Could M. Spinks or Floyd Patterson win titles in today's cruiser division

Basketball soccer hockey baseball. Boxing has long been demonized in the states. I’m not sure of its accessibility in other countries. I live in NY and there are very few places to box with even worse trainers. I went through about three trainers before I found a decent one (never did anything w it just for fun). But accessibility and good trainers is boxings biggest problem with getting talent (boxing organizations are a whole other issue). That doesn’t mean the top guys IMO aren’t talented just the talent pool as a whole isn’t what it was forty years ago. Maybe I’m underestimating over seas popularity and accessibility

 

More boxers from more countries take part in more fights today than 40 years ago. The world wide talent pool is much larger today.

After the fall of The Wall in '89, and the subsequent crumbling of the Soviet Empire, so many new countries have embraced pro boxing. Some of today's best boxers are from former communist countries. 40 years ago boxers like the Klitschko brothers , GGG, Lomachenko, Usyk, Kovalev, Bivol, Gassiev, etc. weren't even allowed to turn pro.

With pro boxing now taking place in all parts of the world, the talent pool today is truly international. I would have thought, this is a good thing - but instead all we hear (and I don't mean from you), is how bad and talentless this era is.

 

This. If a scrub like Dorticos can get a belt Spinks and Patterson would have a field day.

 

Nobody. I like Usyk, but he'd get flattened if he fought in the 1940's heavyweight division. Heck, Usyk would get flattened by most of the top light heavyweights from the 40's. Usyk's opponents are novices compared to the guys he'd be fighting in the 40's.

 

I am an old school guy in my 50's but there are a few reasons that Usyk would have been fine:

He's 6-3 which was tall in the 40's
He's 215 lbs. which was big in the 40's
He's a southpaw which was HIGHLY unusual and difficult to prepare for in the 40s.
And he's quite quick.

He has his issues in the ring, but he'd be a tough out in any era.

 

Seriously? On what are you basing this?

 

Soccer, basketbball, team handball, water polo, kickboxing, MMA, Judo, powerlifting, wrestling (exhibition and sport), rugby, (union and league), Austrailian Rules football, cricket...

 

Iirc Greb didn't spar much, He fought so often that he felt he didn't need to. Klompton might be able to shed more light than I, though.

 

Spinks, yes. He had the size, talent and in-ring achievements to prove it.

Patterson, possibly.

Would either man beat Usyk? Not sure at this stage. Usyk's still got his biggest fights ahead of him.

 

Everyone in his division, more or less.

Since when did the 40s become such a strong era anyway?

 

If we are going to be fair, Floyd Patterson and Micheal Spinks tend to get the short end of the stick in head 2 head match ups because of their smallish frames and blow out losses to Liston and Tyson respectively. Unfortunately this ignores the fact that they were both very accomplished fighters with great wins.

Patterson competed from the 50s up until the talent laden 70s and only bad decisions robbed him of decision wins over Quarry and Ellis which would have enhanced his legacy. I've seen people talk up George Foreman's win over a totally inactive Gerry Cooney during his comeback as a reason to take him seriously yet ignore the fact that Spinks scored a stoppage win over a more active Gerry Cooney 3 years prior.

Patterson and Spinks have skills and know how to fight; that is their currency even if the concern about size tends to dominate perception. Usyk is good but he hasn't faced anyone that could prepare him for a Patterson, or a Spinks.

There was a time that people actually thought that Micheal Spinks had a realistic shot at beating Mike Tyson back in 1988. There was also a small contingency of people that thought that Patterson's speed would be a strong factor in beating Liston; the odds for the fight were far closer than revisionist history would have you remember.

 

Not everyone at CW balloons up to 210-215lbs on fight night. There's still room for smaller talented guys like Mchunu to do well, and both Spinks and Patterson had more than enough talent to make up for their deficiencies in size.

Holding on to the title might be a bit more tricky however.

 

Usyk doesn't pass the eye test? Then who the hell does?

 

Lomachenko? Rigondeaux? Usyk?

GGG? Wilder? Joshua?

George Foreman? Max Baer?

 

We don't know how good Gassiev and Briedis are yet. Gassiev is still in his early twenties, and could potentially carve out a decent legacy.