What's worse: nostalgia or anti-old timer bias?

Well gotta say this, no matter how good you are these days you "cant be compared" with SRR, Ali and the likes.
Pretty sad because boxing has developed just like any other sport.. put a baseball team from the 70s with todays baseball teams and we'll see what happens, its not like that in boxing but there sure has been some improvements.

 

I´ve become anti old time only after reading the drivel from old-time nthuggers in classic forum.

Some people there claim Marciano would have a chance against bigger heavyweight like Lennox Lewis.

 

Ignorant posts are worse, I don't mind any well reasoned post for old timers or the modern era.

Balanced intelligent posting rules

 

both are wrong.

there was great fighters back then as there are today. but not every fighter who you see in black and white is a great fighter.

anyway, most of this has to do with lack of fight footage on old timers. you have to depend on written reports.........and they are not always accurate.

 

Selective memory, the probable reason behind old timer bias (a trait most of us are guilty of because of the filtering out of negative memories or ones that conflict with our views on life) is worse than labelling modern fighters as superior because when people lean towards modern fighters it is because the scientific improvements that are blatantly evident in other sports will, of course, exhist in boxing. Since boxing relies so heavily on athleticism it would be understandable why someone would favour modern fighters due to this, hence ignoring the ever so vital skill factor depended on in the sport.

 

Anti-old-timer bias is much, much worse. Most people with "nostalgia" are that way because they have a great deal of knowledge about old time fighters. Fact is, the average classic forum poster is more knowledgeable not just about old-timers, but about modern fighters as well.

 

I chose anti-present day. Some people make fighters of the past out to be some type of enigma. The same ones who say Joe Louis would be able to knock out Holyfield, Tyson, Lewis, Bowe, Foreman, etc without any problems whatsoever.

Or that fighters of today wouldn't be able to even touch Jack Johnson. Don't get me wrong, Johnson was great for his day, but even in the HW division as it is today, many fighters would crush 'em.

 

Weight classes make boxing so different than other sports though.

 

Not being able to compare to Ali or SRR has nothing to do with Nostalgia. In the same case, fighters of the 20's, 30's cant compare with SRR or Ali yet their older than them. Its simply a case of noone from that era before or after has been better. If you look at SRR, its really bloody dificult to compare anyone to him in terms of resume without sounding like a biased ignorant fool.

 

I agree with you except i dont think that fighters today are technically better than the fighters of yesteryear, i say that because of the fact that the boxers/ athletes of today are more athletic and i would argue stronger then, so they can depend more on their physicality than boxers back in day that had to learn the right way of doing things because they werent as strong as the fighters of today. This can be said because of better nutrition, medical advances, training regimines, etc...

 

Its funny how Pernell Whitaker is now seen as an "exciting fighter" . . . the dude was as boring as Spinks is today . . . but the Nostalgia gets in the way.

 

i hate both. i'm a big student of history and hate disrespect for the past, but i really really dispise the "no-one can ever be as good" angle as well. i totally agree with the above about past vs present athletcs. jeez you don't have to go back to the 50s celtics. I doubt MJordar would be anywhere near as dominant today. The NBA is filled with guys as or more athletic than him. I'm sure he'd still be a star...but not like what he was....that is just how it always is- John Mcenroe's skinny ass vs. Nadal c'mon...but i still love and respect THE MAC

 

nostalgia is tops,though it was much better when i was a boy.