Vitali and Wlad are always loved up 'cause of their poking and back muscles. Now Pacquiao is a lovely little battler, but let's face it; Chavez, Whitaker would spank him, and Mayweather is going to spank him when they fight in about half a years time. I'm trying not to make this mindless squabble - look at Calzaghe. So many claim him to be the best british fighter ever...better than Jimmy Wilde? I think not! Now say loads of angry things.
i think most are under hyped compared to the older generations! it seems every fighter from the past eras would whip ours!
The modern era is been done disservice. Once a fighter losses he is immediately deemed as being over rated or not that good. The current era has as many capable fighters as any other era in history. Under rated in my opinion.
not enough if you ask me. thats one of the reason's the sport is in the state its in, the poor marketing. fighter don't get enough hype, publicity and coverage and "promoters" hardly promot anymore. I wish the modern day fighters WERE being hyped and promoted, greats from other eras wouldn't be as famous, known or publicized in todays climate
Some interesting stuff people. I will concede that there are those who blindly swear on the older generation and modern fighters are also often cruelly teared down once they slip. Two things; fight more often and have only 1 belt. 15 rounds would not be bad either.
On the contrary, I'd have to say that the opposite is true. Reminiscence and rose-colored glasses seem to dominate when it comes to boxing. Generally speaking the longer a man is retired, the better his career becomes. Faults, flaws and shortfalls are glossed over and strengths are highlighted. Do we remember Pancho Villa's 0-2 record against gold medalist Frankie Genaro, or do we remember him for his years of domination in the Flyweight division? Do we remember Ad Wolgast for his many losses against mediocre opposition between defenses of his lightweight title? What about Sandy Saddler? Do we deride him for dropping three straight to relative nobodies after stopping Willie Pep? Without doubt these were memorable boxers worthy of their place in history, but we have to remember that they were also just men. We don't get to see them in the exacting detail that we do our current-day champions, where mass media coverage highlights both flaw and strength alike. I wouldn't say that modern-day boxers are over-rated compared to those in the past at all. There's a pervasive mentality that I've seen many times on ESB that the boxers of past generations were meaner, tougher, stronger, and better than any you'll find today. Fighters quit back then just like they do now - look at the aforementioned Saddler fight where Pep quit because of blood in his eye. How is that different from Campbell quitting from a headbutt from Bradley or Klitschko quitting from a torn rotator cuff? The incomparable Sugar Ray Robinson quit on his stool against Joey Maxim because of the heat even though he was dominating on every card. Sam Langford quit against Fulton. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that everyone rates modern boxers far below those of the past. I just think that as time passes, the positive becomes highlighted much more than the negative. I'm not saying any of the above boxers were not great - they were. We must remember, however, that human frailties did not suddenly materialize sometime between 1950 and today.
I think you make an excellent point. Pacquiao has picked his way up the weights like a true pro and hes done a great job, but if you put him in the ring with guys like Whittaker, Chavez, Mayweather, Tszyu and even perceived 2nd stringers in the 140 division like Vince Phillips then he struggles to dominate like he has done. I cannot see him beating a 'live' 140 fighter with his style. A guy who gets totally out-fought against Morales and totally out-boxed against Marquez (for me, that first fight is a clear Marquez win, the 2nd i do have Pacquiao edging), isnt a guy who i could go strong with at 140. Diaz was tailor made for Pac, Oscar drained to 147 when his body wasnt capable and Hatton was all over the place, im not diminishing Pac's ability but this Cotto fight is going to be interesting. I wouldnt give Pac a prayer against Margarito or Mosley at 147 but the jury is out on Cotto. Modern day hype in boxing started in the 80s with Ray Leonard, and got intensified with Mike Tyson and then Oscar De La Hoya . I disagree that the Klitchshko's are hype, i'd struggle to name anybody in the boxing world that acknowledges these guys as true heavyweight champs. They are belt holders in the worst heavyweight division of all time. Lennox Lewis the last truly great Heavyweight beat Vitali on 10 days notice. Lewis is so under-rated at this time but as ever history will propel him to greatness .
As for having rose colored glasses on regarding previous era fighters, that is a strange comment .... How can you compare the men that went 15 rounds, 9 or 10 times a year to fighters nowadays that fight twice a year against handpicked opponents over 12 rounds . Its a no-brainer the old fighters were so superior in every way to modern day over-hyped fighters. There are exceptions, Whitaker, Chavez, Arguello, Duran, Oscar, Hopkins, Mayweather would have graced any era. But i remember the hype and the bull**** that Vargas got and he was a total bum, that was marketing at its best ..
promoted and publicized, no not as much as the fighters of yesterday. overrated, yes, for the most part.today it seems they want to fight less and get paid more for doing less. what's the point of having all that talent if your not going to fight the best? that's why mayweather will never be Ali, or Leonard, and much less even in Robinson's league. when that same skill is used on another elite fighter, say he does to cotto what he did to hatton, then he truly does back up his words. i think some fighters like him get overhyped so bad it backfires on them and people just get tired of the bull**** and look to the next great fighter that will deliver. Ali, Leonard, Robinson, and even today's Sugar have delivered more to boxing fans than floyd has. There are afew like Hopkins and Jose Luis Castillo that deservingly needed to be hyped because they were beating other great fighters they were supposed to lose against and imo got overlooked, especially when Hopkins beat Pavlik and Castillo beat Floyd. Those were big moments in boxing, and those guys especially never received the hype they deserved. i think the ones that need to be hyped aren't and the cherry pickers like calzaghe and floyd are
You havent made any kind of argument to suggest that modern day fighters arent over-hyped marketing tools yet .. The older fighters acheivements speak for themselves, try making the argument that Pacquiao, boxings number 1 pfp fighter belongs in the ring at 140 or 147 with some of the true greats at these weights in history .. Surely you cant make a case, he would be dealt with the same way as Calzaghe would be dealt with by Monzon or Foster .. Modern day fighters are given the leverage to pick and choose, boxing in the old days you had to struggle to reach the top .. There's no denying that, surely .. No easy rides back then my friend ..
Your making a totally different point. Before PPV boxing was on TV channels that everybody could watch, therefore everybody knew about fighters and everybody was a fan of boxing. Boxing changed in the 80s because of Leonard, Tyson and then later De La Hoya. This has nothing to do with the debate of who is better modern day or yesteryear (that debate is quite ridiculous when you consider the talent of yesteryear, when Football, baseball and basketball really wasnt an option for many black Americans) When Media changed in America, Boxing changed in America, and Leonard and Tyson were at the forefront in that. Boxing became about creating 'good guys' and 'bad guys', it took on a kind of WWF aspect that had never been there before (Ali excused), and with 4 belts and every fighter handpicking opponents, boxing changed irretreivably .... Modern Day fighters could not go 15 rounds because they wouldnt have the stomach for a real fight, Boxing today is all about 'scoring more points' than your opponent, thats the real difference ..
Sorry, i clicked on your post Elchivito and i was meant to click on someone elses to make my previous point .. You and I agree
