Joe Louis Vs. Wladimir Klitschko

tbh vettel is no schumi.

schumi won one title in a car that wasn't light years ahead of everyone elese (Benetton, although it was def top 2 or 3). vettel has always had a car much better than everyone else.

also vettel doesn't blatantly cheat as much as schumi (schumi was willing to risk killing others in order to cheat).

 

if you are admitting hes a robot then yes.

obviously as much a joke as what you wrote.

 

Fair enough.

Just have a quick look at post 797.

Tell me what you think.

It's just a quick example.

 

I was talking about evolution and cars, which is exactly what you were talking about.

If you want to expand it to anything else, you should take that up separately.

 

I did bring it up in rerefence to evolution.

you weren't discussing cars in response? my mistake, what Mercedes were you referring to?

 

Boxing has evolved in certain respects yes, but I don't think it has evolved on a linear scale IE. In every facet of the sport. That is what I think proponents of the 'newer is better' philosophy tend to think.

Boxing as a sport has matured I think. Talking from a purely skill perspective here. I tend to think of it like an infant's progress into adulthood.

With Queensbury rules, I think there was a tremendous change in the sport. Essentially, it was a new sport since the old London Prize Ring rules no longer applied.
So from when Sulllivan was beaten by Corbett, boxing as we know it was still in it's infancy and new styles, skills and techniques were being developed because of the new rules of the day.
There was a tremendous and very rapid upswing in knowledge gained during this period, much like an infant first learning to crawl, then walk.
If I look at early film of say, Jeffries' era, then I can see a clear evolution from that period to say, Dempsey's era. It's on film and easy to spot. Tunney or Dempsey for example, look vastly more sophisticated than Jeffries, who for his era was a great fighter.

But from that initial boom of new knowledge gained, I think progress has been slower and slower, to the point of a standstill. I do think that in general, fighters today are better as a whole than fighters from the 30's and 40's. However the progress has not been wholly linear.
If that were true, then we would see ALL heavyweights not only doing everything Joe Louis could do and more, but doing it so much better.

If you watch or rather study fight film of Louis, then this myth of linear evolution is shattered instantly. It is in fact Louis who is in fact showing skills rarely if ever seen anymore.
I personally think Louis was way ahead of the game during his tenure, but the point remains that he is more well-rounded as a fighter than anyone around right now, including Wlad.
Just watch the film and see for yourself. He may not always look devastating, but he is showing us all the same skills we have today, and some we rarely ever see at all now.

If we had linear progression, that would not be the case, ever.

By all means, I'm open to the idea that athletes have become bigger (which is obvious) faster (contentious, but arguable) fitter (arguable but certainly possible) and more professional overall than athletes from 50, 60 or more years ago.
But have SKILLS evolved so dramatically from that period?

I personally don't believe so, and what's more, I think for the most part, film backs this up. From my perspective, the sport leveled out in terms of technique and skill long ago. They have been practising boxing under the current ruleset for over 120 years...what more is there to learn?

 

I disagree, you cannot tell skills from looking at tapes, why? Here is an example, If I fought my younger brother and looked like a god doing so, would it be the same if I fought my boxing coach? Nonsense of course not, it is all relative. Looking good or skillful against certain opposition, doesn't mean you will look good against others. :tong

 

Thank you. It's just my opinion, but I feel I have a case.

 

You don't understand. It's that those skills existed back then too. Boxers are doing nothing now that they didn't know and do back then.
These skills were taught to Louis, handed down.

As to your analogy, well the same applies to Wlad too, or any other fighter.

 

Lol, how many alts are these clowns going to create to try and convince you of something you already know is false? :yep

 

Yes, but I was highlighting the fact that today's best guys, as well as the guys that you've mentioned above, aren't any better than the best guys of the 80's, which is almost 30 years ago.

Whereas I'm sure that certain records in track and field and swimming etc, have been broken within that period.

It was just another example, to show how you can't tie boxing in with other sports.

It simply doesn't progress in the same way.

 

Wlad, would pound Louis like he would any Cruiserweight. It's laughable that people think this little man could stand up to the power of a real heavyweight.

 

Hi Elroy.

 

Another outstanding post! :good