I know this has been done before but I have a different take on it. Let's say a time portal opens up, it connects the past with the future. If some of the greats of the past went through it, how would they fair? I'm not comparing the guys in terms of what they did for their own era. Example, Jack Dempsey instead of fighting Gene Tunney he fights someone of our era. He doesn't adjust to anything of the era, hasn't picked up the new techniques training methods etc. I basically want to know is how good do you guys think the guys you see on film are? I personally believe that SRR could jump into a 147 lb title fight and win still. But I think many fighters and so called greats may struggle and not get by top contenders. I believe Dempsey for example would be beaten by any HW prospect and any decent crusierweight.
I've always thought Prime Joe Calzaghe takes Prime Joe Louis TO THE CLEANERS. Think about it: - As proved by Rock Marciano, Louis had problems with Italian style pressure fighters. - Calzaghe in his prime was an exciting KO artist before his hand issues (this is the version we are talking about not the shot version that took apart Lacy, Kessler, Hopkins and Jones). He only had a few less than The Rock. - Calzaghe was taller than The Rock and generally weight less but only by a bit. So while Marciano took out Louis in the 8th, 'Zaggers would do it slightly later and end matters around the 10th of a savage Lacying. :good
I actually wouldn't be surprised by this. I've always told people that Joe C. could beat a prime rocky... Especially with the time portal idea, Rocky never would have seen blazing fast speed like Calzaghe's. But if you look at the skill gap from the 20's 30's 40's til now its huge. Fighters then were much more crude. Zaggers could beat a lot of em! PS: Also gotta keep in mind that LHW Calzaghe would be the size of some HW's in those era's. So no, I'm not crazy.
:good Louis also looked suspect v Tony Galento which proves he would have trouble with the Italian Style.
I'll always firmly believe a lot of greats of the day, not all, would struggle nowadays. But I think it's irrelevant. They're greats from how they were during the overall skill level at the time, and their ability to overcome adversity and be the best in the world -at the time-, or how they pioneered (not necessarily mastered) many techniques thatre used today. But that's just my opinion.
No I agree. I think greats are rated against their own time period as they should, but I think now the game/techniques/science of boxing has progressed so much if those guys tried to walk into a ring they would struggle to be a top 10. It always drives me nuts still when people say "SEE LOOK HOW DEMPSEY DID THIS, THATS A LOST ART TODAY" when reality which ever technique they were talking about would probably get someone KTFO'D today. I do think the game's evolution has slowed down or neared its peak form in recent years, so I do think guys from the 70's 80's could still be champions if they stepped through a time portal.
There'd be fighters today that could beat guys of the past, and there'd be guys of the past that could beat fighters of today. Techniques progressed from the M.O.Q. but skills haven't progressed for a very long time. There's actually quite a few skills that aren't as prevalent today. Boxing doesn't progress each decade like other sports do. The best fighters today across the board, aren't as good as the best fighters of the 90's in my opinion. That's just one example.