Heavyweights & age through the era's

I don't think you understand the landscape or the history of what it was like in the old days. A promising 23 year old kid with 60 fights was much like the Mexican fighters now. They had the advantage of being both physically fresh, seasoned and experienced. 95% of these fights would be away from the microscopic scrutiny that modern fighters face as they developed on the road building up a name quietly. Each town offering up its best small circuit prospects and seasoned veterans rather than deliver (almost exclusively) modern day dissilusioned cannon fodder for prospects to cut their teeth on.

Contenders fought much more often than champions and would fight each other over and over in different towns to make a living. With so few belts up for grabs a contender ready for a title fight still kept busy. A small promoter would book two out of town rated fighters to headline a show. Without the exposure of a major big fight town like New York, London, Chicago or the tag of official eliminator for a world title it could be treat like a small fight on the road. They might go for it in the last round but would often box conservatively in order to keep it close enough to make a return, put on a show and avoid too much wear and tear. Some would call this wearing handcuffs to make a show but it was beneficial to everyone. Top fighters got a real look at their closest rivals without too much risk and benefited from their moves, skills, pace. Later they might meet in a big fight where they would go into camp and put it all on the line but there is no doubting the experience gained in putting on measured balanced performances enhanced the development.

War time contenders especially had to hold back because without active champions they had to stay busy. But look what came out of that system ......Sugar ray Robinson! ezzard Charles! Archie Moore! Charlie burly! Jake lamotta! Willie pep! One generation producing so many ATGs whom all treaded water against other name fighters many times over away from the spotlight for years and were better for it.

 

What conclusions do you draw from this regarding the quality of today's big men?

 

That it takes less fights to reach heavyweight contender status. That many heavyweight contenders try other sports first and take up boxing last. That the most experienced heavyweights are the actual champions and that this is the edge that keeps them where they are. That competition is not what it was. That something is wrong when age is no longer a disadvantage.

What conclusions do you draw from the age and experience of today's best heavyweight contenders?

 

First of all not one heavyweight contender was killed off in the war. You ought to research this before dismissing any great fighters. Or entire eras!

A sparring session with 6oz gloves, in front of a knowledgeable audience is too risky to be called either an exhibition or a sparring session. There is less room for error. To pull it off well enough for the fans to demand a rematch is a true art form that developed the kinds of fighters that produced the standard of which all other great fighters are measured. If that is not "greater usable practice" for later title fights I dont know what is!

How could Ray Robbinson, Willie pep etc not be classed as "best quality boxers as professional athletes"??

The proof is in the pudding.

There was a better kind of opponent back then. There was competative circuits in all towns. Small town hero's with good records on the local circuit made for more resistant fall guys than short notice, self managed disillusioned has beens. Each town had a healthy small time fight scene. Guys who could win at a level. That's gone. Fighters would travel around, dominate town by town until they got write ups in the big centres like New York. Competition was enormous.

 

That there is a real dearth of quality among them.When challengers such as Wach , Solis ,and recycled 39 years old cruisers are getting shots, the division is in a very poor state. The 50's is often looked upon as pretty poor for big guys ,but fighters such as Baker , and Henry,would make Arreola and others, look like what they in reality are ,pudgy trial horses.

 

:good Agreed. The brothers have outlasted everyone and have worked from an economical blue print that works, utilising distance, experience and their size against contenders already past their physical prime without the right seasoning. With so few fights under their belt and less competition within the ranks what chance do the contenders have? The brothers have been great fighters but the opposition makes them look better.

 

Wow, thank you SO much for educating us once again with your brilliant boxing acumen... If we could only transplant the old school, SRR`s,Ali, Arguelo`s heart and chins into current fighters,Klit, Haye etc...

 

Pretty sad huh

 

Never in heavyweight boxing history have the top contenders been of such a past peak age. In no other sport are the top athletes of this advanced (For Sports) age. The fighters are not being matched, as they once were.

Top contenders can reach that status by fighting nobodies. The Heavyweight peak used to be around 26-30. Now some of these contenders are old enough to be grandfathers. The division and Heavyweight boxing in general, has never been worse. You kinda feel sorry for those "boxing fans' who think they're seeing top competition. Then you see the agenda, and realize there is no hope for that type of 'boxing fan'.

 

obviously standards have fallen, young men in their prime are less interested in boxing, so the hole is filled with older, less fit, fatter men who are cashing in on this new hole in the market.

 

Hi Elroy -

There is some subtle humor in your writing which I like very much.

While there is some merit to your reply, I am not entirely convinced that sparring sessions (even under the most controlled situations) are the equal of actual ring combats for the purposes of experience or improvement of a boxer's skills. If training would suffice I'm sure that by now the term "ring rust" would be out of the boxing world's vocabulary. But it still exists and for good reason.

True there were far too many Joe Palookas back in the day. But there were also far more registered boxing pros so that they were able to earn a living in the ring and more boxing shows. Hopefully, greater regulation at the state level (or county in the UK) will counter the "little regards to their health and optimisation of their performance" of boxing's lesser lights. Therefore, in theory, we will not see so many Palookas or tomato cans in the ring getting whipped and being carried out on stretchers.

I remain convinced that more boxing shows, more registered or licensed boxers, greater regulation are the things that will improve upon the modern day version of the sweet science.

 

Whenever I think of this it depresses me. 30 year old rookies.

 

Old guys like Jess Willard, Max Schmeling, Ezzard Charles, Joe Walcott, Sonny Liston, George Foreman v2.0?