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My claim is we have less exciting fights compared to the 60s until 2010 because boxers just lack skills, and two major skills in specific.
First is the defensive part, you rarely see a good defensive fighter anymore that can defend by blocking, slipping, parrying, rolling, bobbing and weaving, staying in the pocket and firing back with shots like underrated guys like Mike McCallum or Salvador Sanchez, just to name two guys that some casual fans might not even know. Back in the day you could see these skills and defensive maneuvers, which allow you to transition between defense and offense effortlessly. Now we have people with either zero defense, like Joshua or Wilder for example or fighters just using illegal tactics as defense like Klitschko or Okolie or they're just jumping back every time a punch is thrown at them, which is my main issue with the most defensive fighters nowadays.
Second problem: the pressure fighters who are now needed to catch these pure boxers (which is not a bad thing, the sport needs pure boxers) are just some mummies who plod forward not learning anything about how to cut off the ring and which skills are needed to do so. Being a pressure fighter doesn't mean you don't need good, fast feet with all the fundamentals of boxing footwork because if you lack these then you will never catch a guy with fast feet who wants to outbox you.
Boxing is on a decline and people are not smart enough to understand why and in a decade or so we will have clown shows like bare-knuckle or slap fighting as the number one "combat sports"
First is the defensive part, you rarely see a good defensive fighter anymore that can defend by blocking, slipping, parrying, rolling, bobbing and weaving, staying in the pocket and firing back with shots like underrated guys like Mike McCallum or Salvador Sanchez, just to name two guys that some casual fans might not even know. Back in the day you could see these skills and defensive maneuvers, which allow you to transition between defense and offense effortlessly. Now we have people with either zero defense, like Joshua or Wilder for example or fighters just using illegal tactics as defense like Klitschko or Okolie or they're just jumping back every time a punch is thrown at them, which is my main issue with the most defensive fighters nowadays.
Second problem: the pressure fighters who are now needed to catch these pure boxers (which is not a bad thing, the sport needs pure boxers) are just some mummies who plod forward not learning anything about how to cut off the ring and which skills are needed to do so. Being a pressure fighter doesn't mean you don't need good, fast feet with all the fundamentals of boxing footwork because if you lack these then you will never catch a guy with fast feet who wants to outbox you.
Boxing is on a decline and people are not smart enough to understand why and in a decade or so we will have clown shows like bare-knuckle or slap fighting as the number one "combat sports"
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