Are we getting a watered down product has the pool of talent declined in boxing?

IMO boxing is cyclical and whilst some divisions (and fighters) are poor others are great. At the moment the Heavyweight division is weak though the lower (112 especially) is having an era of great fighters all mixing it up. It's easy to see the skills of fighters like Naoya Inoue and Roman Gonzalez...though sadly they get under-seen in the West.

Not sure if that really answers your question but...basically I think the talent lies in fighters that many fans don't get to see...

 

I don't think it helps matters that the best don't fight the best,there are great fighters and there are great fights to be made but there's too much bull**** that stops it happening.

 

It has. Why you think Bernard Hopkins still fighting and doing well and the guy must be ****ing 80 years old.

If you want to see top skilled young fighters you dont look in the US. You go to Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia.

If I'm not mistaken the last 4 Olympics has only produced 3 medals for US. 1 gold,1 silver 1 bronze. In the last 4 olympics!!!. Compare it to the 1984 US boxing team where I think they took 9 gold medals.

But here is the strange thing if you look at the pro scene there is so many young undefeated US fighters who was barely seen in the amateur scene and defiantly not in the elite Olympic level. How can that be?? Padded up records and protected careers. And that´s why when they come into the ring with there 30-0 record against a Bernard Hopkins or a Manny Pacquiao they can only laugh and say thank you for the money

 

I totally agree with that. If the B league Brits can win a title then you known the talent pool is shallow.:yep

 

Boxing is better than it has ever been before. It's a well known fact that athletes get better with every generation.

Stick the top guys from today like Wlad, GGG, Kov, Mayweather, Lebedev, Drozd, Pacquiao Frampton, Gonzalez etc in any generation and they would be the #1 fighter in the division.

It seems to be only in 'Murica where the sport is in decline. No doubt that's because all your top boxers choose to compete in NASCAR or some other such nonsense

 

It's the same in every generation.

Only a few are good enough to be elite of the division.

You see emerging talent like Lomachenko and Crawford. Then you have the old dogs like Manny and Floyd. And you have established fighters like Kovalev, Ward, Rigo and GGG.

Remember that if everyone is great, no one is great. Greatness is only reserved for the special talents.

 

i remember back in the day, there used to more boxing gyms in the US....especially in big cities like NYC and LA....thsee days those gyms no longer exist. it's because boxing killed itself with its' corruption...and the new generation of sport fans were raised on competitive sports where teams competed in elimination tournaments....they see boxing as a stupid sport with no organization or geared only toward certain ethnic groups, so they would rather watch something that makes more sense to them.

 

What a lot forget or ignore is that a lot of it has to do with the current politics and corrution in boxing.

We have a huge # of belts (WBA has 3 per division nowadays) and it's hard to get the best in the ring with eatchother for one.
Just look at your example B-Hop for a moment and then compare his situation with another oldie like Archie Moore.
B-Hop won 2 belts against guys that shouldn't even have those belts anymore at the time he fought them (Cloud and Shumenov), but held on to them because of corruption or maybe incompetent judging (if you believe they were actually on the level).
And they both weren't close to being the top dogs in the division either, because when he fought the actual best he didn't stand a chance and only left the ring on his own two feet because of his incredible chin.
He is the one who actually dared to step in with the man, wich makes him a hero in my eyes while other oldies won't.

Now Archie Moore for example had to fight the best available to become the oldest champ in history before B-Hop took that label and actually beat the man at the time, without the chin B-Hop had as well.

Other oldies often are associated with or actually caught on the juice to counter the effects of their body aging, and they are also seen to cherrypick weak "champs" and avoid the actual best because they know they would lose (badly)

So decline of skill is an important factor, but harly the only and biggest one of the state of today's boxing.

 

HW has been boring for quite a while. Its what happens when 2 guys who grew up in the same house completely dominate it.

And now its only one guy. Its hard to stay interested in a division where one guy is miles ahead of everyone else.

Theres still plenty of good divisions to watch

 

You're a moron. There's no question the talent pool has diminished.

 

Good post.

 

Talent is the same because competition is the same. There are as many pro fights internationally as there ever were. Talent in America has declined as the number of boxing gyms and support for amateur talent has declined. Therefore more of the best fighters are fighting out of the country where Americans are unaware of them. Also, many of the best fighters have become cherry pickers who won't fight each other leading to watered down fights. Thirdly, there are more belts so it's easier for undeserving contenders to become champions.