To be brief as i can, as great as some of the old timers were, in my opinion they were often (to be kind) crude. Poor footwork, wide, looping (and sometimes telegraphed) punches, little head movement, ect. I remember for example, hearing all the talk about Stanley Ketchel and when i finally saw the tape of him, i was shocked! The old timers talked about him like he was the second coming of jesus, but from what i could see his technique as best, was "rough" and personally, did not impress me at all. Robinson on the other hand was a completely different animal. He was fluid, he was graceful in the ring, most of his technique was textbook, he could fight off the back or front foot, had good head movement, great speed and excellent power. He was the first I saw of that era (apologies to Willie Pep and co) that looked like a refined fighter, in the type of mould that guys like sugar ray leonard, pernel whitaker would follow in. I wouldn't say he changed the sport as such, but in my opinion layed the blueprint that other elite fighters would seek to follow. Technically, he was on another level (and really, still is to a degree) Just my opinion on the man at any rate Sage
You get complete fighters that could & did throw every punch in the book perfect such as Joe Louis & Alexis Arguello..... You get unique fighters that are also technically brilliant but have their own`unique`way of doing things such as Muhammad Ali & Pernell Whitaker..... Then you get Ray Robinson... the most perfect/unique/complete fighter in boxings long history.
Willie pep for me - in the same era but pep was technically boxing fist as a pro. his defence is better than anything seen since.
No one has been able to make people miss the way Pernell Whitaker could, as I see it. Past or present.
SRR was great, but his fighting technique does not set him apart as an example of a modern fighter I think, really, a modern fighter could not exist then, there were more rounds in championship bouts, lighter gloves, slightly different rules, boxing is constantly evolving, and yet you get fighters who are referred to as "throwbacks" and this is always used as a compliment to the fighter, to suggest that they understand the art of boxing in a deeper and more sophisticated manner than "modern" fighters I think it's a mistake for any era to assume that they know better than past era's, in anything, not just boxing,
