It was arguably the greatest era in the history of boxing

About Barry, apparently he is a perfect gent, apparently every British boxer is according to people I know who have met Eubank, Farr etc.

 

In response to the fitness question, muscular endurance, cardio endurance, anaerobic threshold, strength, speed, muscular recovery to name a few

 

I'm well aware, that the number of active boxers in the US isn't what it used to be - especially if we go back to the depression years of the 20s and 30s.

However, in recent years, especially after the fall of The Wall, activity in other parts of the world has picked up dramatically. Countries that never before had pro boxing are now hosting shows and developing talent - talent that today can hold their own with the best from the "old countries". One needs only to take a look at the world rankings from the 80s, and compare them to today - two completely different worlds, really!

What you have seen in a previous thread is probably this:

Total Bouts in the BoxRec Database: By Decade - Page 4 - BoxRec

 

Athletes are performing better now, maybe. Footballers, rugby players, tennis players, cricketers are all performing to a much higher physical level. Can you imagine a top cricketer playing with a beer belly and a hangover like Ian Botham used to boast about? Or top footballers taking to the field drunk or going to the pub after training?

However, I still need convincing that boxers are more athletic now than they were in the 80s.

They may have access to better knowledge, experience, technology, steroids but in the last ten years we have had a heavyweight champion fighting in his 40s, a heavyweight champion who was 60 odd lbs morbidly overweight, a heavyweight champion ballooning to over 350lbs and not losing all that much of it before resuming winning ways in heavyweight title fights and a contest to decide the mythical lb for lb king between a 39 year old and a 36 year old. It's damning evidence and while it could be argued that it's consequential against the cold fact of better drugs, better science, better technology etc, the fact is it's what we're actually being served up with.

 

Why would you believe that athletes in every sport have improved but not boxing?

 

Based on the evidence of what boxing has been serving us up as highlighted in the last paragraph of my post. Fat old heavyweights, the world's best fighters lb for lb being mid 30s and above.

I can't really add any more than I've already said and if that doesn't pass muster with you, I'll have to concede defeat.

 

Fitness relative to boxing is all about stamina. To say otherwise makes you look like the ignorant one, not me.

 

Spot on, in my opinion, Flash. A case of burning brighter but for a shorter time.

 

John Conteh and Alan Minter are nice gents generally, Dave Boy Green too

 

You are right buddy, have met all 3 and they are nice chaps, most of the our fighters are on balance good fellows including : Rudkin, Buchanan, Finnegans, Sterling, Rowe, Stracey, Magri, chatted to all of em, BUT as for Honeygan, arrogant, self opinionated,obnoxious, and a truly unlikeable man.... stay safe guys.

 

Im not disputing that in fact I alluded to the technical abilities being better, but in terms of athletic levels, they are better, and in turn the next generation will be better athletically than this. Whether that translates to being better boxers is a different question altogether

 

Interesting, Mike. Reports on Minter when he passed away mentioned 'a neighbour from hell' when he'd ben drinking, which seemed to be all the time. And other reports on Ken Buchanan allude to a really difficult man, almost 'impossible to like'.

I suppose you can only take as you find. How were they with you and were they sober? It seems that drink is the demon with both of these guys if these reports are accurate.

 

That was the first time I ever saw racism in "real time" too. I'd seen film of civil rights protests from the 1960s where police attacked peaceful protestors, etc. but nothing in real time before that fight.

 

I think Honeyghan is hit and miss