He slowly declined in defense. His power was always there, but he was not in position to punch as he was earlier since he would bob and weave get inside and work the body.. When he got older he walked in got hit and then hit the body, so he took punches to give them later. It was so gradual..
One thing I want to say. A fighter like Mike is so much shorter, for him and guys like Frazier to stay effective takes more than someone like Foreman who is just lumbering forward and overwhelming.
Agree with all of the above. It's very difficult to properly assess an era until it has fully played out, and it may be that a dominant chamption emerges in the next few years. The last two long-term dominant heavyweights (Lewis and Wlad) had bumps along the way before they established their legacies. Conversely, it may be that the Joshua-Wilder-Fury axis is coming to an end, and will shortly be yesterday's news. Joshua obviously has already been knocked off his perch once, and Fury struggled last time out with someone not ranked in anyone's top 10. Wilder lost every round in his last fight before landing the bomb. All are vulnerable while at the same time being the clear top guys in the division. It's a curious era in that sense. There's plenty of talent bubbling, who could shake things up in the next couple of years. While there doesn't appear to be an overwhelmingly great fighter in the bunch, it doesn't have the hallmarks of a poor era either. There aren't any leftovers from previous eras who have rose up the ranks just by sticking around, like Maskaev did in the early 2000s. Povetkin is the only one from the Wlad era who has stayed on, and has done pretty much what you'd expect from the aging #2 guy from the previous decade - losing to the best and exposing those not ready for the big time.
Best for quite a few years now. Obviously not as good as the heavy golden era of the early/middle seventies but as good as a lot. Speaking as a Brit,it's good that two of our guys - Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are two of the best three heavies in the world.
We've had it good these past few decades Stevie. First with Lewis and now with AJ and Fury. Us Brit s had to wait a hell of a long time for a decent heavy lol.
I think this era is very good (and I really don’t like HW’s), and that makes the classic forum uneasy and quick to discredit every flaw both real and perceived.
A joke. The best was upset by a fat man . The only other time top top 3 meet was wilder vs fury and that was a draw. Neither wilder of fury has beaten a really good contender in their prime. this era is full of too many bogus title matches. I would say Joshua is best of the bunch and he needs to fight the winner of fury vs wilder. Until then their best wins are over OLD MEN
I think Joshua being ko'ed by Ruiz and then fleeing from the same obese fighter lowers this era of boxing. Not to mention that Fury who's allegedly the best fighter fights club fighters and got busted up by the last one going the distance. Wilder is the most dangerous and I think will be remembered with greater acclaim as the years go by,
Forgot to add I’m secretly awaiting a Ruiz v Big Baby match up. I don’t think it will happen because no one fights each other lol
I think Heavyweight really has two golden eras which were the 60s/70s and 90s. I think the mid/late 50s was better than this current one. I couldn’t see Wilder, who’s basically a bum with a right hand really doing much with Liston or even the guys like Williams, Machen, Folley outside of a punchers chance. Williams would send him to sleep early and Liston would make him cry 10 times out of 10. 80s, I think is better too. Witherspoon is probably better than anyone not named Fury, Tubbs would be a bigger factor today and I’d take an old Holmes to beat Joshua and Wilder. It’s not bad but I think because the Klitschko era is so bad and people tuned out and maybe a new fan base that doesn’t really know much about the past it seems better. If Wilder comes out on top then you knows it’s bad IMO.
The heavyweights of today are the best ever H2H. There is a guy who is 6-9, 255 who is one of the slickest boxers ever and a guy who is 6-7 who can knockout anybody at anytime as he carries his power for the whole fight. And neither of them is dominant because there is so much talent in the division that either could lose to one of the many other big, strong heavyweights with a world class amateur background. Today. there are southpaws and fighters from all over the world fighting. In previous times, the heavyweight division was the U.S. and a few guys from England and an occasional South American. Fighters wouldn't fight southpaws. Today, boxing is a world game. IMO, there is nobody prior to 1960 who could compete today, just as they were when they were fighting. Ali was the first 6-3, 210 pounder who was athletic and had good amateur experience, there were more that size and bigger in the 70s, even more in the 80s, and 90s, as the size increased and the fighters remained athletic. Today, the heavyweight division is dominated by big, skilled athletes. As long as the money is there, the division will attract bigger and better athletes. The only way that a Folley, Walcott, Patterson type will ever be in the running again is if the money dries up and the bigger, better athletes go elsewhere. Usyk is still in the 6-3, 210-20 mold, but he has more amateur experience than almost anybody who preceded him, is better trained, and is a southpaw, in addition to being a superb athlete. He could win a title at heavyweight, but the division is deep and it's going to be almost impossible for anybody to dominate.
lol you have to know you will get bashed on here for that opinion, so props to you for sharing it. I do think it is a good crop and a good generation that won’t garner the respect it deserves for 10-20 years. On the flip side I am not sure it is better than the Wlad/Vitali years or even the Lewis/Bowe time frame. I don’t feel ready to say the big 3 are better than Wlad/Vitali/Lewis/Bowe and that the top contenders Ruiz/Ortiz etc. are better than a Tua/Ike/Byrd... do you think it is vastly better today than 10 or 20 years ago...just curious.
