Would Tommy Burns learn new skills in a modern 101 Boxing class?

I don't think I've seen enough Burns to speculate, tbh. Did he fight many skilled, mobile opponents who controlled distance while scoring with straight punches from the outside? Guys who he had to work very hard to get into his punching range against, while being strafed with jabs and crosses from a moving target? That's where the techniques of boxing become most consequential for shorter fighters.

 

Well he was a determined type of fighter with a good amount of speed and power for his size, but at 5'7" tall, probably weighing close to what Canleo will be come Saturday night, he really is not a heavyweight.

Did Burns ever stop anyone who would have been ranked at the top 5 at heavyweight when he fought them? Likely not.

His best stoppage win is likely Squires ( On film KO1 ) but Squires was KO'd 10 times in 34 matches or Flynn who was KO'd 26 times.

Burns would be a middle or super middle today, maybe a light heavy at the tail end of his career.

 

Given that I haven't seen a whole lot of Burns (none of us have) what you're seeking is patently absurd. How would I know what Burns has learned and not learned? He was hopelessly outmatched against Jack Johnson and the other fights of his I've seen were against men who I wouldn't pick to beat good junior middleweights. Not sure what I can take away from these films.

 

A sport will always see the participants with the same objectives and the athletes will learn how to accomplish the gross motor skills necessary to play the sport. You can call it evolution or you can call it a variance of technique, but there are nuances to the gross motor skill that will make that skill more effective. I'll try to explain what I mean with the following example (admittedly not perfect), concerning slipping, ducking, and parrying a punch.

Two people can start boxing (before Youtube), one with no trainer, one with the best trainer in the world. If both spar enough they'll both learn to slip punches and roll under punches and parry punches. That will come with self preservation. The difference is in how they will do it.

The self trained guy probably won't place his feet correctly to maintain balance and be able to fire punches back after he slips, rolls, or parrys a punch. He won't know how to rotate his body and hips while avoiding the punch and leverage more power with his punch after the other person misses. The self trained guy will reach out to parry punches, the well trained guy will parry punches while keeping his hands close to his body. The self trained guy will likely look at the floor when he rolls under a punch, he'll likely slip a punch by a foot when a fraction of an inch is all that is necessary, etc. So, they'll all slip, roll, and parry, one will just do it better and more effectively. Whether you call it evolution or variance is semantics.

Saying there has been no changes in boxing is like saying there have been no changes in football or basketball Old football players ran with the football and blocked and tackled and basketball players dribbled the ball, shot the ball, and rebounded. The general idea is the same in all sports, but there are ways to do those basic skills that are more effective.

 

I'd have to watch about 5,000 fights from Tommy Burns era to follow up on this claim though.

 

Pass interference is a rule change, not a technique. The 360 dunk has not affected the game, if it done all all in a game it is done when a player is alone and it's done in place of a layup which is just as high percentage.

I don't think you understand the difference between correct technique and bad technique. Maybe you'll be happier if you never learn. You'll always be able to look at Max Baer and Tony Galento and see what you want to see.

*I never made any comment about Burns being "unevolved."

 

You're being ridiculous. I was trying to give Burns the benefit of the doubt and not read too much into the technique he used against someone like Gunner Moir, a man who was knocked out numerous times (and far more quickly!) by lesser fighters.

 

I think all sports have evolved, why would they just stay the same?