50s, 30s, 2010s are all extremely fun. I'll pick 2010s because Povetkin is my favorite fighter, but otherwise I'd probably pick the 50s. 2020s are stacking up to be an era of freakish 280+ pound men, and we haven't really seen people fight in the same way as Zhang or Bakole do until now (only throwing 5-10 punches a round, but damaging the opponent with every punch) I think it'll be even better than the 10s. We'll get to see many 240lb men have to fight as the "smaller man" fairly regularly.
Not going to be popular on this forum but I think right now is pretty healthy as long as the best end up fighting the best. Uysk and Fury are both very special in very different ways and then you have a puncher like Wilder and some really interesting prospects like Sanchez (pure Cuban boxer), Jared Anderson ( fast and Athletic) and the most interesting prospect of them all, gold medalist Jalolov who seems like the total package. I also think the mid 80's that Holmes dominated was damn better than it gets talked about. That era was when the inner city boxing programs and USA national program had a lot of talent. It's interesting to see that shift from American boxing to Eastern Europe which seems very healthy on the amateur program side.
I went with the thirties. Lots of champs and top contenders who battled against each other and often. Now this is not to say that all these guys were the most talented or that they’d beat men from the 70s or 90s but it was a decade where the best fought the best over ONE title and that’s what makes a great era
80s. Some very good fighters and alot of the best guys fought one another. Also Tyson’s tear through the division was a spectacle to behold.
The 80s was better than the 90s imo. You had Holmes, Tyson and Holy. Then you had about 10 or so very talented but inconsistent fighters who you would be hard pressed to pick a winner if they all fought each other.
I went with the 60's. The 60-65 era had Ali, Liston and Patterson. Guys like Cleveland Williams, Henry Cooper etc were good as well. The mid to late 60's had an emerging Frazier, a rugged Bonavena and a good counter puncher in Quarry as well as the slick Ellis. The current era is pretty good too. Fury, Usyk (probably the most skilled southpaw ever), a crude but hard hitter in Wilder, a pretty good big guy in Joshua, iron jawed hitter like Joyce and a bunch of solid contenders in Hrgovic, Jalalov, Zhan, etc. I do think when its all said and done, the current era will rank as one of the better era's.
All have talent but I select the 1960s - Ali,Liston,Frazier,Patterson etc. That list speaks for iktself.
Gotta be the 80s. 2 atgs in Holmes an Tyson. You got the first light heavyweight becoming heavyweight champ since god knows when. The first white heavyweight to win a heavyweight title for more than 20 years. You got a solid group of heavies with the likes of Thomas, Dokes, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Page, Cooney an Tucker that were all talented though unmotivated an undisciplined. Some called them the lost generation but even that insulting term suggest that they had the potential to have become more than they did . Finally in the last part of the 80s you had the beginning of fighters like Holyfield, Bowe an Lewis who were going to help define the heavyweight scene in the next decade.
I went with the 80s. Two great long(ish) term champions throughout the decade…Holmes and Tyson. Plus another great champion in the middle…Michael Spinks. And as a bonus, all 3 of them actually fought eachother…eventually.
I went with the 1960s which just edged it for me overall due to the depth of division at the time which was still highly competitive with former champion Floyd Patterson still remaining active throughout the dedade you had Charles Sonny Liston, Cassius Clay/Ali, George Chuvalo ,Ernie Terrell, Henry Cooper, Jimmy Ellis , Oscar Bonavena and the emergence of a young Joe Frazier overall a great decade for boxing even if Ali wasn't permitted to box for the remaining three years of it. The 1980s would come a close second with the dominance of Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson and other talents like Tim Witherspoon Gerry Cooney, Earnie Shavers, Michael Spinks , James Tillis and Buster Douglas. The other decades are great also but I feel from the 1960s-1990s were certainly the most lively and easier to review there certainly seemed like a higher level of competition compared to any of the other decades that proceeded them where you could single out just a few exceptional boxers.
The 2000s probably had the best h2h top 5. 1. Lewis 2. Wlad 3. Vitali 4. Haye 5. Povetkin +Sanders, Holyfield, Ruiz, Byrd, Brewster, Tua, Rahman, Ibragimov, Chagaev, and Tyson It doesn't mean enough action packed fights happened though.
