Classic vs. Modern Boxing

Pac, Floyd, Wlad, Vitali, Hopkins, Jones Jr., Marquez, Barrera, Morales, Ward, Calzaghe, Mosley, Wright, Rigondeaux, Donaire.

Then there were the major series Gatti vs Ward, Marquez vs Vazquez, Pacman vs Marquez, so people will talk about them fifty years from now.

 

I agree with some of your list, and especially the Gatti-Ward fights. I also agree with Houdini that there has been greater strength in depth, before. As I say, there are obviously good technicians in every era.

 

THIS was a VERY good post. All true.

 

Houdini pretty much said it all. There will be good fighters from every era but it's not like it used to be. It's all about protecting a fighters record and making as much money as you can. Sports in general has fallen for that paradigm. ARod is a good example...275 million dollar contract? Are you kidding me? No wonder joe average can't afford to take his family to a ballgame today. It's a disgrace. Let's go back to eight weight divisions and make fighters fight more than once a year...against the top rated fighters.. No handpicking opponents for huge paydays all the while protecting a perfect record. And while we're at it let's go back to the 15 round distance...You'll see fewer 250lb behemoths in the HW division. Bigger isn't always better. Where's Joe Louis when you need him?

 

I respect the past and try to stay optimistic for the future.

Technically there is no reson why fighters today cannot match the prize fighters of the golden era because it was all filmed and can be studied. What cannot be gained from studying film is the benefit of the old time competition.

Competition makes great fights and great fights make great fighters. missmatches dont make great fighters they just sharpen reactions for later tests. The fighters today would love the competition of the old days but hate the limited titles availible. The old fighters would love the money of TV backed fighters but hate that they couldnt always fight their best rivals.

Lets not forget a large part of the most active old fighters had a lot of very freindly "staying busy" fights with very familiar faces on the road. Great fighters often fought "no name" guys between important fights, usually freinds, over and over again always going the distance. No way were they all genuinely competative. Sure these fights were beneficial because their was an art in making a fight look real real and things were learned trying out different things away from the gym but there was no tv scrutiny or pressure to knock everyone cold or quicker than the next guy. Sometimes contenders even fought a good fight in one town then would take the fight on the road somewhere else and arange not to go too hard so they could get booked again. Sometimes they double-crossed one another. Archie Moore fell out with jimmy Bivins over this kind of thing. in fact both beat each others freinds baddly in "stay busy" fights just to annoy the other when they were part of the same busy contender circuit.

That said, for the most part on the busy contender circuits a fighter honed skills to be more economical. They had to because whilst champions fought a few times a year contenders fought 10 times per year. They often held something back for the next fight but in doing so were better prepared when the big fights came round.

Contenders today have more pressure on them to go flat out. They cant afford to lose and often only get one chance. There are no fight club circuits or non tv dates to take. A contender with one loss before challenging for a title today may as well become a journeyman. Who is going to back him? Its tough today too. Even if there are more titles its harder to stay busy when you are tied to one promoter, one tv station and one third, fourth or even fith portion of the talent pool when your rating is with one governing body.