Than what they are now. Too many guys with padded records who beat nobodies find themselves with a high ranking. There's guys in the top 10 who haven't even beat a top 10 ranked fighter. Also you can get world title shot after world title shot after several losses. Boxing was better decades ago than what they are now. It's lost its pedigree.
Nothing has changed Boxing has always been managed this way Go back and evaluate boxers careers in the 80s and 90s
Something definitely went wrong with the post Mayweather generation. Guys like Davis, Garcia, haney etc etc all weirdo's with wasted talent. Davis is a prime example...maybe his heart just wasn't fully in it once he made a little money? Hard to blame someone really to sta motivated in getting punches in the head once you've made it
There was great fighters then, there's great fighters now. It's been a pleasure to have witnessed the great fighters of this era like Usyk, Inoue, Crawford, Lomachenko, Beterbiev, Bivol, Benavidez, etc.
False. The heavyweight division had so many high profile fights in the last 5 years thanks to Turki. Much better than compared to 20 years ago. We have so many elite boxers that we argue about who is P4P #1 between Usyk, Crawford & Inoue. Guys like Usyk, Crowford, Inoue, Beterbiev, Bivol and Benevidez can compete with the elites of the past.
I wouldn't say that today's heavyweights were any worse than those 20 years ago, but how boxing is run has definitely gone downhill in terms of activity and matchmaking.
Mayweather's negative impact on the sport really can't be understated. He was a very unlikeable, highly defensive boxer with an incredible IQ inside the ring, and a low one outside of it. He was driven completely by money, keeping his 0, and marketing himself around that 0. It doesn't surprise me that the likes of Tank, who learned his trade in that gym, became completely focused on his 0 and selective matchmaking. Even scraping a draw against Roach has sent him into hiding. Garcia, for all his faults, fought Tank with a dangerous rehydration clause; there's zero way Tank would do that the other way around, and this is all behaviour learned from Mayweather, which has bled into this new American generation. Fortunately, the sport doesn't revolve around the US, and Inoue and Usyk keep the old Gladiator spirit in boxing alive.
It's not a new thing at all. Boxing has been a farce for at least 40 yrs or so. Many boxers fight nothing but scrubs for their first 15/20 fights. Too many belts, too many miss matches, too many fights not happening that the true fans want to see. People zone out of following this sport over time. They give up on it.
it's this. the old guys at least felt obligated to do the deeds rather than argue about who was more of a victim
