Are the past Eras overrated or the new generation just not that good?

There's nothing to back up your 'More talented' comment.

 

There never is.

They’re just assumptions based on other things.

 

It's complicated but I agree in terms of the fact that better diet is available doesn't mean even half are even applying it.
In fact I would say diet is probably worst for many fighters today with poor discipline and more processed foods and yo yo weight gain and loss. People like Hopkins were more the exception than the rule.
Yeah there's more gear and peds in recent decades but many use that to bulk up and move up weights. If we take Heavieweights they often have more bulk but the gas tank is shyte and gas in 4-5 rounds. That muscle mass just wouldn't work in the 15 round era.
The older gen fighters will get more wear and tear with fighting far more often but have that greater experience as cherry picking is more prevalent in the modern era.
That's before we get into the fracturing of weight divisions and belt's.
So to me it goes both ways and ATG's will be just that in any era whether it's someone from the 70's or today.
I don't think you can pick one side or another because you need context. That context for me is who somebody has fought and the strength of that era. So for Heavyweight the 70's and 90's are held in higher regard because those decades were just deeper in quality but that can't be then conflated that the elite of those decades are better than the elite from perceived weaker say recent decades. The issue then for say heavies today is people like Wilder of Fury have thin resumes despite other competition being available. So we lack some context because the best don't always fight each other.
In short it's looking at the merits of a particular individual and weighing up the multitude of factors that make a boxer great.
It's a fallacy to assume that modern boxers are automatically better mainly because unlike most other sports the best don't always compete against each other. If you look at F1 or Football then the best are consistently competing against each other on a weekly basis and that's the main factor pushing progression and evolving the sport. Many people see that evolution in other sports then conflate that to meaning all sports are improving at the same rate but that's simply not the case.

 

I think there is, but lets say for a second that there isn't.

Heavies have got bigger and bigger, due to selective pressure.

If the smaller more talented guys from the past would wipe the floor with the big guys today, then where are all the smaller more talented guys of today?

 

There could be some great matches going on but fighters (mostly Fury) fight so rarely.....

So, this could be a really good era if not for all the waiting imo.

 

Great post.

A pleasure to read.

Boxing is a stand alone sport.

It simply can’t be compared to anything else.

It’s 2 guys fighting in a ring, where the fights are determined on how they match up on the night stylistically.

The sport has regressed more than what it’s progressed in the last 30-40 years.

 

So when would you say was the last great era/decade for Boxing?

 

For me, it was the 80’s-90’s.

Since then, we’ve had more org’s, more divisions, more belts, more politics and less activity.

 

Agree with you. Those guys were just different back then.

 

Thanks. Agree regarding boxing being unique. I also think it's not moved forward because of fracturing of belts & weights with far less activity of fighters allied with cherry picking. You get a very small handful who are at least trying to be great but most are happy to sit on a belt and fight can's in their own backyard. How can you compare SRR with 200 fights ATG in two weights and probable GOAT at one and P4P against a modern paper champ with 30 fights who's never fought one ATG or even a HOF fighter? It's not really a fair question from where I'm sitting not fair at all.

 

Exactly.

 

I think a lot of it is nostalgia.
Something triggers in me when I see the film grain from a 80s-90s fight with minimalist styling on shorts and gloves. Even the shape and colour of the gloves seems pretty specific to the era.
I suspect I still view that period as gladiatorial supermen because that's when I was growing up.

I also think social media has warped our view on things a bit in regards to the current era. Comparatively, it was very hard to have much impact as a troll during the days of Ceefax and Teletext.

 

I’ve already explained to you. In the 90s you had Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and a bunch of second raters. Tyson in the 90s wasn’t much, Holyfield was a battler and Bowe was a flash a pan going to war with Golota. Compare that decade to recent years. That’s all. You have a distorted perception and you don’t realise how good it is now. I can’t help you with your psychological issues.

 

Cool, I can say that my dad was the biggest badass ever back in the day. No one cares.

 

There’s not a single fighter of old who wouldn’t be a journeyman today. I understand you have reverence and nostalgia for your pops but it’s done; hero worship your fantasy or join reality. Good luck