What makes Philadelphia such...

Poor living conditions.

 

The legacy of great fighters from nearly all eras. Hell, the earliest great fighter I can think of from the top of my head is Midget Wolgast, one of the ATG flyweights, from 1920s/1930s.

These inspire the future fighters.

Also,philly has a rough nature around sparring etc. Only the best come out of that into bigger things. Ruins a lot of fighters though.

 

Any recent or current great fighters from Philly or has it all dried up?

 

Bernard Hopkins

 

It is not any more. It ended really in the mid 80s

 

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien was very good, probably some earlier ones.

 

Probably somewhere in Europe. They draw the best by far.

 

Philadelphia and Detroit were always two of the best fight cities there ever were.
Very distinct and varied styles taught. Great teachers. Just seems like the teachers died off without leaving enough solid apprentices and most of the great gyms closed down. Fraziers Champs Camp Jumpin Jupiter to name some from my hometown and then you got Kronk in Detroit.
Alot of big name gyms in Cali and Vegas now.
Eastern Europe is a fight factory now too. The UK is hotter than in ages too.

 

I agree. There was a time when Philly, Detroit, St Louis and Cincinnati were pumping out great fighters but it seems like boxing is growing more in Europe then in the states these days. Most American kids are moving towards MMA.

 

The Rocky movies helped a bit as did the USA Tuesday night fights broadcasting dozens of matches at the Blue Horizon.

The city of Philly is a bit of a dive. The old joke is where can one find a good neighbor in Philadelphia? The reply is New Jersey. While the fans are good, they have a bad repuation.

If there is a top 5 active Philly fighter, I don't know his name.

 

The decline in trainer quality is a big one. Alot of the best ones took their secrets to their graves. Meanwhile, trainer quality in other areas caught up (both domestically and globally).

For a long time, the major US cities like NY, Philly, and Detroit had a monopoly on the best trainers.

 

The gym wars were a big part of it. For about 15 years they had an uncommon# of good middleweights. Ego was involved but in a sense they may have cared more about being the king of their gym than for bragging rights. Losing sight of the big picture.