How good would Joe Gans be today?

Give him a chance to acclimatize and he's doing damage. The truth is, even though the longer distances encouraged a slower pace, many still did fight frenetically. The pace for the 1910 battle between Ad Wolgast and Battling Nelson for example was incredible for a 40 round bout.

Another telling point is the heightened opinions of naysayers each time a new piece of footage emerges, i.e. Jack Dempsey sparring Bill Tate in preparation for Willard. This points at the both the lack and quality of the film low-blowing greats rather than it indicating their true worth.

As for Fitzsimmons. His style still wouldn't be pretty on a 4K television but it was damn effective because he had that timeless intuition as did Gans.

 

Interesting thread. I could see Gans holding his own in today's era, certainly more than I could Fritz, but that would also depend on which weight category he fought in, and a middle he could very well hold his own, but someone like GGG would be a very formidable opponent.

 

From what little we have of Gans he still looks exceptional. He looks like he had a similar style to that of Jimmy Wilde in terms of patience and spacial awareness.

 

No. One stipulation for Goldfield right before Nelson I was that Joe had to weigh in at ringside no more than 133 pounds wearing all his gear. Many attributed his fatal bout with TB to that drain and duress of meeting that stipulation in that climate over that duration of contest.

Coming in stripped with no gear at the modern LW limit of 135 would have put him at full strength for Goldfield. Add on modern hand protection and a mouthpiece after transporting him in a time machine, yes, he defeats Duran and Benny Leonard, and competes with Greb and Robinson as the P4P GOAT the way he showed himself to be in Goldfield and against Kid Herman. We're talking about an ATG stylist who dropped a peak Nelson with a single left hook and a single right hand while weight drained. 12 rounds (or even the championship distance) would be a picnic limit for a veteran of his caliber when at his peak.

 

There is good footage on Gans. See the Herman or Nelson fight.

Gans was a very good boxer - puncher type. One of the best skilled old timers for sure! I do think he has some trouble with pressure fighters who could punch when his skills or power could not deter them from attacking him.

I also think his toughness wasn't great, as he quit in a fight due to a cut.

If he was around today, I think the right trainer could turn him into a Wladimir Klitschko like offensive machine, with added defensive skills.

 

...or will he?

1. Modern nutrition and training
2. Modern fight routines, not fighting extremely often
3. 12 rounds - thus a greater focus on explosiveness and less on almost being more marathon like with 15 rounds
4. His frame looked like it could have filled out a lot more.
5. Next day weigh ins.

All of these five factors interact with eachother. I think he'd compete at welterweight today.

 

He's the P4P the best of his time but he has key weaknesses:

Low hands
Backs up in straight lines
Off balance when rolling with punches
Flat footed
Doesn't snap his jab
No left hook
Carried his chin too high

Things he does well:

Good control of distance
Good use of feints
Good counter right, outside with the straight or inside with the right uppercut
Good shoulder roll slipper despite being off balance at times
Set traps to counter well
Straight punches
Sharp

Crawford would certainly beat him but he'd have his successes against others. Which says allot because he doesn't have the advantages of boxers today. He was a pioneer and boxing built on some of his foundations. Many boxers of that era wouldn't make it out of the amateurs for sure.

 

No, Whitaker's slipping was far smoother than Gans, I mean Pea was the best in that respect imo.

I mean maybe if he bust his left up in the fights we have of him but like many boxers but if not he's 1 handed. Some people get angry with me when I call boxers 1 handed but many have a strong preference for 1 hand and aren't very good with the other.

It's not that a big of a weakness but it is a slight weakness.

I mean you can't say Crawford's definitely mixed it at the top level, he's beat Gamboa after all but you're right to say say he hasn't come back from adversity.

You're right to say Judah was a top level talent who didn't deal with adversity well. Judah also suffered from going up too high in weight. All those guys who beat him at WW were 10 or more pounds heavier than him. Still he could of beat Cotto if he let his hands go more. Psychology is massively important in the sport and Zab didn't have it.

But then again Gans is better boxing, not pressuring so that doesn't really matter if we compare him H2H with these 2, he'd lose if he tries to box them.

 

Yes it is but some things are very visible, but life and learning to box was much harder back then too.

You're combining almost a 30 year time span here though.

Boxing is all marketing, if he gets Lopez he's suddenly a unified champion but Arum wanted to protect the more marketable fighter and it all failed.

Yes but he is obviously a top boxer while been kept away from top old boxers. If he weren't as good maybe he'd get a shot at Pac or FMJ