AJ: a great modern fighter can compete in any era

The one thing I always think when topics like this come up is what the sportsmen and women have today, access to better nutrition, training etc. Do the boxers of today have better cardio and power? I don't know but they have the facilities in front of them to achieve that. If it could be proven that Joshua can hit harder than Frazier than I'd have to say maybe, maybe he could Foreman him and have him flying around the canvas like something out of a cartoon the way Foreman had him doing. Equally there's every chance that Frazier could Ruiz Joshau, we just don't know but the power and cardio of todays athletes can't be forgotten, records are always getting broken as athletes develop through whatever it is that they have to help them, as I touched on a few sentences earlier. I'm not saying Joshua is some monster but the guys of today have things available to them that the guys of yesteryear didn't have. That said my favourite boxer of all time, Joe Calzaghe, trained like an old school boxer, no fancy gyms and sports science, none of that, he still cut it at the top training that way.

 

I see a prime Mike Tyson stopping AJ the same way he beat Frank Bruno

 

I've been watching so many of his old fights recently on Facebook. I chuckled at the one where he was well past his best against Botha. The commentator does a Adam Smith and states that Tyson shows all the signs of a shot fighter...a split second later and he poleaxes Botha.

Prime Tyson starches every single heavyweight today imo. His upper body movement and footwork would get him inside any jab, and his inside work and power he generated in both hands to the head and body would bust them up.

 

In fairness he's not wrong. Whilst he obviously opens himself up to criticism, the liklihood is with modern nutrition, strategy and film - like for like most modern heavyweights beat old ones. 5"10 Rocky Marciano who wasn't particularly heavy would get flattened by most of the top 10 if he fought them with what he had then vs what they had now - for example Dillian Whyte is a monster with brilliant training facilities etc but isn't anywhere near the current world champions, but would likely smash Rocky Marciano.

When you compare modern and past boxers you have to kind of do a theoretical match, i.e. if they had the same facilities, nutrition etc how would they fayre. You're really comparing like for like who is the most talented, as there are too many intangibles to consider who would win an actual bout.

 

The thing to always keep in mind with Joshua is that nothing he puts out on his public facing social media is his work and his alone. He'll approve things, but so will many other people on his 'team'.

I think the only social media he totally self manages is his snapchat.. and that's where he posted some dodgy political things he was watching a few years ago that his marketing team would've completely freaked out about!

 

Joshua has already been beat up by Andy Ruiz Jr.

We really have to ask ourselves whether Andy Ruiz Jr. was an example of this athletic progress, advanced cardio and strength and conditioning, better nutrition, better training that people bring up when discussing this subject ?

I'd also offer that Tyson Fury, up to an including the Wladimir win, didn't even know how to use the weight machines properly, didn't even claim to be an "athlete", didn't do anything much that wasn't 'old school' training, and was often on the beers.
And look how far he got.

I think the truth is : you're either good at boxing or you're not.
Yeah, you have to train yourself sharp and into good condition, but whether you do it 'old school' or 'new science', it's not going to make the vital difference.
Maybe that's what Joshua was getting at, I dunno.

 

The dude has done well for himself but to suggest he could compete in any era is laughable tbh. These kids nowadays think alot of themselves.

 

Hes still lovin Lennox **** free

 

He’d defo compete in any era but wouldn’t be a champ in some of the eras that’s the difference.

 

The thing is a lot of modern day heavyweights are built like super heavyweights. Aside from George Foreman, guys like Ali, Tyson, Frazier and Liston were all no bigger than 6'2 or 6'3.

Yes, they beat the bigger guys of their era but the big guys in today's era are much better boxers and much better conditioned. Therefore, it would be competitive but I still think a prime Ali or Iron Mike destroy any of today's top 10 heavyweights.

 

For me if you put any fighter from the modern day in to the past, you have to give him the same equipment and vice versa. George Foreman transported into the future would use modern equipment to train. So really all you can go on is the technique and desire. I personally think the older heavys have the edge in both, but that is a generalisation of course.

 

Tony Dosh PPV very lucky that he avoided Butterbean in his era - he would have been totally mashed up and eaten.

Tyson, Lewis or Vitali - the end would be brutal for The Humbled One.