skills and then add power in each hand with size AND speed you have Robinson. Oh yeah ring generalship and accuracy helps abit too!

[ShoulderRoll]

Robinson had a record of 128-1 at one point. 40 straight wins, then a single loss, followed by 88 straight wins.

That's a lot of fights and a lot of victories. To be put in his class you should have to accomplish something equally as impressive, which is why almost no one is considered to be in the same league.

[The Old LefHook]

Why with modern sports science, nutrition and modern training equipment etc. have modern/today's fighters not evolved to be greater fighters/boxer than Sugar Ray Robinson. It is 65-70yrs since Sugar Ray Robinson ruled the boxing world, yet we have not seen a fighter come close to matching his greatness or his incredible ability. But before Sugar Ray Robinson, we had great fighters like Willie Pep, Henry Armstrong, Harry Grebb who some historians even claimed could have been on a par with Robinson.

You phrased the question right.

To answer in terms of evolution, natural selection takes place over many generations, unless you are a fruit fly. Let each fight in a career stand for a generation, for in each fight a slightly new fighter comes out. Robinson was the last super talent to evolve over so many generations. Super talent means he was already a superior specimen before he ever saw boxing gloves.