It's more difficult to win today

When you consistently fight the best opponents available it is hard to win every fight no matter how good you are.
Mayweather made it a thing to protect the zero and a lot of his casual fans (Not all his fans) will heavily criticise and write off any fighter that takes a loss. You even see that there are Devin Haney fans who celebrate him getting his zero back and Tank fans who rejoice in him being undefeated despite not having a good resume it truly is pathetic.

 

Fighters were way more active, back in the day. Logic would say, the more often you fight the greater chance of a loss.

 

I think it's more "it's good the loss was turned into N/C as Garcia was juicing" kinda thing. Which is fair.

 

Nonsense.

Try keeping a winning streak in an 8 division era, which meant deeper talent per division and no niche divisions to dodge top competition.

Same day weigh ins .. forcing fighters to fight at their true weight, no modern 10–20 lb rehydration tricks.

One belt per division crowned the real champ, unlike today’s alphabet soup of belts.

Higher fight frequency , racking up a dozen bouts a year, nationwide.. that would require insane levels of stamina, prep & mental & physical toughness.. far more taxing on a fighter than 2/3 a year..

6oz gloves hit harder, 15 rounds tested endurance further, recovery was mainly just ice and grit, travel was harsher & they had no MRIs or advanced medical care. Plus no PEDs & less pay too..

TikTok drama and 'mental health' struggles compare to that? Give me a break..

Calling today’s boxers 'bums' might be harsh, but they’re extremely pampered next to those men.

 

It's hard because in the past they fought cans all the time and now they are protected as 'brands' much more.

I would say outside of Lomachenko and Dave Allen, it's easy for prospects now, and the reason is that most fighters are protected for at least a dozen fights, usually more. They basically just bash up people will little chance of winning and then get positioned for a big fight. Of course they are warriors and when they're bashing up shot names or journeymen, it's very dangerous for them.

If it sounds weird putting Lomachenko and Dave together, the concept is that they fought difficult opponents basically from the beginning, Loma because he was a star amateur starting pro's late and Dave because the promoters set him up as an opponent for big names to bash up even though he clearly had some ability that could have been 'developed' much more by putting him in with at least people closer to his level.

 

All these Big Macs and fast food, ask Andy Ruiz and Tyson Fury. Every generation has it harder than the previous one.

But seriously, social media is not part of a fighter's contract. They are free to turn off the screen. And in fact, social media has become more of an opportunity for people to gain easy access to fame and success without actually achieving anything noteworthy. The public is the real victim in that, I believe.

 

No. This is laughable. I would direct you here:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/the-curious-case-of-jersey-joe-walcott-and-his-prime.643117/

 

I wouldn't completely dismiss mental and social conditions out of hand, but that is more than offset by more divisions, no same-day weigh in and, fighting far more regularly back in the day.

Fighters in the modern game can more easily become a 'champ' in the modern 4-belt era than before, in the 70's and 60's fighters HAD to fight way more often, took much more physical damage etc, and many fighters (e.g. minorities) had to deal with even worse social issues.

 

Agree 100%

 

Papers were relentless back then, boxing was huge back then.

How did Louis deal with the fact that he was fighting Schmeling and Carnera (unfair representations of their nation's regimes) as a literal symbol of America. How did Patterson deal with being expected to beat the 'bad guy' Sonny Liston, the undeserving contender threatening the American way of life back in the days when he, as the champion, was invited to the White House and invited to hang out with Frank Sinatra (and conversly how did Liston deal with the abuse.) How did Frazier and Ali deal with representing the two fundamental political forces of their nation (with Frazier's children being harassed in school.) How did any black fighter deal with fighting in an era when they were lynched for being too close to a white woman or something along the line.

Boxing is meaningless as a sport compared to what it used to be, regardless of the talent pool.

 

**** that

Pro athletes should NOT be using social media prior to or directly after fights

Be focused, be a ****ing adult

 

I don’t understand your point, so boxing is harder today cause people get in their feelings over instagram content?

 

Lomachenko fans going out sad