Prime Tom Sharkey vs Prime Mike Tyson

Don't think Sharkey ever went more than 25 rds,neither did Jeffries.

 

I was talking about this era in general, not about particular fighters. Anyway, most of Jeffries fights were scheduled for 20 or more rounds (including Johnson fight being a 45 rounder). Sharkey also had his share of 20-25 rounders. They ended fights quicker, but that doesn't mean that they didn't train for 20 rounders.

20 or 25 rounds is still a lot more than 15 rounds, let alone 12 rounds. We know that the difference between 12 and 15 rounds is huge, now imagine the difference between 12 and 25 rounds. You have to be as fresh as at the beginning in 12th round.

 

Well you'd be fighting at a slower pace,but there was nothing wrong with the stamina and conditioning of the old guys and nothing to suggest modern fighters could not do the same if trained accordingly.

 

The difference between 12 and 15 rounds isn't huge. The only difference is, that you pace youself slightly different towards the end, over the longer distance. You don't go all out, using up your last reserves of energy, in the 11th and 12 rounds - but wait until the 14th or 15th to go for broke.

 

Of course, if trained accordingly. That's the whole point of this discussion.

 

There is a clear difference between these two distances and even fighters said so.

 

There's a difference of 25% - nothing more, nothing less.

Are you going to argue, that this difference would be hard for today's boxers to negotiate - if they had to?

 

But it's not just 25%. It's 25% after twelve rounds. Most fighters are tired after the average twelve rounder, and rightly so. Imagine if they have to go an extra three rounds, whilst already tired. Then factor in guys like Canelo/Joshua with known stamina issues.

The best of the best, with the exceptions being the two I mentioned above, could go 15 no problems, but the average champion? The guy who wouldn't even be champion in the one-belt era? Nah, noway. It'd definitely effect them.

 

But if boxers knew, they had another 3 rounds to go - they wouldn't be as tired as they would typically be after 12 rounds, if that was the final round. All a matter of pacing yourself right.

 

Without proper training, yes I do think they'd struggle. Not all of them, but some would.

You act like fighters are fresh after 10 round and then they go 110% in last two rounds. At heavyweight, most fighters now are tired after 7-8 rounds. It's not a matter of pacing himself for last two rounds.

Now imagine fighting for 20 rounds. Then imagine fighting for 45 rounds, or finish fights. It's much different competition.

 

When have I said, today's boxers are fresh after 10 rounds? I never said that... I'm arguing, that boxers would pace themselves slightly different in a 12-rounder, than in a 15-rounder. What is your problem with that? You don't think, that's a reasonable opinion?

If every organization suddenly announced, that in the future all title fights would be contested over 15 rounds - how would a champion's training change to last those additional 3 rounds?

 

They would, but don't you think that they would work more on their stamina? A lot of HWs are overweighed now, even a few rounds more could be devastating for them.

They would use more time for conditioning, that's obvious.

 

Can we please forget the fat heavyweights, and talk about boxers in general.

So you think boxers today go into championship fights, in less than their best possible condition? Why would they chose to do that?

 

Of course some of them do!

 

True, but it also depends upon a couple other things.
Like in Ye Olden Daaaze when rounds ended if anyone was even thrown to the ground, they were often way under 3 minutes a piece.
And even after that ended, if the pace was slow to be able to handle many rounds, then this is less taxing than fewer rounds at a high workrate. Like a fast hald hour jog or intense weightlifting may be harder than an hour or somewhat more at a much more relaxed pace.

Still, they often had better endurance then.