State of the Game...2011 v 1986

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011.


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  1. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I dug out a corresponding Ring magazine from 25 years ago. Thought it might be interesting to go through the rankings and measure up the "health" of the divisions from 1986 against 2011. Might be able to create a bit of debate...

    HEAVYWEIGHT:

    1986

    CHAMPION: Michael Spinks
    1. Pinklon Thomas
    2. Larry Holmes
    3. Tim Witherspoon
    4. Tony Tubbs
    5. Greg Page
    6. Gerrie Coetzee
    7. Trevor Berbick
    8. Carl Williams
    9. Mike Weaver
    10. Michael Dokes

    2011

    Champion: Wladimir Klitschko

    1. Vitali Klitschko
    2. David Haye
    3. Alexander Povetkin
    4. Tomasz Adamek
    5. Ruslan Chagaev
    6. Eddie Chambers
    7. Alexander Dimitrenko
    8. Denis Boytsov
    9. Robert Helenius
    10. Chris Arreola.

    EDGE: 1986... by some distance.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #1
  2. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Cruiserweight:

    1986

    World Champion: Bernard Benton
    1. Dwight Muhammad Qawi
    2. Alfonzo Ratliff
    3. Carlos De Leon
    4. Eddie Mustapha Muhammad
    5. Piet Crous
    6. Osvaldo Ocasio
    7. Lee Roy Murphy
    8. Evander Holyfield
    9. John Odhiambo
    10. Bash Ali

    2011

    Champ: Vacant
    1. Steve Cunningham
    2. Marco Huck
    3. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
    4. Denis Lebedev
    5. Troy Ross
    6. Danny Green
    7. Giacobbe Fragomeni
    8. Ola Afolabi
    9. Guillermo Jones
    10. Yoan Pablo Hernandez

    Edge: Even. Some decent boxers on both lists, made up with some that indicates a lack of depth in the division.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #2
  3. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Light Heavyweight

    1986:

    Champ: Vacant
    1. Marvin Johnson
    2. JB Williamson
    3. Slobadan Kacar
    4. Willie Edwards
    5. Eddie Davis
    6. Prince Mamah Mohammad
    7. Jean-Marie Emebe
    8. Bobby Czyz
    9. Leslie Stewart
    10. Jim MacDonald

    2011:

    Champion: Jean Pascal
    1. Bernard Hopkins
    2. Tavoris Cloud
    3. Chad Dawson
    4. Glen Johnson
    5. Nathan Cleverly
    6. Adrian Diaconu
    7. Karo Murat
    8. Beibut Shumenov
    9. Gabriel Campillo
    10. Isaac Chilemba

    Edge: 2011. A pretty damn solid top 5 IMO.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #3
  4. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    No Super Middleweight's listed.

    Middleweight

    1986

    Champion: Marvin Hagler
    1. John Mugabi
    2. James Shuler
    3. James Kinchen
    4. Don Lee
    5. Herol Graham
    6. Robbie Sims
    7. Doug DeWitt
    8. Wilfred Benitez
    9. Tony Sibson
    10. Chong-Pal Park

    2011

    Champion: Sergio Martinez
    1. Felix Sturm
    2. Sebastian Sylvester
    3. Paul Williams
    4. Daniel Geale
    5. Matthew Macklin
    6. Sebastian Zbik
    7. Dmitry Pirog
    8. David Lopez
    9. Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam
    10. David Lemeaux

    Edge: 1986. Closer than I thought this would be, to be honest. Names like Hagler (obviously) Mugabi, Jimmy Schuler, Herol Graham just get the nod over today's 160lbers.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #4
  5. TCboxa

    TCboxa Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Heavyweight division imo is the big obvise one, even without looking at the ratings from past to present you can tell just by whats on PPV heavyweight fight wise that the ranks have turned to sht, its boring and not competitive but then again if we look at the Tyson era it wasnt that competitive for Tyson, he was bowling them over one by one however it was a much more exciting time for boxing fans in that division as apposed to what it is now. Quite bizar when you have a good think about it.
     
    TCboxa, Apr 10, 2011
    TCboxa, Apr 10, 2011
    #5
  6. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Junior Middleweight

    1986

    Champion: Thomas Hearns
    1. John Mugabi
    2. Mike McCallum
    3. Carlos Santos
    4. Davey Moore
    5. Mark Medal
    6. Buster Drayton
    7. Julian Jackson
    8. Donald Curry
    9. David Braxton
    10. Matty Hilton

    2011

    Champion: Vacant
    1. Miguel Cotto
    2. Kermit Cintron
    3. Alfredo Angulo
    4. Ryan Rhodes
    5. Sechew Powell
    6. Vanes Martirosyan
    7. Pawel Wolak
    8. Sergei Dzinziruk
    9. Saul Alvarez
    10. Cornelius Bundrage

    Edge: 1986. The division was stacked with names back then. Today's version isn't too shabby either, especially if Paul Williams comes back down in weight, as is expected.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #6
  7. COULDHAVEBEEN

    COULDHAVEBEEN Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    The biggest difference between 1986 and 2011 is what follows AFTER the top 10's Ippy.

    In 1986 a top 10 fighter could get a good fight against a fighter outside the top 10.

    That scenario is far less likely these days.
     
    COULDHAVEBEEN, Apr 10, 2011
    COULDHAVEBEEN, Apr 10, 2011
    #7
  8. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Welterweight

    1986

    Champion: Donald Curry
    1. Milton McCrory
    2. Tommy Ayers
    3. Maurice Blocker
    4. Marlon Starling
    5. Simon Brown
    6. Lloyd Honeyghan
    7. Colin Jones
    8. Johnny Bumphus
    9. Horace Shufford
    10. Manning Galloway

    2011

    Champion: Vacant
    1. Manny Pacquiao
    2. Floyd Mayweather
    3. Andre Berto
    4. Shane Mosley
    5. Jan Zavek
    6. Josh Clottey
    7. Vyacheslav Senchenko
    8. Rafal Jackiewicz
    9. Tim Bradley
    10. Mike Jones

    Edge: 2011. Thanks to having the two best pound for pound boxers in the sport, in the same division. 1986 had some incredible boxers as well. Very, very close one IMO.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #8
  9. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Junior Welterweight

    1986

    Champ: Vacant
    1. Lonnie Smith
    2. Ubaldo Sacco
    3. Bill Costello
    4. Ronnie Shields
    5. Aaron Pryor
    6. Patrizio Oliva
    7. Gene Hatcher
    8. Rene Arredondo
    9. Terry Marsh
    10. Rodolfo Gonzalez

    2011

    Champ: Vacant
    1. Tim Bradley
    2. Amir Khan
    3. Marcos Maidana
    4. Devon Alexander
    5. Andreas Kotelnik
    6. Juan Urango
    7. Zab Judah
    8. Lamont Peterson
    9. Victor Ortiz
    10. Paul McCloskey

    Edge: 2011 and by a long way. Definitely one of the best, if not the best, divisions in the sport today.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #9
  10. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Yes and no mate, IMO. They have a top 20 ranked in this mag for each division. Some have top names, others are filled with less quality.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #10
  11. Francis75

    Francis75 FAB 4 Full Member

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    Ippy do you have the P4P list from that time ?
     
    Francis75, Apr 10, 2011
    Francis75, Apr 10, 2011
    #11
  12. COULDHAVEBEEN

    COULDHAVEBEEN Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Comparing fighters ranked 11 to 20 in each division - don't those from 1986 look generally better than 2011 - I'd be surprised if they didn't.
     
    COULDHAVEBEEN, Apr 10, 2011
    COULDHAVEBEEN, Apr 10, 2011
    #12
  13. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Lightweight

    1986

    Champion: Vacant
    1. Livingstone Bramble
    2. Hector Camacho
    3. Jimmy Paul
    4. Tyrone Crawley
    5. Jose Luis Ramirez
    6. Edwin Rosario
    7. Darryl Tyson
    8. Cornelius Boza-Edwards
    9. Terrence Alli
    10. Sammy Fuentes

    2011

    Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez

    1. Brandon Rios
    2. Humberto Soto
    3. Mick Katsidis
    4. John Murray
    5. Miguel Acosta
    6. Paulus Moses
    7. Urbano Antillon
    8. Miguel Vasquez
    9. Robert Guerrero
    10. Antonio DeMarco

    Edge: 2011. For the depth. Some great fighters from 86, but I think as a top ten, the advantage lies with today.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #13
  14. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Unfortunately mate, they don't list P4P rankings.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #14
  15. ipswich express

    ipswich express Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Well you get to look at 1986 with greater hindsight too, as many 11-20 haven't established themselves and some go on to great things. Obviously you could say the same about some in today's top 10 list, but IMO if you're top ten, you're pretty much established. Some divisions have plenty of decent names 11-20, some not so much.
     
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    ipswich express, Apr 10, 2011
    #15
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