Are today's boxers bigger & better than those who fought in the 70's n 80's?

[Kigali]

Come on man.. don't hate.. aside from Lomachenko..and a few guys from other countries.. Latino fighters dominate the lower divisions.

I don't see much domination at all.

[Kigali]

Sure.. I just personally believe the Mexican fighters are better there at the moment... besides Lomachenko.

Crawford was the guy for a time. . But now he moved up.

Robert Easter Jr at 135
Tank Davis at 130.

Devin Haney is a phenom.....the sky is the limit for that kid.

Shakur Stevenson is another with greatness written all over him.

America is packed to the rafters with young talent...and PLENTY more where that came from.

I see it everyday.

[!! Shawn]

You are totally disregarding the progress of mankind, saying boxing is the only sport that has not improved even though the proof of its changing is right before your eyes.

We have ample video of fighters since Jack Johnson which means we can measure lots of things, can you see the difference between Jack Johnson and lets say an average HW in Greg Page, I bet you can see that difference in technique and conditioning with one eye closed.

Do you think boxing stopped evolving after the 70s like time stood still ? nothing behaves like that is always being refined thats evolution.

if you were to test speed, reaction, stamina, explosiveness, and power to weight ratio the modern athlete will reign supreme in 90% of fights.

See you are arguing the fight in a man Im arguing that fight is made better with better science and understanding.

Boxing is different than other sports. Being bigger and stronger just means you are fighting in a higher weight class.

How does that make you better than the previous generation?

This largely isolates boxing from much of the rest of sports progression. There is also the fact that much of boxing training consists largely of old school training methods that haven't changed in 100 years, and the fact that the lineage of trainers can be traced in very short hops.

For example.

Eddie Futch -> Freddie Roach.

Freddie learned from Eddie.

People often confuse changes in the way fights are fought due to changes in refereeing, with changes in the talent of fighters.

The old adage use to be a good boxer beats a good puncher, a good puncher beats a good swarmer, a good swarmer beats a good boxer.

The clearest example was Frazier beats Ali, Foreman beats Frazier, Ali beats Foreman.

This is because Referees did not use to break as often. Now swarming styles are largely ineffective because as soon as you grab on to a guy, the referee breaks the fighters and the distance is reset.

Holding use to be much less frequent because fighter knew the ref wasn't going to break you.

People see the decreasing prevalence of swarming styles and the emergence of more pot shotting styles, and assume the fighters just got smarter and better and faster and thats why that is how things work today.

The reality, is that current refereeing practices favor that style.

Does that mean that is the most effective style? No. Does that mean the fighters today are more skilled? No. It actually probably means they are less versatile.

Consider the scarcity of a truly great inside fighters in todays day and age.

[SN!PER]

Size doesn't really matter that much.

The best fighters in the game today are Chocolatito, Lomachenko, and Rigondeaux.

[Damn Wicked]

Here's the deal. I see a couple of threads where people reference the "better" competition during SRL, Duran's time. But was it really better competition? Or is it an illusion just because boxing was MUCH more popular during that time?

In every major sport...baseball, basketball, football, hockey.... It's widely understood that athletes today (in those sports) are bigger, better, faster, possibly more athletic than athletes in past eras.

It's just natural. Training programs, nutrition, coaching, access to resources... have improved over time.

So does this apply to boxing? I think today's boxers might be better than those of past eras because of this.. But people who watched during those times might just feel 'nostalgic' or bias because their favorite fighters fought during those times.

So what is your opinion? Are boxers 'bigger, better' today?

The heavyweights are certainly a lot bigger.

Hard to to say if fighters are better today but I'm sure nutrition and sports science is much better now than it was in the 70's. PED's and roids are probably much better and the fighter's team likely know how to maximize their effects through years of trial and error. I would assume the same would be true with fighting technique in general.

Lots of fighters today have perfected the craft of "spoiling". I would say that "spoiling" has been significantly improved over the years.

[Damn Wicked]

Every generation believes that their generation"s music was the best. It's the same with sports, fashion, movies, etc. But the truth is that technically, humans learn and improve constantly in most endeavors.

[robertzimmerman]

Every generation believes that their generation"s music was the best. It's the same with sports, fashion, movies, etc. But the truth is that technically, humans learn and improve constantly in most endeavors.

Fighters aren't constantly improving over time.

[Reloaded]

Boxing is different than other sports. Being bigger and stronger just means you are fighting in a higher weight class.

How does that make you better than the previous generation?

This largely isolates boxing from much of the rest of sports progression. There is also the fact that much of boxing training consists largely of old school training methods that haven't changed in 100 years, and the fact that the lineage of trainers can be traced in very short hops.

For example.

Eddie Futch -> Freddie Roach.

Freddie learned from Eddie.

People often confuse changes in the way fights are fought due to changes in refereeing, with changes in the talent of fighters.

The old adage use to be a good boxer beats a good puncher, a good puncher beats a good swarmer, a good swarmer beats a good boxer.

The clearest example was Frazier beats Ali, Foreman beats Frazier, Ali beats Foreman.

This is because Referees did not use to break as often. Now swarming styles are largely ineffective because as soon as you grab on to a guy, the referee breaks the fighters and the distance is reset.

Holding use to be much less frequent because fighter knew the ref wasn't going to break you.

People see the decreasing prevalence of swarming styles and the emergence of more pot shotting styles, and assume the fighters just got smarter and better and faster and thats why that is how things work today.

The reality, is that current refereeing practices favor that style.

Does that mean that is the most effective style? No. Does that mean the fighters today are more skilled? No. It actually probably means they are less versatile.

Consider the scarcity of a truly great inside fighters in todays day and age.

Been over it 100 times, my opinion is based on common sense that in a world where everything has evolved into a better product I dont see how boxing missed out on natural evolution, knowledge is ALWAYS improving it never stops .

Dont try and complicate it just look at science and evolution.

[Reloaded]

Fighters aren't constantly improving over time.

Youre outa ya mind.

Look at the big picture not a few cherished names., we are talking the sport here not any individuals , the sport from cradle to grave .
The youth in boxing is waaaaaaaaaaay advanced on the youth of boxing from 30-40-60-100 years ago, how on earth can it not be are you living in a cave .

[robertzimmerman]

Been over it 100 times, my opinion is based on common sense that in a world where everything has evolved into a better product I dont see how boxing missed out on natural evolution, knowledge is ALWAYS improving it never stops .

Dont try and complicate it just look at science and evolution.

It's not complicated.


It's very simple:

Boxing has evolved, but it doesn't keep evolving in the way that some other sports do.


The top swimmers of today are the best/fastest swimmers of all time.

The top sprinters of today are the best/fastest sprinters of all time.


Boxing is different.

Nobody thinks that today's best fighters are THE best fighters of all time.

Today's MW division is weak in comparison to other eras.

The same applies to the SMW and HW divisions.