Were boxers better in the 80s

oh yay another evolution thread...



Light flyweight: I'd favor Chang and Zapata over Kenshiro
Flyweight: Guys like Laciar and Chitalada would be favored over today's flyweights.
Super flyweight: lot of good matchups here. I think I would call this even?
Bantamweight: I know Inoue moved up but I'll count him until july 25th. I'd favor him over all 80's bantamweights off the top of my head.

also this comparison isn't fair because we're comparing a whole decade to a single year.

Stopping here but I'll get back to this later.

 

turn of-early 80's Holmes and mid-late 80's Tyson absolutely dominate, as do Duran, Hagler, and SRL

take for example some of the fights where Canelo dropped the guy with a body shot or Tank's body shot on Garcia

Hagler, Duran, and SRL have traded nastier body shots all night, there are levels

 

I don't believe in evolution. Today's boxers are better in some categories. In some boxers from the 80s. The category where, IMHO, today's boxers are losing is Welterweight.

I don't think they would beat everyone today, but all three would be Top 10, and one of them would be the champion.

 

You would be on very safe ground saying that there was more talent in the USA in the 80s.

 

what? with 4 belts today one of them would be champion? Please.

 

Right now 130 - 147 isn’t that strong. A few years back with Floyd and PAC and the rest of them would have held their own vs the guys from the 80’s.

Tyson Fury from the second Wilder fight has a chance to beat any Heavyweight from History in my opinion.

 

Fury has a chance to beat any heavyweight in history? Well I guess one in a thousand is ,,,a chance.

 

Based on the eye test, to me, it does seem some devolution has taken place overall

 

Heavyweight = Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Pinklon Thomas, Tim Witherspoon.

Light Heavyweight = Michael Spinks, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Marvin Johnson, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Virgil Hill.

Middleweight = Marvin Hagler, Michael Nunn, Sumbu Kalambay, Iran Barkley, Thomas Hearns, John Mugabi, Mike McCallum, Herol Graham, Roberto Duran.

Jr Middleweight = Thomas Hearns, Wilfred Benitez, Julian Jackson, Mike McCallum, Roberto Duran.

Welterweight = Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Donald Curry, Marlon Starling, Roberto Duran, Pipino Cuevas, Lloyd Honeyghan, Simon Brown.

Lightweight = Alexis Arguello, Edwin Rosario, Hector Camacho, Ray Mancini, Livingstone Bramble, Pernell Whitaker, Jose Luis Ramirez, Julio Cesar Chavez.

Featherweight = Salvador Sanchez, Azumah Nelson, Eusebio Pedroza, Rocky Lockridge, Marcos Villasana, Barry McGuigan, Jeff Fenech, Antonio Esparragoza, Jorge Paez.

I think i can safely say that's a yes from me......

 

Good lord!!!

 

Because the sport is dying.