If we did a historical tournament in every weight class would half the winners come after year 2000

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by MarkusFlorez99, Nov 30, 2025 at 10:28 PM.


  1. MarkusFlorez99

    MarkusFlorez99 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Logic dictates that the best boxers possible are more likely to appear in the future, however, what if we compare the generational talents of post 2000s boxing up until just now against the whole cream of the talent pool pre 2000s, how has boxing evolved ?
     
  2. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member

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    The "greatest" boxers are in the past.

    But H2H it might well be a different story. I'd hate to be Joe Louis going against the Klitschkos or Lennox.
     
  3. MarkusFlorez99

    MarkusFlorez99 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I get Klitschko but Id say Lewis was prime pre 2000s
     
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  4. Boxed Ears

    Boxed Ears this my daddy's account (RIP daddy) Full Member

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    I'm going to murk up the waters here and add that if we're saying pound-for-pound, then the honest way to do that is to also go with what they are actually when they enter the ring, not what they can ring themselves out to with different strategies. This is going to change the weight classes at times, probably, and you'll be comparing a guy who might boss it at one weight but have proven little to nothing in the next weight. A good example would be Pacquiao, an enormous and psychopathic welterweight who KO'd every welterweight with one punch for literally decades before he had to have himself tested, then, due to cutting so much weight, he lost all of his KO power. But he'd likely have killed Ray Leonard, who was far smaller as a welterweight. That's just science. Look at the size of their heads.
     
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  5. MaccaveliMacc

    MaccaveliMacc Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Rahman II was in 2001 and that's one of his best performances.
     
  6. PrimoGT

    PrimoGT Well-Known Member Full Member

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    No. And a lot of the post-2000 boxers would have to move up a weight class or two, as has already been noted.
    Lightweights ("135") who are fighting in post-2000 at 150-160 pounds in the ring, are likely to be going against the welters or light-middles of previous eras.
     
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  7. MorvidusStyle

    MorvidusStyle Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I sometimes wonder how a Fury or Wlad would deal with ATG Joe Frazier's leaping left hook. Look what it did to Ali, totally decked him.

    After thinking about it for a few years now I've concluded that Fury would probably just lean back and then uppercut Frazier's wide open head and hurt him very badly, leading to a stoppage soon after. And Wlad would just step back then land a single 'Eddie Chambers' special and leave Frazier out cold on the canvas.

    So after solving that puzzle I began wondering how Joe Juggernaut would cope with that leaping left hook though.

    I realised months later the hook would land but wouldn't do much and then Joe would just beat Frazier to a pulp.

    Okay, but what about Zhang? He's basically a gatekeeper like Joyce and surely Joyce was just a bad matchup for Frazier's left hook.

    Nah, I realised moments later Zhang would utterly destroy Frazier in a round.

    I think Frazier is a good measuring stick for old HW capability. He was giving people hell back then.
     
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  8. dmt

    dmt Hardest hitting hw ever Full Member

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    do u understand styles make fights?

    Frazier is a nightmare for any boxer type who isn't a massive puncher.

    Fury isn't stopping Frazier. Fury isn't a puncher and stopping a fat Whyte won't do anything.

    We can play the reverse game here too. Lamon Brewster wouldn't win a round vs Holmes and would be utterly demolished by Foreman yet he beat Wlad. Brewster's success vs Wlad despite his limited skills is proof of how poor the modern era is.
     
  9. PrimoGT

    PrimoGT Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Zhang struggled badly with Jerry Forrest, for ****s sake, despite knocking him down a couple of time early.
    And somehow he finishes Joe Frazier inside 1 round??
     
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  10. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member

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    I'd agree with that opinion, with the caveat that Lewis aged pretty well, he didn't drop off that much towards the end.
     
  11. Dynamicpuncher

    Dynamicpuncher Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    He's a troll and he never responds to any of your points don't bother wasting your time.

    He tried to compare Fury to Ali recently as an ATG and called Ali feather fisted and I destroyed his argument by saying Ali had as many stoppages as Fury had fights.

    I don't even consider him a serious poster.
     
  12. MarkusFlorez99

    MarkusFlorez99 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    He was still elite but past his best, dude was 36
     
  13. Ice8Cold

    Ice8Cold The Hype Job Spotter. Full Member

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    Joe Frazier would bulldoze Zhang's body in a couple rounds.
     
  14. MaccaveliMacc

    MaccaveliMacc Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Lewis was a late bloomer. I would say he was in his prime from 1997 to 2001.
     
  15. MarkusFlorez99

    MarkusFlorez99 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I'd say the Lewis who beat Shannon Briggs and Holyfield is marginally superior to the one who beat Rahman and Tyson. Lewis was still great but grew a bit sloppy in the 2000s and his combinations weren't as precise, his athleticism was starting to wane