Old Fighters versus New... Who was tougher?

No doubt everyday life was harder, say, 100 years ago, during the depression. But can we from this (and what you say above) deduce, that IN THE RING, the oldtimers were, on average, tougher and fought harder than today?

 

Love Dan Carlin. Thing is, though, FIGHTERS of any era are always tough. Comes with the job. Watch Fury-Wilder 3 and tell me that both men aren't tough as nails and willing to continue a match until they're physically incapable of fighting. Anyone think that if Wilder had broken Fury's jaw during that match that Fury would have quit? Absolutely not.

 

Not necessarily. Evander Holyfield was about as tough as anyone I’ve ever seen.

 

Didn’t listen to podcast yet but I’ll say most fighters wouldn’t care how many fights a year or whom they fight. They’re warriors. Handlers n rule makers rightly restrict them

 

I am with you.

 

Those who think, that fighters were tougher and fought harder back during the depression years - what exactly do they base this belief on?

Yes, times were tougher for many people - but did this "spill over" into the ring, resulting in mostly brave gladiators willing to fight till they dropped? Or could it not be just as likely, that the many bouts between desperate journeymen resulted in a lot of "let's go easy on each other" fights?

With more than 99% of the fights unavailable for closer scrutiny (no footage) - we obviously can't answer such a question with any kind of certainty.