Fighters Were Better In The Old Days Because.....

Because the old adage rings true, "practice makes perfect ". For example as I have posted before in the 1940s in New York City area alone there was a boxing card EVERY NJIGHT of the week except Sunday. A small example. Billy Graham who I as a youngster saw carrying a gym bag into St Nicholas Arena where he fought a 4 rd prelim bout in 1941,started his career having 41 bouts in 15 months developing his skills. He was not alone. Fighters had full-time trainers, teaching them skills and matching the boxers with the best competition
so they would be skillful enough to get a 4-6 round bout in the Mecca of boxing Madison Square Garden. Fighting 15-20 times a year developed all around toughness and endurance seldom seen today.I would go to Stillmans gym those days, and never see amongst the heavyweights ,fat trailer trucks posing as boxers today. They had to train hard or fall by the wayside. These young fighters who had no education had to fight, to eat and had more motivation to be in shape, and thus the quality of boxing we woulkd see in general was so superior to today's boxers, with a few exceptions.
For example of the quality of fighters of the 1940s, would the 46 year old Bernard Hopkins
be a LH title holder today ,with fighters such as Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Jimmy Bivens, Harold Johnson, Lloyd Marshall, Joey Maxim plying their trade in that deep laden era ? We know the answer. Bernard Hopkins would gave been long retired, for his own health. The more you fight, against a greater array of fighters, brings the cream to the top.
So yes the oldtimers were better than todays fighters in general.They had to be to survive...

 

I'd go along with this. Not to say that there are not good fighters now cos there is. The best of them are Manny, Martinez who have fought tough fights on their way up and learnt their trade and floyd even though I don't like him. He might of been even better if he was fighting back then.

 

^ The truth, plain and simple. :deal
Great post, burt.

:good

 

Today champions fight three times a year if you're lucky.

Back then you'd be lucky if the champions fought seven times a year.

Today, prospects fight seven times a year.

Back then, prospects fought three times every month.

Today, people often take steroids.

Back then, steroids weren't a part of boxing culture.

Today, some top class, elite boxers are moaners and quitters.

Back then, even the lowest tier in boxing was full of tough, gritty boxers.

Today, only a fan who follows the sport would know the champions.

Back then, anybody with a radio or read the newspaper knew the champions.

Today, fighters are often pampered and don't truly give it there all.

Back then, it was either come to fight or **** off home.

Today, the championship distance is 12 rounds.

Back then, the championship distance could be an unlimited number of rounds.

Today, you have tools that criticize and mouth off against all but their heroes.

Back then, any fighter was regarded with the utmost respect.

Today, a fighter is labelled unworthy and a bum for being outclassed.

Back then, they weren't afraid to lose badly and welcomed it, and got better for the next fight.

Today, people like to trash talk each other and just in general be ****s to each other.

Back then, boxers didn't have to be friends but the shook hands and actually congratulated each other.

Today, people make ****ing ******ed excuses for losses.

Back then, most people accepted the loss and congratulated the winner.

Today, there is a small crop of boxers who are at the top.

Back then, the talent pool was absolutely huge.

Today, there are 17 weight classes with so many different governing bodies.

Back then, there was the eight original weight classes and one governing body which meant one champion.

Today, fighting a past - prime big name and winning is considered quite impressive.

Back then, fighting a prime monster/warrior and winning was considered quite impressive.

It goes on and on. But, of course, with most things, there are exceptions.

 

Burt, speaking of Joey Maxim, who else today would come back for a rematch with a guy who ko'ed him in less than a month for a rematch...and AVENGE that loss?

 

Unless your name was Jack Dempsey.

 

Not just Dempsey.
Many of the champions, esp. the heavyweights, became far less active when they held the championship.

 

Yep rc,Joey Maxim was kod in the first round by Curtis Sheppard in 1943, but
one month later Maxim tackled the hard punching Sheppard and decisioned
Sheppard. Unheard of today.
Another perfect example of the mental toughness of the oldtime fighters.
In 1944 the great Bob Montgomery an 8-1 favorite was flattened in one round by the murderous left hooking Al Bummy Davis at MSG.I saw that fight and Montgomery was flattened pronto in 1rd. Two weeks later the tough Montgomery took on a prime powerful Beau Jack and decisioned Jack at MSG.
Which fighter today would have the sheer guts to do that today ?
"Tough times makes tough fighters ",applies to the era I was growing up in...
Cheers...

 

Yes. There are exceptions.

 

Was much harder to become champ then so it meant more

 

People are talking about PEDS/Steroids like they're a bad thing. PEDS are one of the few things the modern generation has on its' side

 

Because they fixed the fights so the white guy would win, then so the mob would win, because there were battle royals, loaded gloves, linaments on the gloves... because most fighters fought far too often and came in as damaged goods and gave sub par performances.

 

Lol to answer the question, would senchenko have been a welterweight world champion pre 1980?

 

I love this article :

NO SCHOOL LIKE “OLD SCHOOL”

Las Vegas, NV- I can almost hear the groans from the Generation Xer’s already…”Here’s another Geezer living in the past!” Maybe so, but give this “Geezer” the courtesy of being heard out, then make up your mind. Why is it that boxing is the only sport in which those that participate in it aren’t light years better than those who fought in the 1920′s and 30′s, even through the 1970′s, when the athletes in football, basketball, and baseball all have surpassed prior generations?


YOU MUST WORK LIKE A TRADESMAN
Could it have something to do with the frequency of fights? I mean, how do you expect to rise to the top of your profession when you ply your trade only once or twice a year? But, I think the reason goes even deeper than that. And it goes back to doing things
Old School.”

FIGHTERS WERE TRAINED BY “COMPETENT TEACHERS”
I have already identified myself as a “Geezer,” but I’m really not that old…yet. I wasn’t around in the 1920′s and 30′s, even the 40′s or early 50′s. But the man who taught me how to fight (Lou Kemp) was, plus I can read, and I care enough to watch a lot of old fights. So, in no particular order is why I say the fighters today can’t touch the fighters of yesterday, and that there’s”No School like Old School.”

TALENT POOL WATERED DOWN BY 17 DIVISIONS!
1. Lack of talent pool. You go from eight weight divisions and one sanctioning body to seventeen weight divisions and four “major” sanctioning bodies, most of which won’t even recognize fighters from the other groups, much less let allow them to fight each other. Think I’m jesting, you do the math. Then you add on top of that, the fact that most of today’s fighters simply do not put in the time in the gym, much less fights, so the activity level alone is a major factor in their lack of development.
FIGHTING STIFFS WON’T HELP THE “LEARNING CURVE”
2. Meaningless records. We don’t have the fight clubs anymore, so the only way a fighter can make any money is to get on TV. The only way to get on TV is to have a perfect, or near perfect record. The only way to have a perfect record is (A) be a Superman, or (B) fight a bunch of nobodies. Guess what? Most records are built up by fighting far less than qualified fighters, which may get you on TV, but helps a fighter learn nothing! “Old School” fighters and trainers were more concerned with having their fighter face different styles, even if it meant a loss or more, so that they could learn and progress, because they knew there would be another fight next month, because fights didn’t depend on protected pugs with undefeated records. Thus the “Old School” fighters learned.

ANYBODY CAN GET A LICENSE TO TRAIN PUGS!
3. Corners without a clue. If I have heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times in a corner during a fight. The scene goes something like this. The fight is lopsided in favor of the other fighter, the camera follows the beaten up fighter back to his corner. The guys imitating real seconds jump into the ring (usually 10 or so seconds late), throw water everywhere except where it’s needed, and then give the following words of advice, “This is it! You’ve got to go for it all.” Then the schleps jump out of the ring, usually forgetting to even put the mouthpiece back in, and you wonder why their guy loses?

TEACHERS LIKE RAY ARCEL, DON CONLEY, EDDIE FUTCH ARE GONE
But the big thing, the big reason why “Old School” was better, is while you have people today who train boxers, who teach fitness and nutrition, there is no one around teaching the finer skills of the sport. I was taught, and a lot of fighters I’ve seen on film used their whole body to box. They carried their left hand a little low, they used their right hand to block or parry punches (You don’t even hear anyone use the WORD parry anymore!).

VERY BASICS OF BOXING HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN TODAY
“Old School” knew how how to use their shoulders, to keep their left shoulder in front and forward. They knew how to stay balanced when they punched. My trainer had me walking in the ring throwing nothing but left jabs in the air for three months until I could do it with balance and leverage. How many kids today would stay in a gym for three months punching nothing but air?
NOBODY IS TAUGHT TO FIGHT USING ANGLES
And how many fights have you seen lately stopped on cuts? Old School fighters were taught that an orthodox fighter should always keep his face turned slightly to the right when he jabs, so when (not if) heads do collide, the side of your head get hit, and you don’t get busted up around the eyes.

HOOKERS ARE IN BROTHELS & NOT GYMS
And “Old SchooL” fighters knew how to throw a left hook. I haven’t seen a decent left hook since Smokin’ Joe Frazier retired and then Mickey Ward had enough. You do not extend your arm when you throw a hook! When you hook, your left foot and hip has to turn with the punch, all with the same motion. That’s where the power comes from. But today you see hooks flailing out like kites in the wind. And I won’t even get into the art of timing a punch, because if you ain’t Old School, you won’t have a clue, and if you are, you already know!

 

................. they fought the best more often & for less money, in other words they were soldiers that fought for legacy & fans as well as money.
Not like the wankers we are stuck with today :-(