The so called "Lost "' generation but around now ? Wilder ,Fury ,AJ ,Ruiz ,etc mixing it up with Pinklon Thomas ,Tucker , Spoon , Weaver etc . Dangerous for the top name s or is today s generation a class above iyo ?
Nah mate, these guys are competitive today but I wouldn't say there elite but Where's the Berbicks, Shavers and Pages of these? They make today's division look like Honey G
The 1980's had two major problems. Drugs, and the IBF adding a third belt to fight for were primary. South African politics, and Don King made things difficult at times. Spoon motivated for a big fight, and Thomas off the drugs were better than what we have today, or at least would be in the top 4 today.
If you hand pick the best 80s heavyweights at their peak and plop them in the 2019 division, it looks favorable to the 80s. The issue is that year by year it was generally worse than now with the exception of Tyson and Holmes. If you take the best of the last ten years and put them in one top ten list, you've got Wlad, Vitali, Haye, juiced Povetkin, and Blond Ortiz thrown in the mix with Usyk, Wilder, Joshua, Ruiz, and Fury....That is a deep list.
Time travel those guys from the 80s into now and they still be the same: underachieving and self destructive. We could all name a dozen guys who are as good or better than anyone now. But they were as good or better than anyone back then too and most of them managed to screw it up somehow.
A fit and serious Fury could probably beat ANY of the 80 S Heavyweight s ,I'm pretty sure . Apart from Holmes and maybe Tyson of course .AJ ,at the moment ,I see him losing to a few . Wilder would struggle against Witherspoon ,Tubbs , Thomas and Tucker .
The 80s had a more talented line up than today. Tyson Holmes Witherspoon Tucker Thomas Page Dokes Weaver Smith Tubbs Berbick Williams Fury Wilder Joshua Ruiz Ortiz Pulev Whyte Povetkin Parker Kownacki Miller Joyce The current crop of heavyweights have improved from the past decade but at their respective bests I'd favor the 80s crop. To be fair these guys still have quite a bit of ground to cover so its entirely possible things can change.
You would have tofavour the 80's guys I think. Ortiz, Pulev and Povetkin are fine fighters but well past their sell-by date and are calcifying as we speak.
