What makes 60-80's fighers so much better than today?

[Citizen Koba]

Short answer: nothing.

LOL. Brevity is good.

Ah nostalgia...gimme a pair of them big rose tinted 70s shades.






This discussion has been going on as long as the sport itself - each era has looked back and wondered where it all went wrong and decried that the sport is dying.

[New England]

they fought more often, for starters.

roberto duran would dfend his championship at LW several times a year, and take tune ups in between against no hopers to stay sharp.



also, just watch the tape man. 60's - 80's? it's all very well filmed. black and white stopped in teh 60's.

why is ray leonard better than floyd mayweather?
punching power and an ATG chin for starters. oh, and his resume.



sheesh.

[Sam Donald]

I've always said boxing is more evolved now.

Boxing came a long way from this...



...to what we see now.

this reminds me of sadam ali vs jay krupp lol

[Frank Ducketts]

We got to see the fights that fans wanted to see. There were very few fights that didn't get made that fans wanted to see.

[Joe Grizzley]

They came in almost identical to their weigh in weights back then.

Manny, Floyd, Sergio, GGG are keeping it old school, but the rest are bastardizing the sport.

What the hell are you talking about? Pacquiao has been rehydrating 16 pounds per fight since the Morales days. Go look at his history of unofficial weigh-ins from the networks.

Thats what people are missing. Pacquiao has been weighing the same on fight night since he was fighting 130.

[Joe Grizzley]

Is it nostalgia that clouds minds? Were guys actually bigger per weight class compared to today? Were all fighters of these generations better technically then the preceding generations even the c/b grade? Is it that boxing was bigger mainstream in those times? I mean seriously I'd like to hear all reasons that actually make sense and are logical as to what makes these nostalgic fighters that much better!!! Do other sports downgrade better players of now compared to past like boxing? Is it the fighters persona nowadays compared to old that clouds your judgment over the fighters skill? Did fighters not "duck" fighters with less reward than risk back then compared to now? Were there promotional or network contracts that blocked fights from happening like there is now? Is it that they were allowed things back then in the ring that is now banned for some apparent reason?

You want to know why they were better? You won't like the answer because its rather simple.

They didn't have computers and weren't part of the convenience age. Modern convenience and everything the computer chip has brought has had an massive impact on society.

People thought different, parents raised their kids rough, people weren't soft and in touch with their emotions as much, hand-out mentality didn't exist, kids growing up wanted to be in bands and learned instruments where as today its guitar hero and everybody wants the limelight of being a mc or rapper.

There was a lot of really good trainers that took their secrets to the grave.

The amateur system was better and far more competitive. AAU's you fought 3x/night sometimes 4. No headgear, smaller gloves, longer fights in pro's (15 rounds). Fighters were hungry.

Despite being a rather simple issue, it is rather complex to list everything. Western society is weak and it shows.

[WilkinsOlajuwon]

Is it nostalgia that clouds minds? Were guys actually bigger per weight class compared to today? Were all fighters of these generations better technically then the preceding generations even the c/b grade? Is it that boxing was bigger mainstream in those times? I mean seriously I'd like to hear all reasons that actually make sense and are logical as to what makes these nostalgic fighters that much better!!! Do other sports downgrade better players of now compared to past like boxing? Is it the fighters persona nowadays compared to old that clouds your judgment over the fighters skill? Did fighters not "duck" fighters with less reward than risk back then compared to now? Were there promotional or network contracts that blocked fights from happening like there is now? Is it that they were allowed things back then in the ring that is now banned for some apparent reason?

The best fought the best.

End Thread

[dynomyte1444]

Nothing!

Its nostalgia.

[dynomyte1444]

The best fought the best.

End Thread

Thats not true.

SRL didnt fight hagler for years when people wanted it. Most forget about this. Hagler was at the tail end of his career and Aaron Pryor was calling out SRL for years and that never happened.

Nostalgia at its best.

70's and below fought the best but they didnt have different champs and promoters. We live in a different time but we have some tremendous fights that do occur.

[nathan_nall]

They weren't. It just seems that way because today we consider it the "Golden Age" of boxing. But I'd be willing to bet that just as many people in 1970 looked back to the bare knuckle days at the turn of the century and said things like "Now those were true athletes!". In another 30-50 years, we'll all be old farts reminiscing about how there will never be another Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Roy Jones Jr., JMM, Morales, Gatti, De La Hoya, etc.