is there any fighter in today's era who....

[Scott9945]

Mate, human evolution takes thousands of years to unfold. You really need to go back to your high school biology books mate. Humans evolving into better athletes over a period of 60 years just isn't happening. In fact, I would guarantee that most athletes just thirty years ago in boxing could last longer over and go harder over twelve rounds than most can today.

Just go watch a few lightweight fights of thirty years ago and you see what I mean. Fifteen rounds non stop! Very few fighters today can go like that for just twelve rounds let alone fifteen!

If you think it's delusional to say the athletes have not evolved from then until now, well, you really need to try and understand exactly what evolution means. It is the actual genes in our bodies making transformations and they most certainly do not take place over a small period of a few decades or more.

Training techniques have changed but I would stand by what most older athletes do apart from the obvious techniques that can simply be ruinous, but, the fighters of yesteryear were still better conditioned, fought longer and harder bouts and were generally across the board more skillful.

Edit: Oh, I see many people have already said this. It seems I jumped the gun.

Your comments are well worth reading Benny. You can always tell a naive boxing fan by their inability to see beyond their own experience of watching live fights. You don't have to be old enough to have seen Benny Leonard or Ray Robinson to understand and respect the brilliance they brought to their craft.

[boxing_great]

ray leonard?

[BennyST]

Your comments are well worth reading Benny. You can always tell a naive boxing fan by their inability to see beyond their own experience of watching live fights. You don't have to be old enough to have seen Benny Leonard or Ray Robinson to understand and respect the brilliance they brought to their craft.

Cheers mate! Yes, I don't understand it. Certainly that is the case with many fighters from the early nineteen hundreds, but, it is quite wrong in most cases from around the early mid century and after. I don't know how people can watch a guy like Willie Pep and say that todays fighters are more developed....? It is simply untrue. He had more tricks up his sleeve than Pernell Whitaker and could also fight like a demon when needed.

The majority of those champs from that time have all the tools of any of todays fighters but also have more fighting savvy and skills that come from fighting so much. It is no joke when guys like Hopkins and Toney say they're 'old school' fighters. That is how 'old school' fighters actually fought. They had the defense that came from experience and fighting constantly. They used their shoulders so well and a large amount used all the tricks that only a guy like Hopkins etc uses now.

It seems that today that fighters have great training techniques but their actual fighting skills have diminished in great part due to the amateur fighting rules and because of the amount they now fight. So while they may be bigger and even stronger in a sense, it is a strength that is not necessarily what is needed for a fighter. In no way though are todays fighters more skilled, faster, better conditioned or smarter fighters.

In any case, I would still bet against most champs today if they were up against a champ from forty years ago. They were tougher, as fast, more skilled and savvy and had more in their overall game than most guys today.

[Panamaniac]

try explaining to the delivery man, apparently he knows this sport very well, and says that any of today's welterweights would beat the greatest P4P fighter......so he knows the sport well. obviously he also implys that ali would have been beaten by the more conditioned and athletic heavyweights that we have today

Young people without the perspective of the past, conclude that today's fighters are the best in boxing history. Truth to tell, today's fights and protagonists lack the lustre and drama of a not-so-distant past. The great majority of today's matches seem fairly exciting on paper, but most outcomes don't live-up to fans' expectations.

Take Calzaghe vs. Hopkins for example: this match-up promised a hell of a lot more than it actually delivered, which turned out to be a rather lacklustre affair. The problem with today's fighters is that very few exibit any urgency in disposing of their opponents; they're mostly content to place their fate in the hands of judges, then they ***** and moan if they don't get the decision. Consequently, most of today's fights lack the drama of yesteryear.