Definately Louis, the competetion even if Joe made most look like crap was better. Think about the skill of Schmeling KOing the unbeaten Louis after being "ruined" by brutal KOes. Another thought the MENTAL TOUGHNESS of fighters was better, nowadays 1 bad loss and fighter is "ruined" but Max bounced back from brutal beatings to beat the best fighter on the planet at that time BY KO. Then the "ruined" Joe BLEW Max out in a round in the rematch. Fighters were physically and mentally tougher in the Brown Bombers era. NO DOUBT!!!!!! Any one understand what I am getting at. Cotto "ruined" after 1 loss. Hatton "ruined" after 1 loss. Pavlik "ruined" after 1 loss. Khan "ruined" ( won't fight a puncher his size yet) after 1 loss. I think fighters claiming they are the ones that "ruined" fighters are just tooting thier own horns because they want to take away the accomplishment of the fighter that beat them next. I think we will find that Cotto is not "ruined" but he just got beat by a CHEATER once and a guy just better than him the second time. I guess Puritty, Sanders and Brewster "ruined" Wlad??? No Wlad is mentally tougher than given credit for!!!:hi:
I know exactly what you mean, which is why I give alot of credit to guys who come back from bad losses- either knockouts or wide UD's- to overcome it and become a better fighter. It's up to fans to recognize that, too. We're part of the problem because 50 years ago, fans didn't mind a few losses on the way up- now, the instant a fighter loses their 0, they're yesterday's news and everyone uses words like "exposed" and "ruined". What gets lost in all that is that attitude from us, the people paying the fighters' salaries, leads to worse fights getting made because fighters don't want to risk losing their backing off of a bad night's work, or the great night's work from his opponent. The less we punish guys for losing, the more good fights we'll see. I picked Louis for this, by the way. :thumbsup
ugh, I voted Louis. But with second thought I think Holmes. If the question is who BEAT stronger competition then it's Louis. But Holmes later fought on against Mercer, McCall, and then lost to Holyfield and Tyson.
Yeah he did But Louis later Fought Marciano and Charles, not quite as good as Holy and Tyson but both are ATGs.
