Comparing fighters from the past with modern ones is complicated

This. In both athletics & swimming. People aren’t drastically evolving in fifty years, but tech is. In twenty years, even.

 

Hell, today we’ve gained tech I didn’t even think was possible 10 years ago!

The development of technology rapidly outpaced the evolution of man, and imo is a more valid explanation for changes in sports rather than genetic evolution.

 

Usyk is pretty much exactly the same size as the Foreman who beat Frazier and Frazier. So, no you can not rely on size alone, but the goal posts have been moved on what is considered big in the division.

 

I think guys today maximize strenght and stamina, combined... this is the science. I also believe the game today is more tactical, gameplans are more complex, and the coaching teams are more important than ever...

Guys back then were better fighters though, they had one thousand times more Boxing IQ than anybody today... and I think this is related with the above. It was actual fighting, while today is about speed and outworking the other guy....

The glove sizes today make it less of a fighting sport, IMO... it´s making the sport lame. And no, it doesn´t even make it safer necessarily, so it has only cons... I know part of it is probably me getting older, but IMO Boxing is a dead sport...

 

A 159 pound Hagler or SRR has no issues with a 168 pound Canelo

 

Oh Absolutely that’s why I used track as my example as opposed to swimming. Many advancements in swimsuits have enhanced times in recent years. All sports improves somewhat with sport science advancement. I mean many boxers used to smoke or have diets that were not optimal to performance and didn’t even realize it.
But with the eye test it’s pretty clear to me as well, I watched a football game from the 70s on YouTube recently and I was shocked how much slower the game was on a whole compared to todays game.

 

Without a neutral corner rule, I wonder whether the 90s steroid era contender lists would have looked even more puncher-heavy than they already were. Once they land something in that kind of environment, it's more likely to stay landed.

And their gas tanks don't seem that different when you purely look at the Compubox stats. So bigger guys potentially with the kind of punch output you'd expect from their smaller, lighter predecessors.

 

I know little about football, but I do know that sports develop at different rates compared to others. Boxing, for example, had over a 100 year head start with regard to skill development compared to the others. I don’t think anyone’s doubting the evolution of skill occurred, the main question is when?

I know much more about basketball than football personally, and from what I’ve seen the elite basketball players from the 70s like Pete Maravich had a comparable skillset to the modern eras.

 

Well, I think it is fun.

 

But the fundamentals are the same. You don´t kick or head the ball in a different way !! It´s literally the same way. What has changed is how quick you gotta pass, move.. etc...
To me is clear that fighters today have more handspeed.. but that is basically an athletic trait. How you land a punch is something that cannot evolve, because it is about timing and opportunity, experience and fighting instincts... how can feinting evolve ? It can´t.

 

It’s completely unimaginable to think someone like Joe Louis could beat a giant modern monster champion like Charles Martin..modern boxers are just better……..

@Terror Yeah I had the same thought as you when I read this thread, uh, it’s just for fun!

 

Could recording tech influence your perception that fighters are faster?

 

Maybe.

 

Usyk is like 6'3 220 pounds. The same size as a prime George Foreman.

 

Who was considered huge for his time