Have boxers gotten better as time progressed?

And no - Armstrong vs Ross isn't on the same level. Especially Ross hasn't a tight enough guard and, especially, Armstrong comes in a bit low with his head (but Ross also lower's his head too much).

More seriously, Ross punches at midrange with the other hand low. A bad mistake that you don't see much in boxing today (when Floyd holds his left Low he has his shoulder up).

 

Jesus christ, no. See absolutely no way Duran would beat Golovkin.

I think it's a bit harsh to say you can't be great if you haven't beat another great in their prime. Then Hearns, Benitez, Hagler and Monzon aren't great to start with (and arguably SRL isn't great either). Foster isn't great. Tyson isn't great. I don't buy it.

Floyd has proven everything he needs imo handling top guys like Corrales, Castillo (rematch), Cotto and others like he has while giving up quite a bit in size.

Ward, GGG and Rigo are still in their careers, so let's wait and see a bit. Handling Donaire like that definitely wasn't shabby, though.

 

Jesus. Such a sandbox.

No, I'm not a "*****" and haven't (and wouldn't) said anything about "TBE". I like Pac better for what it's worth. But Floyd still has done what he has done, and I have eyes to see with.

Those same eyes tell me Golovkin is a much more skilled fighter than Barkley. Barkley beat Hearns, other than that he lost to anyone of note. And crucially he wasn't that skilled. Tough, strong, powerful and competitive, sure - but ultimately without top skill.

Golovkin is just so much more precise, but also strong and powerful. I don't think Duran could handle that against someone so much bigger. But that's not taking away anything from the great Hands of Stone. It's just about age and size.

 

Do you box any? Feels strange to me that you'd say these things if you do or have.

I don't dispute that Armstrong is among the absolute top p4p, but any trainer would tell you not to keep your head that low. It makes it harder to see punches coming, makes you vulnerable to the uppercut and, even more crucially, you have to lift your head a bit when you punch (which Armstrong does) and in that instant you're very vulnerable to a counter.

 

Again, because everything is so watered down. You have at least four titles to choose from in any division in addition to jr and super divisions. there are literally DOZENS of more championships to go around. But if you think situations like Zale and Dempsey dont happen then just tell me how you think Mayweather-Pac would go down in an 8 champion world? Roy-Darius? Or any other number of combinations of fighters that Mayweather and Jones (just for an example) ducked during their careers? You think that isnt cherry picking and not on par with what happened in bygone eras? The problem is that there are so many titles to go around that those guys who get essentially left out of the big picture still get the consolation prize of a meaningless (to me) championship. You really think Burley, Wills, and others wouldnt have been titlists in an era with 68 champions? Only a child of the modern era who doesnt know any better would call that progress.

 

Duran-Palomino is a bit one-sided. I was naming fights where both showed terrific skill. Duran-De Jesus 2 is up there absolutely, though. But it's not black and white.

And if you want to impress me with black and white examples, you have to do much better than Armstrong-Ross. As i said, too many basic errors in that one.

 

Benitez beat Cervantes when he was in his prime. Cervantes was 31 but he had just turned in his career best performance less than a year earlier.

 

The thing is, that the best of a division or divisions usually do meet. Marquez/MAB/Pac/Morales. Tito/DLH/Mosley/Forrest/Quartey. Too bad with the Jones situation at 175, but he at least met Hopkins and Toney before that.

And not in any possible way can you argue it was better when top fighters constantly were kept from top fights because of their skin color. Today the top fighters get exposure and big fights. Back then some of them had a hard time supporting themselves on boxing full time. Solely because of the color of their skin. How was that better?

I'd give you that the 50's, 60's and 70's perhaps were the best decades in terms of getting fights made. But I do think that that problem gets overstated today. Pac-Floyd may still happen and Vitaly-Wlad was a very special situation. Let's just hope GGG gets some good fights.

 

Wich prime great had Cervantes beat?

Anyhow, you see my point. Hearns never beat a prime great. Hagler neither. Probably not Monzon. Foster didn't. McCallum probably didn't. Louis? Nah, since I'm not sure Walcott counts according to these criteria. Ali? Etc, etc.