1920-1940 was the golden age of boxing

It probably was to be honest.

That is the time where you have consistent depth across the divisions!

 

It's the 1860's to 1880's guys who beat any other era. They were savages.

 

Ali said that he would not have fought in that era!

 

Of all the heavyweights to pick, why did you pick one who fought at sub 200Ibs as an amateur?

 

Most of it is bull**** IMO. Nearly all "advancements" are just current fads and trends, not really scientific improvements.

There are modern guys at the top, or near it with very mediocre or even poor technique, there's examples in near every era. There are also tons of guys with excellent skills today. It's funny, if you show someone an oldschool boxer with the Wizard style, they'll often comment on how modern it looks, even though loads of guys were using it back then.

If you think modern conditioning is better, how many modern fighters do you think could hold this pace?

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What are the changes in training methods and why do you think they are better?

What is the diet of the modern boxer, and why is it better than those of the past?

What are the recovery techniques, and how many of them (that are even new (and not illegal)) have any evidence they work?


I will grant heavyweights an edge overall, average size has increased, so there are more massive guys.

 

As an amateur, Povetkin won European (two), World and Olympic titles… all in the Superheavyweight division (91+ kilos). So why would you say, he was a sub 200lbs amateur?

 

Arreola was a light heavyweight, won the '01 Golden Gloves at LHW.

 

Yes, but I believe Badbot was talking about Povetkin.

 

Who?
And why does it matter, he was an amateur back then.

 

Dempsey wouldn't have been a LHW or a Cruiserweight. If Dempsey wasn't in such great condition he would've been the same weight as Povetkin. Dempsey weighed 190-200 by choice just like Marciano, who also trained himself down. Povetkin is skilled, but despite his talent never achieved that much at the top level because his conditioning always let him down. Povetkin once he turned pro got lazy and would often show up grossly overweight. He showed up overweight against Huck and got a very generous decision and also showed up overweight against Wlad and was easily outclassed. It's totally laughable to think that Povetkin would've been a champion from the 1920s-1940s with his conditioning. Povetkin's skill-set wouldn't have been anything special during this time period.

If Povetkin was serious about his conditioning he would've never showed up over 210-215 lbs. Atlas himself even admitted that Povetkin was extremely lazy and Atlas even tried to keep him from fighting Wlad, since he knew Wlad would easily work over Povetkin.

 

The fighters from the 70s, 80s, 90s are better than those today, and at world level, routinely went at a greater pace for 15 rounds.

 

Even a guy like Usyk who fought as a CW as a pro so far is a huge and big guy and much bigger than the HWs 1920-40.

 

I don't know about that.
The 1920s and '30s (perhaps extending into the 1940s somewhat) was a heyday of boxing in many parts of the world.

 

Weird, I was sure he fought as an amaetuer heavyweight. Looks like I dun goofed

 

Back then, everything of importance took place in the US (and, to some extent, in the UK). Sure, once in a while a boxer from France, Italy, Philippines, Puerto Rico, etc. would pop op and put their country on the map… but the VAST majority of the top boxers were American. And the vast majority of the big fights took place in the US. The boxing scene wasn't nearly as international as it is today.

In the 3 decades we're talking about (1920s to 40s), a TOTAL of 11 countries hosted world title fights. This year alone, has seen world title fights take place in 19 different countries.