Modern Vs Old fighters.

I don’t know. I agree that modern nutrition standards and exercise regimens have improved as well as healing injuries faster. But I’ve also noticed that fighters started YOUNGER in decades past which is huge. They also fought more actively. Trained for longer fights. Didn’t have the tendency to use as many recreational drugs. I’m recent decades the heavyweight division in particular has had a lot more fat bodies than you ever saw prior to about 1980

 

All I know for sure is an overhand by Shavers might drop with few chances to get up any top fighters of today. The same a Wilder straight can drop with few chances to get up most of top boxers of the past .The rest are details . Normal a Hws trained for 15 rounds is more advantaged thanx a 12 rounds fighter to win by decision in these times.

 

Somehow Mikey Garcia was still able to make it to the top, even though for pretty much all of his career, all He was doing was road-work and boxing work in the gym. He wasn't even doing sit-ups. His diet was basic too.
There are other fighters like that. Golovkin had very old-school type training routine and no dietitian for most of his career.

I don't see why old fighters, who were born with certain special qualities, wouldn't translate well to today's era. Only difference is with today's weight-making methods, They would be competing 1-2 division below what They were competing in their time. Prime Kid Gavilan would probably be a lightweight for example, but his athlethicism would translate perfectly into any era while competing against people his own size.

Obviously in heavyweight it's a bit different too, there the size, with no upper limit, really does make a big difference.

 

We have the ‘modern vs old’ debate often on here.

I’ve personally been an avid fan of the sport for over 30 years, where I’m also knowledgeable of most of the greats of the past.

From what I’ve observed, there are/were both advantages and disadvantages to both eras.

Great fighters are great fighters, who could fight in any era.

Great fighters would have mixed results against great fighters from any era, simply depending upon how they matched up stylistically on the night.

Nobody should hold the opinion that the old greats were all better than the modern greats.

Likewise, nobody should hold the opinion that the modern greats are/were all better than the older greats.


Regarding your specific points, it’s really not as simple as you think.

You need to look at things more closely.


Yes, we now have nutritionists and sports science etc.

However, the food was of better quality in the past.


Living a luxurious lifestyle isn’t always an advantage to a fighter.

Yes, today’s guys have less fights, where they endure less of a physical toll on the body.

On the other hand, fighters of old were more hardened mentally, where they were always in shape.

Fighters living luxurious lifestyles can be less dedicated to their craft.

Whilst they may have more of a rest, they’re not as sharp as the guys of old, or as experienced in both the number of fights they’ve had, or the number of different styles that they’ve faced.


No, not all today’s guys are fitter.

Not at all.

They don’t all take advantage of what’s available to them.

They don’t fight as often.

Many of today’s guys would struggle to fight 15 round fights.

Many of them only fight a few times per year, where they ballon up in weight in between fights.

Many of the old guys used to walk around just a few pounds above their fight night weight.

In the amount of time that it takes for a modern fighter to be in camp, older fighters used to have 2-3 pro fights within that same period.

Whereas a lot of today’s guys have 3-6 months out of the ring, the older guys were constantly in the gym and in the ring fighting, where they lived the life all year round.


So today’s guys wouldn’t all be at a massive advantage.

Again, yes, they might be healthier.

However, again, the older guys would be more experienced.

Again, fights will always be decided upon skills and style.

As long as the older guys were fit to fight, none of them would be severely disadvantaged fighting a modern day guy.

Depending on the circumstances, it may even be the modern fighter who would be at more of a disadvantage.

 

I think Wilder's right hand doesn't do much more than p*ss off prime Foreman, and he telegraphs it so horribly that prime Tyson and Holyfield would never be touched by it, Frazier would be too deep inside for Wilder to be able to get it off, and if he does somehow land it as Frazier is coming in it more than likely doesn't stop Frazier

by and large modern guys have terrible technique, overpaid performances brought to fruition by overpaid mediocre trainers, no one really goes to war anymore, at least Ruiz and Ortiz traded some decent shots, Usyk and AJ looked scared to hit each other, modern stare downs are weak too

 

If Ron Lyle could have Foreman stumbling around like the local drunk from one shot and Manual Ramos could stagger Joe Frazier then Wilder could definitely hurt both of them, not saying he would win but he could definitely hurt them.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson given access to modern strength and conditioning methods (including PEDs) would be better than the actual Sugar Ray Robinson.

The rest is complicated speculation.

 

Humans have gotten bigger over time in general, look at modern sprinters compared to the past, yeah sure drugs have helped but no one is putting prime Jesse Owens against Usain Bolt, also athletes have gotten better overall, hell look at how gymnastics has evolved. Of course there's freak athletes from every era that could fit in any era but overall athletes now are much better.

 

who has Wilder, as Atlas says, knocked out KNOCKED OUT, and not just "knocked out", Ortiz wasn't legitimately knocked out, he was gassed and got caught and didn't make the count, who has Wilder left limp and lifeless dangling on the ropes like Marciano did to Walcott, I was reading about a match a few weeks ago I think it was someone Louis knocked out, they didn't rise up off the canvas for 5 minutes, old man Ortiz sat up pretty quick

 

Usain Bolt’s fastest times wouldn’t have been possible in Owen’s shoes, on Owen’s surface, coming out of Owen’s blocks.

Whereas Owen would have recorded a significantly faster time had he have ran under today’s conditions.

We have to remind ourselves that the sprints are times in milliseconds.

In a sport like that, every tiny thing makes a huge difference.

However, yes, the sprinters have gotten faster.

Yet they rely more on strength and power, whereas Boxing is a more skilled sport.


The fighters don’t keep getting better.

The best fighters today are no better than they were 20-30 years ago.

There has been no progression in the sport for a long time now.


Regarding athletics in general, I read something interesting recently, which stated that there’s still a number of old athletic records from years ago which are still yet to be broken.

 

If they had to, I see no reason why modern boxers wouldn't be able to adjust to 15 round fights - just like the oldtimers could.

 

Not too many features to consider I guess but what boxing apparatus, if at all, has improved to enhance performance somewhat and in what way? Possible considerations: shoes, gloves, hand wraps, better real time corner/medical treatment, better ring surfaces, more indoor temp. controlled events perhaps vs outdoor, subject to the elements fights, etc?

 

I think the increasing knowledge of CTE might be a big obstacle to some fighters, the human brain could evolve to the point where wars like The Thrilla and Bowe Holyfield are impossible to have

 

Fighters are healthier today because they don't do what fighters did in the past...... That's fight!!!! At least not as much.
Boxing is the ultimate sport of repetition. The more one practices the better one becomes.
Boxers in the past "practiced " until it was "Instinctive ".
That's the key difference, fighters from the past did not "think" about what to do, they reacted Instinctively to any offensive of defensive opportunities.
Fighters in the past could tell just from a slight bend in a knee, muscle tightening in the shoulders or chest area's exactly where a punch would more than likely come from.
I have a question for any poster, why don't we see the pure artistry of a Benitez, Whitaker, Pep, Sanchez in today's game?
The aggression but defensive wizardry of Roberto Duran or Robinson or Leonard?
The relentless aggression but when watched closely , the science behind Hank Armstrong, Joe Frazier, or Aaron Pryor today?
The answers are simple fighters don't put in the time to develop the attributes of past fighters.
Fighting once or twice a year is great for the safety of boxers. Less wear and tear on the body.
Especially when compared to a fighter that is fighting 6-7 times a year, and the training and sparring in between to keep sharp.
But the fighter fighting 1-2 times a year will never get to the point of skill where it's as Instinctive as a fighter that's far more active. Just won't happen.
A great example of the overratedness of "modern " training, diets , pharmaceuticals are a few fights to watch.
And compare them to any modern fights.
Watch Frazier uncork that left hook in the 15th rd of the fight of the century. Look at the technique speed and power of that one punch in the 15th rd of that fight, you think Anthony Joshua, Fury, Wilder or Usyk could do that, when they are clearly showing their tired as early as 5-6 rds?
Watch how quickly Ali bounced up after his ass hit the canvas in that 15thrd from that hook.
Have anyone seen any boxer today they think could do that?
Boxers today are much healthier, and make a heck of a lot more money than fighters in the past.
But they will NEVER achieve past fighters skill level, or physicality, at least not in physical fitness directly related to boxing.
In other words I'm sure Anthony Joshua could bench press more than Ali....... But he'd never beat him in a boxing ring prime vs prime.