Jack Dempsey on Boxing from 1950

Nothing changes.

 

I think in simple terms it can translate that as the sheer number of fighters grew (mid 30s - late 50s), you would certainly see a lot of Club fighters.

But the Top were Great fighters too, and as we know they became the GREATEST in history, numbers also meant tougher competition and longer & harder roads to the TOP.

likewise the decline of the sport also brought lesser numbers of fighters, poorer competition and even some of our Top fighters are not much to shout about, some are though, obviously.

 

I think it was pretty much taken for granted in the 1950s that boxing in America had declined since the pre-ww2 days.

Lots of small venues had closed down, TV was making a huge impact in eliminating these small clubs and killing their chances of survival ... and America had become a more prosperous nation !
There were less professional fighters than in the pre-war days.
It was a much noted phenomenon, not just Dempsey or a few old-timers saying "fighters were better back when".

 

it was the mid to late 50s when this happened, and thats what I said in my post, and I agree with your understanding of that too.

 

ESB in the 50's would've been no different from ESB now, in terms of what they'd think about "today's" fighters. Only difference is we'd all wear hats.

 

The two heavyweight contenders from that period that Dempsey picked to be world beaters were Rex Layne and Bob Baker.

He was almost right, but he was clearly not giving suficient credit to the cuties.

 

Perhaps, but Dempsey wasn't looking at them as the next Firpo.

He was looking at them as the nearest thing that could be found to himself.

 

It was starting to happen in the early 50s, esp. the ominous signs of TV's impact on the small clubs, in America anyway.
Many (not all) of the great fighters of the 1950s were guys who had been fighting before 1942 (Moore, Robinson, Pep, Walcott, Charles etc.)

 

True.

It's the old "Back in my day...blah, blah, blah, blah"

Everything becomes greater the older you get too.

It's great we have Film/Youtube

 

Foreman Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook!:hat

 

Boxing, as a whole, was thought to be in decline in the post-war years.
The impact of television was being felt by 1950. Too few fighters coming through, a small number of veteran stars keeping the game alive (primarily Ray Robinson)
This is reported and commented on ad naseum in the press at the time.
In America anyway.