What a ridiculous question. As far as I'm aware, toughness is an individual thing, not a factor which is dependent on the year you were born.
T,you just nailed it. The time you fought in makes the difference. If U fought in a time where others fought 20 rounds or more with skin-tight gloves under a baked-sun you either develop this "toughness" or fall by the wayside. One or the other,I say. As a child you either walked a couple of miles to get to school or you didn't go to school, if I can use an analogy ! To put food on the table for the family the "oldtimers" HAD to be tougher than todays fighters, OR ELSE...And the same rule applies to the GENERAL calibre of talent the oldtime great fighters had to develop to stay on top. Just competing with a tremendous large pool of EXPERIENCED boxers who fought bi-weekly, under very rough and cruel conditions, had to IMPROVE the quality of the top-notchers of their day. Boxing's version of Darwin's theory of the "Survival of the Fittest ". Cheers...
from the previous page and my post there, what a combination, Hardman, Top fighter/athlete! No excuses head down get on with the job, losses weren't frowned apon, they were expected with the Best always meating the Best, and of course averse circumstances - short notice, weight loss, on and off trains to the next bout, you name, the show just went on - and we shall never see their like again! regretfully! tough circumstances make for harder men, combine yesteryears hardmen with top boxing skill/level and fitness, then you've got real greats!
Give the podcast a listen if you have the time. It is more about history than boxing but it gives nice context and illustration to a notion many of us have regarding the generations of Western athletes. And sure there are exceptions.
Boxers from the turn of the century were ****ing *****'s compared to the warriors of ancient sparta. See what i did there? Individual, you either give a **** or you don't and get on with it come what may.
There was? Doesn't seem like the mainstream media were too reluctant to celebrate the "recent death" of Tim....Ooops,I mean Osama Bin Laden.And they seemed quite happy to broadcast images of the morons jumping up and down,chanting "USA! USA! USA!" outside of the White House.There was certainly no shortage of newspaper headlines and front pages that gloated over the reported death of Bin Laden. If there were others who weren't joining in the festives,I think it would be accurate to say that these people people are a little more intelligent than the other sheep and simply don't swallow every load of **** that their government feeds them.
Obviously toughness is an individual thing but i think that the old school fighters had more chance to prove their toughness because of the amount of rounds/smaller gloves etc.
Of course it depends on the individual. And individuals vary immensely, in any time. But the general level of toughness, the average, varies in different societies and epochs, due to cultural and environmental and material differences.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/l...ge=52&page=54&page=56&page=57&page=55&index=7 Jack McAuliffe registers his vote for the old timers, it seems. They were much smarter.
Why aren't any poverty stricken africans/middle easterns rising to the top of the boxing world? I'd say they have it pretty tough.
Jack Grace and most of the others of his time agree with this also, although they seem to make battling nelson a bit of an exception. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/l...e=56&page=57&page=55&page=54&page=52&index=16