I'm not looking for film analysis here--we don't need to discuss which fighters look best on film. Nor am I talking about which era provided the most enjoyment for the fans. I'm looking for as much concrete evidence as you can muster that one era was better than the others. For instance, the fact that two fighters from the mid-to-late 70's (Foreman and Holmes) had successful comebacks in the 90's would support the idea that 1974-1980 was superior to the 90's. On the other hand, the fact that Ali was old, had Parkinson's, and was still champion (whereas he had been defeated earlier) would indicate that the late 70's were inferior to the early 70's. And so on. How many fighters won or lost fights against "the next generation"? (Cleveland Williams was KO'd by Satterfield, for instance...but Moore got destroyed by Patterson). How many fighters were more successful when they were "past it" than they were in their primes? Which era contained the largest talent pool in heavyweight history--and where is the proof that it did? Start your engines, gentlemen. It's time to decide this issue objectively.
