Do Today's Heavies Have The Same Guts?

I disagree. What's harder a 25-15 round fight or a 12 round fight?

The ref's back then were slower to stop the fight.

If you had a cut back then, there wasn't good cut med ( Glue ), nor was there enswell.

What's harder boxing our doors in the sun or non-conditioned rooms, or the air conditioned arenas where they fight today?

If your hurt, you want to roll with today's surgeons to repair the damage, or doctors from 50's years ago?

Who fought more often?

Who had safer equipment in terms of gloves, mouth pieces, and cups?

Come on' its no comparison. This is not to say there aren't any tough guys around today. There are. Back then they were just tougher minded in general, including the journeymen

 

I am not sure after watching Mago vs Perez I still see some courageous guys in the ring....and Chris Areola getting off the floor & fighting with a badly broken nose showed me courage although I wish he would have put more energy into conditioning....If you are asking as a whole I think the sport was tougher with longer rounds in the past and more conditioning was required to fight at a fit pace....Vince Lombardi once said "fatigue can make a coward of us all" and fighting 15-20 rounds takes conditioning & courage especially for a heavyweight

 

I don't see how they could be.

The fights are shorter.

The time between them is greater.

The fights are stopped more quickly.

The safety equipment is a lot better.

The weight disparity between fighters is less.

Everything seems to point towards fights of earlier eras being harder.

 

Correct on all points...IMO. You still see the individual exhibiting 'guts', as it takes guts to be a fighter in the first place. But as far as era's are concerned, a much rougher game for fighters, who made this a living in the past.

 

I think we are talking about two different things here. Were the conditions tougher or were the fighters tougher? Yes, the conditions were brutal in the olden days. But how many really want to return to the days Battle Royales and 48 knockdown fights? I'm sorry but that's not boxing; that's just sanctioned savagery.

However, some of that savagery still gets through the safety nets and reveals that the fighters are essentially of the same meddle. Gatti v Ward, McClellan v Benn, Abdusalamov v Perez... many, many more on that front.

Fighters are a breed. And outside of guys who just have chosen the wrong occupation (looking at you Tor Hamer), they are the same breed they have always been.

 

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A great fight is still a great fight.

Who are we to say who had more guts??

Anyone ever fought a great fight and not shown guts?

We still get great fights. Fighters will always show guts because they are real fighters. Give them the competition and we still get great fights.

A working dog is happiest working.

 

And an Irishman is happiest drinking.

 

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