Are Fighters In Better Shape Nowadays?

In the past you had fighters like Ali who could jump on his calves around the ring all day, Marciano who would constantly shuffle foward throwing his looping power punches, and Frazier who would chase you down throwing his iconic left hook. The only heavyweight that is some what to them stamina wise is Usyk, and with his stamina he's cleaned out 2 whole divisions. Fighters are so out of shape that their is only a couple figthers in the past 20 years with any stamina. Imagine Tyson Fury trying to go 15 rounds, it's sad, just sad.

 

Ill stack any modern fighter (not counting the Callum Smiths or Billy Joe Saunders of the world) up against any of the old timers (pre 1980).
Sure, some of the old guys will pull a win here or there, but all in all millennials and Gen Zers would lay waste to them...and it would get worse the further back in time you went. I think pre 1960s would have it worse of all, a lot of those guys would be in way over their heads

 

Who are we comparing todays fighters to? The top 1% of boxing history? Not every HW of the past was capable of going 15 rounds either. Comparing Chisora to Ali is a little biased. Chisora isn't representative of modern boxing.

 

It’s just recency bias.

We live in a world where sports science is prominent, so people just assume that today’s athletes are all superior.

It’s nonsense.

You can logically make a case, that due to their circumstances, the guys from decades ago were better conditioned.

 

Why?

The guys had scheduled 15 round fights, where they literally sometimes fought every 3-4 weeks.

Many, many guys in the early years did that.

And for well over a decade.

They walked around just a few pounds over their weigh-in weight.

Generally speaking, their circumstances made them better conditioned than the average fighter today.

The average fighter today as an 8-12 week camp, where the first few weeks are shedding body fat they’ve put on whilst not having fought.

 

A very different world.

 

There’s dozens of divisions, and literally hundreds of guys throughout history who’d be able to beat many of today’s guys.

Expand your knowledge instead of making ridiculous, ignorant assumptions.

Also, we’re talking about conditioning here.

 

Why? Because so much more is known today about physical training, and what is most effective. I find it strange, if boxing is the only physical sport, that today doesn't produce better trained athletes than in the old days!

Also, only the absolute top fighters ever got close to fighting 15-rounders. By far the most boxers were restricted to 4-, 6- and 8-round bouts. Besides, engaging in numerous 15-rounders, with little recovery time between them, is hardly the way to get in top shape. Top marathoners have maybe 3, max 4, races a year... as the body needs time to recuperate, and build up to a new high.

It's fine to love the old-timers, and think they were better than today, but it should also be allowed to believe otherwise - without you making condescending remarks like: "Expand your knowledge instead of making ridiculous, ignorant assumptions."

 

Other posters have already explained it to you.

They lived in a different world.

In the time a modern fighter has in camp, an older guy would have fought 2-3 times within that same period.

No, not everybody fought world title fights.

Many of them were 10 rounders. But they still fought every month or so.

Yes, it didn’t do their overall health any good in the end. But that’s a different debate. We’re talking about how conditioned they were.

Again, they were conditioned to have professional fights on a very regular basis.

If they weren’t fighting, they were working or training.

It’s not about nostalgia, it’s about circumstances.

Generally, the average fighter back then was more conditioned than today.

Again, not because everything back then was great, and everything today is rubbish. But due to their lifestyles. Most of them trained and worked only a few pounds over their fighting weight.

Look at the era that Greb and Robinson fought in.

Robinson went to war with Jake LaMotta, then rematched him THREE WEEKS later.

And that was a common thing, even for less famous fighters.

Regarding the last line that you have quoted, that wasn’t to you. That was to the poster who wrote a piece of ignorant nonsense without any thought.

 

Which is an opinion - not a fact!

 

It is an opinion through years of study.

Through knowledge.

Not just of boxing, but through the times that they lived in.


You are defensive, probably because you believe that I’m saying that all the fighters back then were better.

Yet I’m not saying that at all.


Again, it’s the lives they led.

The world was different.


Work was harder.

People’s lives were harder.


Even a P4P fighter today will put on weight between fights. And that’s fine. They deserve to enjoy themselves after a long camp and a fight. They can go and unwind with family and friends. Go out. Put weight on. Then they’ll go to the gym and shed weight in the first few weeks, before starting their regular camp. Many guys have a pre-camp today. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Most top guys only fight 2-4 times per year. And that’s a GOOD thing.

But back then, lots of fighters were fighting 10-20 fights per year.

So just looking logically at their lives and their schedules, tells you that generally, they HAD to have better conditioned than the average guy of today.

They needed to be, in order to have fought 3-5 x as many fights per year.

 

That's unknowable.

 

What exactly is known about physical training that wasn’t known back then? I hear this claim thrown about like it really means something. Give me an example of these game changers. I’ve already said you can look up multiple studies that prove average men were stronger with more testosterone back then. What is making the difference in boxers from that so much more that is known today?

 

Have you ever watched some of those 15 round fights? There's plenty of throw away rounds mixed in, many of them don't even really start picking up till about the 4th or 5th rounds. I'll take a 12 round Holyfield or Riddick Bowe fight over a 15 round Ali fight any day.