Why are fighters from the past glorified so much?

[Kigali]

Biggest reason I give older fighters more credit is the conditions they fought in. 15 round fights, same day weigh ins, technologically primitive training equipment and most importantly, rate of fights. Many of our top guys are rather delicate and require the better part of a year to recuperate from a single fight, do you really think they'd last in eras where the top fighters had to fight multiple times in a month? Lets also not forget, many of these were pioneers in their trademark tactics/skills, not copy-cats like modern fighters.

Modern fighters are likely able to be better due to advanced training, nutrition and medical care. On top of that, they have all the past fighters to learn from. Comparing them is apples and oranges.

WTF???

NONE of that makes any sense.

Advanced training??
Nutrition??



IF any of that is a factor....todays fighters would be better and in better shape.

They clearly are not.

Fighters in the past were in better condition and were tougher....because they had SUPERIOR TRAINING METHODS.

They drank clean water...breathed fresh air... and ate fresh fruits and vegetables and SLOW cooked meals.

They didn't need supplements because their food and water wasn't depleted and contaminated.

They had MOST of the boxing gear you see today sans air conditioned gyms and youtube to watch their opponents.



Jack Johnson had:

Heavy bag
Speed bag
Double end bag
Jump rope
Medicine ball
Trainer's Mitts
Roadwork
Free weights
Sparring
Chopping wood
Rowing
Swimming...ect ect ect
and many other things lost to history.

[Kigali]

Advanced nutrition and care should make fighters better, but it doesn't. A large part of that has to do with 12 round fights instead of 15. However, even in 12 round fights you don't see the pace set that many past fighters routinely managed while fighting much more often.

As for training, you simply need look at the ever decreasing skill level to see how boxing training has declined. Boxing is a huge outlier from other sports in that its skill level has decreased noticeably.

I wish I read this first...it would have saved me some keystrokes.

[bojangles1987]

I think the level of skill is about the same at the top end as it ever was. How can you actually demonstrate that this is not the case?

Gameplans and strategies today are vastly improved because of rule changes and the years spent trying to beat previous strategies. Players are running very complicated schemes these days compared to previous eras, and most teams run schemes developed to beat old school schemes. It's just the general evolution of coaching and gameplans over the years.

EDIT: Okay, I assumed this question was about basketball, not boxing. If it was about boxing, disregard what I said here.

[Tom Cruise]

Gameplans and strategies today are vastly improved because of rule changes and the years spent trying to beat previous strategies. Players are running very complicated schemes these days compared to previous eras, and most teams run schemes developed to beat old school schemes. It's just the general evolution of coaching and gameplans over the years.

Completely disagree Bojangles my man.

I do not see very many complicated strategies outside of a few fighters. Lots/most of them are actually very basic in their tactics. Especially when compared to the greats of the past.

The focus on S and C training (which obviously has other benefits) has certainly left fighters with lower ring IQ's imo

Edit: Just realised you were talking about basketball My bad. Teach me to not read the thread

[Canelo and GGG]

Gameplans and strategies today are vastly improved because of rule changes and the years spent trying to beat previous strategies. Players are running very complicated schemes these days compared to previous eras, and most teams run schemes developed to beat old school schemes. It's just the general evolution of coaching and gameplans over the years.

Im just wondering why skill declaine?Like in football i can watch a match from 70 or 80s with Maradona,and present match from Budesliga for example and i can see with naked eye how level of play improved.In boxing its not a case.

[bojangles1987]

Completely disagree Bojangles my man.

I do not see very many complicated strategies outside of a few fighters. Lots/most of them are actually very basic in their tactics. Especially when compared to the greats of the past.

The focus on S and C training (which obviously has other benefits) has certainly left fighters with lower ring IQ's imo

That post was about basketball, not boxing. At least, I'm pretty sure the person I responded to was talking about basketball. Now I'm not sure.

Totally agree about boxing, the average skill level and strategy is far behind what it used to be. Sure you have fighters like Mayweather, Pacquiao, Rigondeaux, Ward and such that are masterful, but they are fewer than ever in today's boxing world.

[Tom Cruise]

That post was about basketball, not boxing. At least, I'm pretty sure the person I responded to was talking about basketball. Now I'm not sure.

Totally agree about boxing, the average skill level and strategy is far behind what it used to be. Sure you have fighters like Mayweather, Pacquiao, Rigondeaux, Ward and such that are masterful, but they are fewer than ever in today's boxing world.

All good mate I just edited my post

[Tom Cruise]

The S and C training argument would hold much more weight with me if I actually saw guys in boxing who were conditioned to the standards of other top sports.

Look at HW boxing and then look at Rugby or NFL. There is no comparison in the level of athleticism and conditioning there really isnt. Then compare the smaller guys to Tennis or Football (soccer) players. There are thousands of guys who train as hard or harder than Mayweather (notorious as being a hard worker in boxing), and with more more natural gifts, in football for example.

The best sports scientists, and the most dedicated/gifted athletes in the world are not in boxing thats for sure.

Whoever thought that AJ bulking to that size would be good for him needs to be shot really.

[bojangles1987]

Im just wondering why skill declaine?Like in football i can watch a match from 70 or 80s with Maradona,and present match from Budesliga for example and i can see with naked eye how level of play improved.In boxing its not a case.

One understated reason is that other sports have no restrictions on the size of players. Human beings are bigger, stronger, and faster today than they were 50 years ago. That athletic difference shows. That's not totally true of boxing outside the heavyweight division. Fighters may rehydrate to bigger weights these days, but a middleweight is still a middleweight. A welterweight is still a welterweight. There's no obvious difference in athletic ability compared to old school fighters.

The popularity of these sports also means a constant stream of top notch athletes and coaches that dedicate their time to developing the best skills and the best strategies. So you'll see that as well in sports like football or basketball. There's almost none of that with boxing because there are fewer fighters and fewer trainers, which means less competition to inspire hard work in developing skills and strategies.

[Pigeons]

Nostalgia. Everything looks better when you look back on it. Like people complaining about how bad music sucks today and how it was better when they were younger. There has always been horrible music. Also these people running around saying make america great again. Ask them when was America great and they'll say when they were kids. All age groups. So when they say it was great when they were a child you're talking about people in there 20's saying America was great in the 00's. People in their 30's saying America was great in the 90's People in their 40's saying America was great in the 80's. Selective memory is nostalgia.

America was greater before *****care.