Older generation boxers tougher than today's?

A sissy like SRR couldn't last 13 rounds vs feather-fisted Joey Maxim. Andy Bowen had had two bouts of 84 and 110 rounds duration in less than two months. Dal Hawkins and Fred Bogan fought 73 rounds straight, then returned to the ring in less than 24 hours to fight another 17 rounds.

 

Most modern fighters don't fight enough to ever reach their full potential, but also most guys don't have the discipline with their diets. Jimmy Carter, who was a good friend of my Grandfather's, who also fought in the 50's used to talk about how hard it was and how long it took to get a title shot back in the 50's compared to the early 90's, since he had almost 70 fights before getting a title shot. It also doesn't help that the heavyweight division with the addition of the cruiserweight division made the heavyweight division smaller than it was in the past, which also hurts competition.

Quotes from Bill Goodman & Carlos Ortiz
Bill Goodman
" Years ago you had 50 to 70 fights before you fought for a title. You knew how to handle all situations-or you should have known. You had to handle opponents who were awkward, fast, slow, sluggers, boxers, clever guys and southpaws. You had experience with those types of styles.

Jeff Lacy looked like a good prospect, which he was. But as soon as he got in there with a guy who was a little cute, he fell apart"

Carlos Ortiz
" You can fight a guy with 16 or 18 fights for a title. You never heard of that in my time. You had to have 40, 50, 60 fights before you fought for a title. There are not enough shows, fighters or competition. It's a tough situation."
https://imgur.com/du7Pq3e

Here is a Freddie Roach Quote
"Styles make fights. Everybody has a style they'd like to fight. Against a certain style I might do exceptionally well. But there is another style I might not do well against. The old timers had the advantage of having many more opportunities to practice fighting guys that presented a difficult style. They were also able to stay sharp by fighting so often. How can you be sharp fighting so infrequently? Manny Pacquiao fought last year only twice. You fight two fights all year and what are you doing the rest of the time? A lot of fighters are not in the gym every day because it's hard to train if you don't have a fight scheduled. If you only fight twice a year and you train year round you're going to be burnt out. But years ago you could stay busy when you had all these club shows going, and you didn't have TV. You weren't making a lot of money either, but you were learning your trade and getting better with your skills."
https://imgur.com/8q0UVGy

Here is an Emmanuel Steward Quote
"Only a tiny percentage of today's contenders would have gotten past the better four and six round club fighters of the 1930s, '40's, and '50'. They would have been crushed by the competition."
https://imgur.com/33Zzbts

 

though I think this statement is a little too strong, I'd say the best today could find themselves certainly Journeymen and Fringe Contenders.

and we know this in two excellent examples - a Todays Great in RJJ vs Tarver - in the Past Roy would have met a Tarver a lot sooner!

and of course, the Indestructible, so many thought AJ, who really just didn't want it, well in the Past a few didn't want it encounters would have retired him or sent him right down the Fight Card to just another fighter on the bill

 

Yes the above is all true...... Probably the less durable guys were weeded out cause the competion was so tough....before the 30s you had to have a good chin, stanima,roll with punches etc as there were no mouthpieces

 

I recall a sporting writer from the 1930s or 1940 complaining that so-called "champions" prefer to fight a lot of overweight fights vs second-raters than defend their titles at the weight vs strong contenders.

 

I tend to think that men of desperate fortunes are tougher, and likely to go to greater lengths to win.

That doesn't cancel out the human element of course.

Evander Holyfield enjoyed much more privileged circumstances than Jack Sharkey, and he was still mentally tougher.

 

I see no reason to believe yesterday's fighters were tougher per se...…….what's tougher, anyway, what does that even mean? More skilled, better schooled? Absolutely, there's no question. But the will to win and persevere and sacrifice know no era. It is as prevalent as it ever was.

 

People had harder lives back in the day but there are tough people today and still plenty of tough hard people- I think getting past hard times makes a person stronger and generally speaking most kids are pampered these days and less neihborhoods where early lessons of mankind and human nature teach people to be tough.

Did anyone every try and steal your lunch money? Did a parent tell you to tell the teacher on them or put a whipping on them?

an guy older than me once told me that when he was a kid "boats were made of wood and men were made of steel but today boats are made of steel and men of wood"

I think the majority of people years ago did not need to ask what to do if someone tried to take something from them, today there are still plently of tough men but the % are getting lower

Kids are getting crazier though because all they do is kill people on the video games

 

Not the article I recall reading, but here's another one by Bob Edgren on the same subject from 1931.
http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers.../Buffalo NY Courier Express 1931 a - 1518.pdf

 

This.

 

Bowen pretty much fought until he was dead against Lavigne too, he must've been an increbibly tough man.

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...ed-1/seq-3/#words=lavigne+bowen+Lavigne+bowen

 

Easy.....REAL FOOD AND CLEAN FRESH WATER. All you need.

 

This!!! To many fighters are obsessed with staying undefeated as opposed to fighting the best and taking chances. It’s what took me away from the sport for a decade when Mayweather and PAC couldn’t get a deal in their primes. These HWs today are all running from each other (props to Wilder and Fury for growing some balls). I think many had fought to eat then thtz why they had to fight injuries or not. Boxing is a part time job now until you make it big.

 

Short answer: yes

Longer answer: unless you are from parts of the world that still live in conditions like the 1930's.