Only idiots think fighters 60 years on back would be competitive today

[STREET CLEANER]

given their condition. Our fighters today are bigger, stronger and faster then they ever were. Why? Because they aren't goinghave into it alone now, now they have researchers (nutritionist, fitness experts) who conduct research to find the most positive results. This allows them to find the maximum balance of muscle to body frame / weight for strength and speed. They now have tapes to study and research other fighters methods in detail. Fighters back then didn't have this luxery. Science makes the difference.

Humans make fables about the past neglecting logic, its natural.

Makes you even a bigger idiot, fighters fought more frequently and there were less weight classes back then. They also fought 15 rounds, you wouldn't have all these 6'6" HW that weight 250lbs. Speed and power can't be thought either you have it or you don't. Also heart, are you also implicating that we can make somebody more resilient cause of modern times.

Training back then was different but doesn't mean that it was less effective. There a more boxers that don't have all the modern advances in training available to them and they stick with what has worked all these years. We do have evolution cause it has to start somewhere and we are also going to have great boxers in the present and the future. Like I said before it makes you the bigger idiot for posting something without making any real research.

[Left Hook Tua]

Look at sports Evolution or buy a book about the subject. All Sports Evolve by taking the good and making it better and getting rid of the bad. Before in Swimming and Running the diffirence would be seconds, now its judged in miliseconds.

ALL sports evolve, look at boxing 70 years ago and look at it now. The Training is better, the technology is better, the technique is scientificly calculated. You have dieting experts who tell the fighters when to eat and when to stop so they come in Prime and full strenght. You have training camps that are calculated to the minute so the fighter gets maximum output.

The rules are better, there is less corruption and cheating. More testing for illegal substances.

80 Years ago someone couldve been high on coke while pumping his body full of Testostarone or some other drugs.

Its a night and day diffirence.

I hate when people say oh if SRR or Marciano were here they would clean the place up thats just not true. They were ATG of their era and thats what made them good. Its like the K2 Brothers being the dominant of their era. In 30 Years there will be even better fighters than todays because they will take the current technology and technique and make it better.

srr and rocky are two bad examples to use together.

srr is not much different physically from the guys now 147.

rocky is 5'10 185. tough for him in a division were now a 6'3 220 lb. guy is considered small.

sports has evolved and athletes have improved. the effect is not equal among them.

example you take a soccer player from the 50's and put him on a soccer team now and if he's physically gifted and talented enough he can compete.

now do the same with an american football player with the size of modern american football players he probably will have a harder time.

the only thing with boxing is that old timer didn't cut weight the way modern boxers do.

back then a guy fighting at 160 will come in the ring 157-158. nowadays a fighter at 160 comes in the ring 170-175 because they cut weight before the weighin.

[Left Hook Tua]

put Lebron in Kobe's body and he'd be CJ Watson

put kobe in lebron's body and you get rodman rebounding , barkley post up , chamberlain scoring , russell defense.

true story.

[Levcon8686]

Is like comparing the 1st Ford invented against a Super Snake. But that doesn't take the value of the old car because without that 1st Ford It wouldnt' be a Super Snake Mustang today.
The comparason is out of content.

Exactly.

What some of the old greats achieved was incredible, and they are legitimately 'great' for what they did. But stick them in a time machine and beam them into 2010 against the current champs and 90% of them get beaten.

[nathan_nall]

So you're saying Sugar Ray Robinson wouldn't be competitive today? give me a break, he would dominate the WW division.

Listen, there was more talent back then there was today. That means in order to be a great back then, you had to fight tougher opposition. In today's world you can fight bums 20-30 times, fight a couple champs and your a top dog. Back then nearly every one was a tough fight.

Think about it - NY had over 50 boxing gyms over 50 years ago. Now there are about 3. The pool of good fighters back then was insanely deep compared to today.

Your point would make sense for heavyweights only, especially the old timers that weighed like 185 pounds and ****, they would be just too small.

You do bring up great points but Robinson was a definite exception to a general rule at that time. He was way ahead of his time. There are a lot of throwback fighters today that look very much like they belonged back in the B&W televised fights 60 years ago (Baldomir, Mayorga, Arreola, etc.).

Generally, I think MOST of the greats of yester-year would get their arses handed to them by the greats of today. It isn't just fitness and nutrition that has changed, its in emphasis on the "art" of boxing. It truly is a sweet "science" now. Boxing 60 years ago was checkers, whereas boxing today is chess. There is much more finesse.

[Steak]

yea, which is why George Foreman became heavyweight champ when he was 45 20 years after his prime
or why Larry Holmes was beating top 5 opponents after having been retired and was 43
or why Holyfield(who had a hard time with both of them) should have gotten the nod when he beat a top 5 fighter today at 45 or something after being medically suspended...

When a fighter can still get big time, relevant wins years and years after their prime, I think that at least says that their era was 'on par' with the next.


people keep talking about all these huge advancements in sports science and health, but if thats the case then why is it that so many champions grew up in **** conditions and can still compete? a large volume of boxers train old-school as well.

boxing isnt nearly as a simple as 'who is the better athlete?', like in track. The mental aspects of the sport are huge.

[Medved]

to those saying they had 200-300 fights, they didnt have an advanced amateur system that fighters go thru now. To be a great fighter today 90% had great Amateur careers with hundreds of fights. Back then you just jumped in the ring. Thats why the diffirence is so long. Plus they fought alot of bums and fought till old age. Today you just cant be competitive fighting beyond 40 save for a couple special boxers. Look what happened to Roy Jones Jr.

[Levcon8686]

yea, which is why George Foreman became heavyweight champ when he was 45 20 years after his prime
or why Larry Holmes was beating top 5 opponents after having been retired and was 43
or why Holyfield(who had a hard time with both of them) should have gotten the nod when he beat a top 5 fighter today at 45 or something after being medically suspended...

Completely missing the point.

All you're doing is picking out three high profile exceptions, all of whom would feature on many peoples all-time HW top 10.

Larry Holmes at 43 was a top heavyweight just 10 years previously.

Holyfield is one of the toughest mofos ever. And he's been very poor in the last few years. Just because he was competitive with huge and slow Valuev doesn't mean he's any good. If it wasn't for his name, he wouldn't be fighting for the title. He's not a top 15 heavyweight currently.

Foreman, although accomplished a great feat, got a large slice of luck by catching Moorer while well behind on the scorecards. The guy had huge power which meant he had a style which allowed him to fight into his 40's.

[IIG]

One of the few threads I agree with Horus...


I just think today boxers are more advance with nutrition, medical , and fitness training..

The threadstarter is Hous not Horus.

[Hous]

That's the reason why ATG list is all about the resume......not skills. 100 years from now with advance in nutrition and technology, boxers will be better than the fighters of today.

For sure, its funny how dim witted some people are. Especially the guy who said boxers for the 40s to 80s against boxers from the 90s to today would change my mind, because i specifically stated 60 years on back. So try boxers from the 40s to 50s.