There were probably some great fighters, but you can't help but feel they are not fully proven as they didn't fight the potential best in the WORLD. When white fighters would not fight black fighters, is their claim to greatness as legitimate? They very well may have been great, but we will never know just how great. The same goes for fighters who game before the wave of boxers from former communist countries (EE/Russia/Cuba). Who knows how great some of these HW's from the past really are? Boxing has become a FULLY global sport for the first time in history. NOW is the only time a boxer can rightfully be called champion of the world.
This is a legit topic that never gets discussed. I agree with you. Would there have been an Ali, Tyson, Holyfield, etc if boxing was a true world wide sport back then, especially the participation of the soviet bloc?
This is an interesting point, that since today we have boxers coming from every single side of the planet, russia, philipines, australia, china, south america, ****stan, south africa etc. etc. etc., THIS could be the beginning of what could really be called global sport and global era. Not like in the past, when it was more a single country's club fighting.
Well Ali,Frazier,Foreman all beat the best the communist world had in the amateurs when they were still kids, so I don't their legacy is tarnished. Interesting subject though
Hop vs Kov is a very good example of boxing schools. Hop has traditional slick skills where Kov uses techniques like shifting to close the distance on the shoulder defence. Some wonderful feint work too and Kov is nowhere near as advanced as GGG is especially on the inside. Wlad is the least technically advanced but HW boxing is another ball game. A guy with wlads size, strength and speed is going to be a real handful for anyone in history if he is allowed to fight at his own pace.
It's not really a world sport as such, I mean the OP mentions the likes of ****stan for example: ****stan has no professional boxing scene whatsoever, much like India (even if their amateur boxing is pretty good). Some countries have completely dropped off the radar compared to 2 or 3 decades ago, South Korea springs to mind & South Africa has not produced the quality it once did. What has happened though is the opening of the market in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia: all former Soviet States. I suppose that's a much richer vein than either of the other two countries I mentioned. You have to remember that, generally speaking, boxing isn't that popular in Western Europe, barring Britain / Ireland & Germany. They simply don't really care for it in France, Spain or the Netherlands, for example, whilst Italy is principally an amateur boxing nation. That's contrasted quite massively with the likes of Poland, Ukraine, and some the Balkan countries, Russia and of course Central Asians countries like Uzbekistan & Kazakistan.
That's only the amateurs ,could have been totally different in the pros, also only 1 guy could fight or his country, there could have been guys that would have made incredible pros that were second or 3rd string Remember if the Soviet Union didn't break up golovkin would only have been a second string soviet fighter
It's a complex issue. It would've taken time for those nations to build up the infrastructure for professional boxing. Given the political climate of the time and more U.S. boxers available for top trainers to draw from, it'd have been very difficult and time-consuming for any ex-Steel Curtain fighter to get a fair shake promotionally, be treated fairly in the ring, and to get access to the best professional coaches. We still see visiting fighters screwed on a routine basis; good luck getting fair shakes on U.S. soil if you were a "commie" in the 50's, 60's, 70's, etc. Good luck finding U.S. trainers to give them the time of day- it'd be a step away from treason. Had all those stars lined up, all that could've happened is that boxing would've been even deeper. There'd still have been standouts from the ex-Soviet region, and we missed out on some great fights because of it. I still think the great U.S. fighters would've been great, as well. Perhaps just not quite as dominant, but there's no way to know.