Why are old-timers completely overrated???

[bojangles1987]

If you're talking turn of the century then yeah I agree. In fact the rules and generaly environment were so different as to almost consitute a different sport. Wrestling, conservation of energy, body punching to protect your knuckles, playing dead after a knock down to fool your opponent into not rushing in when you were getting up, all of these skills were essential or at least very useful to a fighter who hoped to succeed. Detailed gameplans would be next to impossible to formulate due to the lack of footage at even the highest level. Even established fighters would fight on a constant basis, often travelling vast distances in the most primitive conditions with little to no food in their stomach just to earn a buck or two. Yeah, it was different back then.

Hell, even watching Joe Louis fights is a different experience compared to now in many ways, mainly due to referee behavior.

[ts33]

Agreed 100%

These guys look to be in slow-motion compared to fighters of modern times. No amount of classical music playing in the background and 'boxing historians' raving about their resumes is going to change that.

And another thing. These ATG's - Why are the vast majority of these guys from the USA? Seriously how many of these guys have ever fought outside their country, or even against a handful of foreign fighters? Smh @ these "World champions"

The nuthuggery and putting these guys on this 'all-time-great' pedestal is just pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying these guys were bums, or they were too cowardly to go abroad (i know logistically it just didn't work back then) but i wish they weren't painfully overrated to the point that they are

[Johnwoo8686]

Tell me this guy wasn't slick/talented. Go to 2:34 and on

Today he'd be called a runner who can't punch.

[Forza]

Agreed 100%

These guys look to be in slow-motion compared to fighters of modern times. No amount of classical music playing in the background and 'boxing historians' raving about their resumes is going to change that.

And another thing. These ATG's - Why are the vast majority of these guys from the USA? Seriously how many of these guys have ever fought outside their country, or even against a handful of foreign fighters? Smh @ these "World champions"

The nuthuggery and putting these guys on this 'all-time-great' pedestal is just pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying these guys were bums, or they were too cowardly to go abroad (i know logistically it just didn't work back then) but i wish they weren't painfully overrated to the point that they are

Slow motion? Have you ever watched a prime Joe Louis unload on somebody? Have you ever watched willie pep's footwork? Have you seen how fast SRR could throw that left hook?

[nomadman]

Hell, even watching Joe Louis fights is a different experience compared to now in many ways, mainly due to referee behavior.

Difference is by Louis's time we'd at least got the neutral corner rule, gloves approaching the modern size and 15 rounders, which are a darn sight closer to 12 rounds than the ridiculous fights of before. Sure there were some differences, but I doubt a fighter like Louis would have anywhere near as much trouble adapting to the modern era compared to Johnson, Fitzsimmons and co.

[Ascended]

Crazy people on this site and others don't watch full matches and are to lazy to cause of being exposed i have seen mutiple and louis looks trash with the whole era that goes for all divisions same with dempsey era trash compared to 70s-now

and 70s compared to 80s were basic

[FinitoxDinamita]

People like to romanticize the past and it's no different when it comes to fighters. To me, fighters in the 80s were the best in terms of honed skills and technique.

It makes me chuckle when somebody says that Jack Johnson would beat the brakes off of today's HWs. He certainly wouldnt do that with his primitive ass, caveman approach. Wilder would destroy him early.

Wlad vs Marciano is not even a fair fight. Marciano would get a worse beating than Chris Byrd and it would get ugly quick.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Seriously, there's this bastard on youtube who made a video the other day bashing all these old fighters.... but he said something along the lines of;

"If Gatti and Ward had been filmed in Black & White -- they'd have gone down as ATGs."

When I think about it, that's kind of true.

Pick any sport and you can say the same. But you would be transporting men that stand on the shoulders of giants back in time with the tools they wouldn’t have if guys like Dempsey, Johnson, et al, hadn’t have existed. Babe Ruth looks silly swinging a bat, yet that same man would be a beast in today’s game. Human beings haven’t evolved at all in 100 years; it’s too short a time to evolve physically. What has evolved is knowledge of many things that make people better at sports these days. Take Gatti and Ward back in time without the modern advantages they’ve enjoyed and they would fare no better than they have in the modern era. “Sugar” Ray Robison would wipe the floor with Bud Crawford on an even playing field.

[CubanGuyNYC]

This is ******ed.

When people reference Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Current Fighter-- they mean Sugar Ray Robinson given all of today's technology, nutrition, and training methods.

They do not mean Marvin Hagler doing his roadwork in boots vs. Current Fighter with all of today's advantages.

Just as they do not expect Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao to fight SSR without any knowledge of interval training, modern running equipment, etc.

OMG that took like 30 seconds of logical reasoning. I mean, try it sometime.

Haha Correctomundo.

[Hustle]

It was 6 divisions back then. Same day weigh in. Those dudes were all in their real weight classes.