Does a prime Jack Dempsey beat the Joshua of today?

Training has always been "scientific".
An unscientific approach would be no training.

 

Or what he claims are the results. Even assuming the results are both honestly reported and accurate, where exactly does his alleged expertise come into play? Conducting a simple before and after trial is something that could be done (and indeed was) in 3,000 B.C.

 

I've always wondered what people mean by "modern training".
On this forum there's even people who think "1930s training" was different (and inferor) to "1970s training" for example.

 

Training has always been based on observing cause and effect between training and results as best you can determine, but I wouldn't call that scientific. Science involves controlling conditions and performing repeated tests in a way that just isn't possible for a boxing trainer.

 

Specific training method to improve specific aerobic and anaerobic qualities.

The article itself doesn't propagate any woo or magic method, it is him describing how recognising which exercises will get the most percentage improvement in which area.

As far as I can construe, Evander trained as any one would train, using weights and working until anaerobic exhaustion.

It's less about what they do, more about how they do it, and that's the "modern" argument.

 

Well, if I train a thousand boxers and find they all (without exception) improve boxing stamina as they increase roadwork, that's about as scientific as it need be.

 

But once again, if he doesn't have a large body of very carefully controlled experiments that consistently and reliably produce repeatable results, and confirm testable predictions -which I guarantee you he does not - then he's just another opportunistic crackpot selling a solution to a problem that doesn't exist -which I guarantee you he is.

Edit: I shouldn't "guarantee" that he's an opportunistic con man. It's quite possible that he sincerely believes himself to be an expert. What I can guarantee is that he does not have evidence that is anywhere near commensurate to his claims.

 

I don't know why Dempsey ran the mornng of the fight or whether that was true.
I think they knew plenty enough to know that's not right.

 

How does designing a training schedule incorporating movements and exercises designed around the stresses and exhaustive properties a boxing match places on a fighter amount to snake oil?

That along with methods which capitalise on recovery periods to extract the most amount of gain possible from each training session?

You sound crazy mate.

Once again, I don't actually care.

 

Red meat is fine but it's no elixir.

Yes, with increased knowledge there should be less room to mess up in training. Clearly, some still do though.

 

Yeah, I'm going to have to see a source on that. I also think it's far from obvious that erroneous folk science is (alas) any less widely believed today than 100 years ago.