The 90s are a true golden HW era; HW 70s are nostalgia...

That's another reason it's pointless to discuss the 70s vs 90s: the two guys who are usually brought up as successes who crossed eras weren't being tested any better than the other 90s guys. It wasn't exactly a controlled experiment.

 

No, they weren't. But they could still do well in their 40's on a level playing field. The guys who actually peaked in the 90's less so, but perhaps they wore themselves out with all the gear they took in their primes.

 

Not really a golden era. You had great fighters but the only fight that you could say that 2 fighters at their best fought each other was the first Holyfield v Bowe fight

 

That's true. FOTC and The Rumble happened when the public demand and hype for them were at their peak, though.

Tyson-Holy did good numbers, but at least my feeling at the time was that it was 5 years late. Don't think I was alone in that.

Bowe-Holy, the prime for prime match-up, really became a phenom afterwards. It was seen as the best challenger he'd had, but I don't remember is as hyped as some super showdown beforehand. Lewis-Bowe was more anticipated I'd say.

 

By everything's that's holy, I hope you're not suggesting that Ali was the one who was at his best, not Foreman.

And this "dumbest fight" might be one of the if not dumbest at least most generic takes here. I mean, he could have stood back and jabbed with Ali and maybe made it to the final bell (but only maybe) and lost a lopsided decision, but then the line would be that he choked and didn't go for it.

No one who complains about how stupidly Foreman fought really gives a clear alternative to what he actually should have been doing.

He couldn't jabbed with Ali like Norton could, that much was clear, and he sure as hell couldn't bob and weave and come up with tight hooks from underneath like Frazier, so what exactly was the right gameplan for him?

 

today it is, then definitely not. After Lewis-Tucker there was no demand for Lennox fights.

 

When did I say the 70s was the golden era? I just said the 90s wasn’t

 

I actually think both the 70s and 90s are both a little overhyped.

 

One 70's fight that didn't really happen when it should was the Ali-Frazier rematch. That should have happened after Ali-Quarry 2, at least one year earlier than it did.

 

You know, in general, fighters seem to be staying viable longer, which seems to suggest the gear is still being used effectively to prolong their careers at the top.

Marciano was (and is) considered a guy who feasted on old men, and his famous opponents were 39, 33, 37, and 41. That's still an older group by today's standards, but not by much. It wouldn't look all that striking now.

 

If fight outcomes remained the same, Foreman ends up being a Jersey Joe Walcott figure, then. Never champ in the 70s. Finally gets lucky in his comeback, and gets the title against Moorer.

 

I fall asleep whenever I watch Foreman vs Lyle