I'd bet a lot that you wouldn't win a race against any top 100 sprinter in the world. I can't prove it of course, but it's a sure thing. I'm also sure that any professional HW boxer who ever fought at world level would destroy someone who admitted that never fought a real fight. And no, your sparring sessions when you don't follow when someone is hurt isn't a good test before the real fight. People who truly believe that are better than top tier professional sportsmen in reality are either clueless about the sport they supposedly love or they don't actually train at all. Anyone who trains a certain sport should know how ridiculous the gap between professional top sportsmen and guys who stopped training in mid teens.
I never stopped training, I just didn't turn pro. You are right that in most cases pros are far better than amateurs, but there are exceptions. Plus, he was a pro almost 100 years ago. In most sports, most top amateurs nowadays are better than pros 100 years ago.
By your own words, you never had a real fight. Honestly, are you too dumb to understand the difference between light sparring and pro fight? So you're going to tell me that you'd have been an all-time great boxer, but decided not to? Not in boxing, which is older and simpler than most sports. Boxing reached its peak of popularity in the 1930s, there is no imprvement since that.
Ty Biggs gave Bowe fits. Bowe was relatively easy to hit for a top end fighter. He was mentally strong in the ring on his way up. Lost his way once champion. The 3 Holyfield fights took a huge toll, like Ali's 3 with Frazier.
Funny, because those fights don't seem to have affected Holyfield. He went on to score numerous good wins afterwards including beating Mike Tyson twice.
I've had real fights as well, I just have light sparring most of the time and don't really follow up when I hurt the guy. But if the guy I'm sparring wear protective gear, I don't hold back when I hit. Anything is possible, I don't really know how good I would have been and what I could have achieved. BUT WHAT I AM TELLING YOU IS THAT ANY GOOD AMATEUR NOWADAYS WOULD BEAT THE **** OUT OF CHAMPIONS FROM THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. UTTER GARBAGE. THERE IS HUGE IMPROVEMENT, HUGE. You are right that boxing was more popular back then, but by no means better. Someone like Canelo, who I'm not necessarily a fan of, would beat the **** out of anyone his weight class in the 20s and 30s. He'd even beat many HWs.
Riddick Bowe was to boxing what Shawn Kemp was to basketball. Guys who had an ATG skill levels but spend more time in kitchen then working on their craft.
Be interesting to see how Canelo would perform back then in his own weight class when they still had the same day weigh in as the fight .
