the communist ban on pro athletes impact on boxing records...

[YNWA]

i know the HW division aint great at the moment but it surely cant just be a coincidence that the old 'eastern bloc' have dominated it recently since they were allowed to fight professionally

there would surely have been plenty of good tough east european fighters challenging throughout the 60s, 70s,80s and 90s to have made a huge impact on the boxing records as they currently stand if they'd been allowed to compete. plus the cubans also now to think of it

[Fulcrum29]

i know the HW division aint great at the moment but it surely cant just be a coincidence that the old 'eastern bloc' have dominated it recently since they were allowed to fight professionally

there would surely have been plenty of good tough east european fighters challenging throughout the 60s, 70s,80s and 90s to have made a huge impact on the boxing records as they currently stand if they'd been allowed to compete. plus the cubans also now to think of it

Yes. I'm fairly certain Russian fighters would have owned boxing back during the cold war if they were allowed to partake. That's just my opinion though.

[YNWA]

Yes. I'm fairly certain Russian fighters would have owned boxing back during the cold war if they were allowed to partake. That's just my opinion though.

not sure theyd have 'owned' it but im sure we missed out on some fantastic champions due to all that iron curtain, eastern bloc, communist nonsense haha

[Steak]

I can see some Eastern European fighters in the top ten, but you have to remember that their best fighters were still fighting in the Olympics, and werent dominating even then.

and if a 19 year old Foreman beat the prime version of the best Russian heavyweight in the world, chances are that guy wouldnt have made that big an impact on the Heavyweight division at the time, if you get what Im saying. same as Pete Rademacher knocking out the best Russian in the world in one round in the amateurs, and getting beaten up by Floyd Patterson not too long after.

same with the Cubans. they do well in the Olympics, but a lot of the time you see 27ish year old Cubans fighting teenagers. and that has to be considered. Felix Savon may have knocked out a teenage David Tua, but chances are he would have gotten his block knocked off if he fought a prime David Tua.

[YNWA]

I can see some Eastern European fighters in the top ten, but you have to remember that their best fighters were still fighting in the Olympics, and werent dominating even then.

and if a 19 year old Foreman beat the prime version of the best Russian heavyweight in the world, chances are that guy wouldnt have made that big an impact on the Heavyweight division at the time, if you get what Im saying. same as Pete Rademacher knocking out the best Russian in the world in one round in the amateurs, and getting beaten up by Floyd Patterson not too long after.

same with the Cubans. they do well in the Olympics, but a lot of the time you see 27ish year old Cubans fighting teenagers. and that has to be considered. Felix Savon may have knocked out a teenage David Tua, but chances are he would have gotten his block knocked off if he fought a prime David Tua.

fighters who could have made it probably didnt bother though due to the lack of rewards. the one thing that gets most fighters through the years of tortuous training and abstinence is the prospect, no matter how slight, of fame,recognition, money etc eg the klitsckos are both clever lads, sons of a general - they'd have surely joined the army or studied as scientists or something rather than train as boxers if they'd been around 20 years ago