Isn't it a bit naive to expect past era fighters to be competitive against modern fighters...?

Same here.

 

they've learned not to train and box so much as to get debilitating illnesses yes.

 

possessing boxing knowledge by dint of being from a later era is great for trivial pursuit, but turning it into muscle memory means putting the effort in, not playing pub quizzes.

 

Salido was a former champion, fought a slew of top fighters like Marquez, Lopez, Gamboa and Mikey Garcia. Lomachenko was in his 2nd 10 round fight and first 12 round fight. A great Olympian is one thing but the pro game is hurt and don't get hurt. Lomachenko had learning to do, he'd figured it out by about round 9. Should have been a rematch for sure, but I can't speak to the business side of why it didn't materialize.

That said Salido does have a solid base to bother Lomachenko with his body punching. He is a bad style matchup for Loma especially that green version. Like Joe Louis needed to lose to Schmeling. It made Lomachenko better.

 

I guess that the obvious retort to OP's question is: Isn't it a bit naive to expect somebody who has maybe 50 fights in a career to be on the same level as somebody who has had over 200? The "old guys" fought a LOT and got more "live fire" practise in. Greb used to fight so much that at one point he didnt even spar.

 

I guess...when I compare the fights I watched on PPV back in the 70s to the ones I've seen today, today's fighters seem...well, less tough. The TiM would have lost a good portion of its drama had it ended in the 12th round. Same with Cooney-Holmes, Ali-Bonavena...

15 rounds was considered the ultimate, championship test. I hated the 12 round crap when it first was incorporated, and I still hate it today.

Today's fighters are far more likely to be using steroids, which are about as unfair advantage as I can think of. The negative side is that PEDs tend to make a fighter lose stamina. Thus, the 12-round fight.

 

So Mayweather had 50 pro fights over a long career. SRL had only 40. DLH, Ward, Whitaker also had less than 50 pro fights. And still active boxers like Loma, Usyk, Inoue will never even come close to approaching this number.

Are you saying, that they would have benefitted (become better) from squeezing in an additional 100-150 meaningless bouts against no-hopers? That they, due to lack of experience, are not on the same level as the super-busy old-timers?

 

We can make a best guess, but we’ll never know for sure. That’s why it’s best not to compare fighters from different eras too seriously, because it’s all a bit of fun at the end of the day.

 

Nonsense.

Greb, from what I have seen of him on here, would get dismantled against GGG, Canelo etc.

GGG has phenomenal cardio, Usyk has phenomenal cardio, Loma has phenomenal cardio, as do MANY others.

it's naive to think that there's people out there who haven't seen footage of a fighter, can beat a fighter who we have watched since his amateur days.

I love this forum, it's the best part of it, but there's too much nostalgia and not enough reality.

 

Loma, technically has had close to 4-500 fights. Fact.

 

Fury has better head movement than Joe (not to mention being nearly a foot taller), as did "Iron" Mike.

Besides, all that bobbing & weaving meant nothing when he fought Foreman.

 

You also can't say that Duran hammers the like of Loma, when Duran got outclassed against Laing.

Both have blemishes.

 

Steroids changed the sport, significantly.

It's just my opinion but as sensational as Holy truly was, it's harder to imagine him moving up in weight without PEDs.

Some might argue Anthony Joshua would have been anything but a boxer without PEDs.

Just as hard as it is to imagine Mike Tyson having been such an indomitable heavyweight in the 80s without PEDs.

I realize PEDs are at least somewhat accepted in boxing today.

 

After Archie Moore knocked out Yvon Durelle his next fight as light heavyweight champion was against a guy making his debut. Wouldn't even be close to sanctioned today.

 

Fine it is ABSOLUTELY MOST LIKELY than Duran hammers Loma.