1920-1940 was the golden age of boxing

It's a version of the truth, but its also just as true American's today don't get involved in the sport as they did for yrs. Their are no boxing on college campuses as it was at one time in this country, most of the world class boxing gyms do not exist anymore. Our best athletes today are playing basketball , American football, or Baseball , even track and fields athletes are becoming millionaires. So has the world caught with America or is it America has grown away from the sport, especially when one considers the inherent dangers of boxing. Heck , I see American Football going the way of boxing in 50 yrs or so in this country. Americans parents are now steering their kids away from American Football.

 

I don’t see these points as contradictory! Boxing has always been impacted by societal shifts.

I once saw fantastic research on the decline of boxing gyms in the US and have been to relocate it or find the data!

 

Wasn't meant to be.

 

Then ya done good!

 

Thank you sir!

 

The best breeding ground for producing great fighters, is a single country with an exceptionally high uptake of the sport.

A single powerhouse is far more productive, than countless penny packets, scattered all over the world.

Look at American Football for example.

It has a talent pool so big in the USA, that it effectively distorts all other sports, yet it is largely a fringe sport outside of Canada and Japan.

 

So today, with boxers jetting back and forth between continents, we have a worldwide talent pool of fighters ready to test each other… and you don't see this as a positive thing compared to the 20s, where the best almost exclusively squared off against boxers from their own country/region?

 

I do see it as being a positive thing, but I also think that the sport is thriving mainly because of a few key powerhouses, such as the former Soviet Union.

 

There's actually not a very busy boxing scene in the former Soviet Union countries.

In recent years there have been several high-profile world champions from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan... but that's because they are now allowed to turn pro and fight abroad. In their own countries, there's not all that much activity! Ok, Russia had 111 pro shows last year, which isn't too shabby… but way below countries like the US (604), Mexico (592) and Argentina (515). Also fewer than UK (293), Japan (202) and the Philippines (140).

A decent fight scene can also be found in countries such as South Africa (79), Australia (111) and Thailand (105).

Surprisingly, In 2017 there were only 21 promotions in Ukraine and 12 in Kazakhstan… not even as many as in a country like Ghana with 28!

So today there are not just a few key powerhouses… boxing is spread out much more evenly, than back in the old days.

 

If the fighters from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan etc. generally have to travel abroad to get adequate pro fights (Germany being a primary destination) surely that points towards boxing being spread out unevenly.

 

In 1925 46 different countries hosted pro boxing - in 2016 that number had gone up to 116.
In 1925 71.6% of all known pro shows took place in the US and UK - down to 17.6% last year.

I don't know, how you interpret this… but to me it seems, like boxing today is spread out much more evenly, than was the case back in the 1920s.

 

What you seem to be saying, is that there is a significant boxing scene in these countries, but that the money is elsewhere.

What they seem to supply in abundance is poverty, which has always been the life blood of the sport.

 

No its the truth ,and we both know it. Boxing comes from underprivileged countries in the main.

 

It is a much more international sport today.How can that be denied? The USA's dominance is a thing of the past. An American heavyweight Champion could not fill up the 21,000 seater Staples Centre and the majority of the American public don't even know him.

 

To be honest with you, there were always a lot of top fighters from outside the USA.

For most of the 1920s, you seem to have had champions in two weight classes, who were born outside the USA (usually Italy or the former Soviet block).

In 1931 you had a heavyweight champion from Germany, the top welterweight was from Canada, the junior welterweight champion was from the UK, the junior lightweight champion was from Cuba, and the bantamweight champion was from Panama.

In 1934 you had a heavyweight champion from Italy, a middleweight champion from France, a welterweight champion from the UK, a featherweight champion from Cuba, and a bantamweight champion from Panama!

My conclusion is that it opened up a lot in the 1930s.