most of the old fighters are overhyped

[Grand Champ]

most of the old fighters are overhyped and their oponents are even more overhyped to make them look better than they are

people will put Rocky Marciano above Lennox Lewis on their GOAT list and then when you say Lewis was to big strong and a far better Boxer they say yeah but you cant compare the two they are from totally different era's

yet they still find it sufficient to put Marciano above Lewis based on that ,Lewis is a lot better fighter than Marciano i think Holy would beat the crap outta Marciano aswell just as tough and a far better Boxer

its the same with most fighters from that era they get overrated and the people that overrate them contradict themselves cause they cannot handle it that some modern day fighters would of beaten some of those old guys

VK does not get the respect he deserves either he is one of the best HW and he would of posed a huge problem for any HW in history

I posted something of the same kind a while back. The reply I got from some of the oldtimers was that you have to look a what they accomplished in their Era; even when they faced unbelievable odds like being broke, poor medical treatment - the odds for perminant damage was so great, people died in the ring in those days. Beside, the competition was huge because the belts was unified, you couldn't just beat a paper champion and get an easy belt in those day, they were killers back then.

Would some of the fighters in our era have had a good shot at beating the oldtimers back then? Absolutely..! But you gotta look at what they accomplished not look at like ''our fighters would beat their fighters''

That's why they're ATG's

[dans]

Vitali is injury-prone; that's why he doesn't fight that much.

So does that mean Grant Hill is one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived, he's just injury prone?

[Benny Leonard]

[Flab]

I wonder if Rocky could have stood up to Bowe in that first match like Holyfield did; or George Foreman...or even the post-prison Tyson. Or taken those shots that Lewis landed on him.

No offense to Rocky, I actually do think he is a "Great" fighter, but under 200 pounds and I'm not quite sure where to put him in that "under" 200 pound fighter list...with the other Light-Heavyweights and Cruiserweights.

I wonder if Holyfield could fight on and KO Ezzard Charles with his nose hanging off his face? Or have the will to KO Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round after being behind for the best part of the fight?

[TheGreatA]

Many actually rank Lewis over Marciano.

The reason you don't see Vitali on any lists is because he achieved nothing compared to the heavyweight greats. His greatest win was his loss to Lennox Lewis, other than that he beat mediocre opposition (Peter, Sanders, Hide, K. Johnson).

[Benny Leonard]

So does that mean Grant Hill is one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived, he's just injury prone?

Actually, Grant Hill was a great player. Bill Walton is considered great and how often did he play in the NBA?

[Benny Leonard]

Many actually rank Lewis over Marciano.

The reason you don't see Vitali on any lists is because he achieved nothing compared to the heavyweight greats. His greatest win was his loss to Lennox Lewis, other than that he beat mediocre opposition (Peter, Sanders, Hide, K. Johnson).

I wouldn't put Vitali on the list either but I do think he would be a tough fight.

This question was actually asked way back when ESPN had some short lived show. Somebody brought up Vitali vs. Marciano and even Atlas struggled to say Marciano would win, which I don't remember if he said yes or no or just didn't want to give his answer...the other had Vitali.

[Dynamite Kid]

I posted something of the same kind a while back. The reply I got from some of the oldtimers was that you have to look a what they accomplished in their Era; even when they faced unbelievable odds like being broke, poor medical treatment - the odds for perminant damage was so great, people died in the ring in those days. Beside, the competition was huge because the belts was unified, you couldn't just beat a paper champion and get an easy belt in those day, they were killers back then.

Would some of the fighters in our era have had a good shot at beating the oldtimers back then? Absolutely..! But you gotta look at what they accomplished not look at like ''our fighters would beat their fighters''

That's why they're ATG's

you also got remember what modern day fighters like Holyfield and Lewis have achieved they would not have a good shot at beating the likes of Marciano they would beat him as fas as im concerned

[TheGreatA]

I wouldn't put Vitali on the list either but I do think he would be a tough fight.

This question was actually asked way back when ESPN had some short lived show. Somebody brought up Vitali vs. Marciano and even Atlas struggled to say Marciano would win, which I don't remember if he said yes or no or just didn't want to give his answer...the other had Vitali.

Lets face it Vitali has a 9 inch height, 65 lb weight advantage over Rocky.

Marciano wouldn't win but in his era he did greater than Vitali did in his. You don't rank fighters based on how they would do in imaginary match-up's, you rank them based on what they actually did.

5-10 lbs less and Marciano would've been a light heavyweight.

[Miburo]

Fighters can only be judged in the context of their eras. Imagining Jack Johnson versus Lennox Lewis is a futile and meaningless endeavor.