Anyone think The 1940's Heavies Were On A Par With The 1970's?

there is validity to this pick, I also picked Walcott over Big G in the past but he could be erratic, Charles was a good inside fighter and that would be key against guys like Liston and Foreman, stamina would also be a major issues for Foreman

 

a dangerous crew there alone and I suspect serious damage to the the 70's flanks.....I am leaning with the 40's at this point

 

I favor the 40's now after a 2nd look and I see only Ali as the versatile fighter of the 70's, Foreman of the 70's could not match stamina with the 40's guys....Ali would have his hands full with many and I dont see Norton surviving the punchers. Frazier would have his share of success but could be beaten by many. Quarry is the best of the rest and he struggles with the 40's men, Shavers always has his KO wins but there are better men than Bob Stallings that would beat him in the 40's

 

I lot depends on criteria.

Top five? Top Ten?

I would lean toward the seventies.

Top thirty? Top fifty?

I would lean toward the forties.

I think the forties had more depth of good heavyweights.

 

The 40s had more depth.

Once you get past the top few guys of the 70s, it reallly thins out. And nevermind that two of the best fighters of the 70s, Ali and Frazier had seen better days and were very vulnerable in that decade.

Louis, Walcott, Bivins, and Charles..etc. all had their peaks in the 40s.

 

On a par, yes.

 

I agree

 

Yes they were pretty equal,... the 1940's has some greats.. they fought more often so they seem less dominant than the 1970's.

Greats fighting each other regularly, can play hell on records.

 

I think most people see the seventies as a more talent packed era which I agree with. As for the similarities between these two decades, they were both periods where the best pretty much regularly fought the best, although a few of the murderers row members probably should have gotten some title shots.

 

To be fair, I think his LaStarza is just as valid as your Liston, who went 1-0 in 1970 against Wepner, and saw 1971 in as a decomposing corpse.

 

It is closer than you might think.

While you could find three from the 70s, who were better on aggregate than the best three from the 40s, there might have been more quality heavyweights in the 40s overall.

 

Throw Max Baer in there, too He retired in 1941. He wasn't a factor in the decade any more than Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were in the 1980s.