Why has boxing regressed when every other sport in the world has advanced?

I'm not convinced about weight cutting either. We'll need a geese ages to see but I have a theory it can ruin your longevity. And there are very few fighters that fight at their 'natural weight' (I.e peak shape on a consistent basis)

Nonito Donaire might smash a lot of bantamweight greats, but would he smash the greats of feather and super feather? That's a different question entirely.

 

I think you have just answered the question. Boxers are smarter, they know not to take the risks their peers from previous generations took. Today fighters are not prepared to fight even every month, let alone every fortnight.

They are not prepared to fight a fight they could lose, for no extra financial reward. Because of this they do not learn the lessons, adjustments and skills that all fighters gain from close fights as often as the previous generations have.

Today, no referee (rightly) would not let a fighter fight with a hole in his nose. Today a fight does not enter a 13th round, let alone a 25th.

Fighters today have better training facilities and nutrition. But the big difference is they are smart enough not to involve themselves in 15 round fights, every other month. They are smart enough to have 30 fights in a career, not in a year. They would be smart enough not to step in the ring with Armstrong, Greb, Robinson et al, for less than a $1,000; previous generations were not...

 

George Foreman and Larry Holmes disagree. Fighters might have been bigger,stronger & faster in the 90's but they were not better
Not one fighter from the 90's could even put Foreman or Holmes down
Yet three different fighters from the 70's were able to put Foreman (Ali,Lyle,Young) and Holmes (Shavers,Weaver & Snipes) on their ass.

 

Todays athletes are definitely bigger,faster, and stronger than athletes in the past. For example an offensive lineman in football today can weigh over 300 lbs where 40 years ago they might only weigh 225 lbs.
Boxing is the only sport where bigger, faster, stronger does not translate into better. And that is for the simple fact that boxing has weight classes. A lightweight weighed 135 lbs in 1940 and still weighs 135 in 2012. For this reason bigger ,faster, and stronger does not apply.

 

because trainers aren't as good now. that's why you fuking ******. visit a gym.

 

Dribbling, quicker pace....I'm not a Messi fan but he's better

Do your reckon Andre Santos and Wellington Santos will make it at Arsenal?

 

Except now a lightweight could well weigh 150 and will not retain the speed of lightweights from yesteryear (I.e Brandon Rios) and that applies to all divisions.

Really, welter is middle for the most part nowadays, Bantamweight is featherweight....it's all bollocks, but essentially weight cutting takes more training time nowadays. So skills are regressing. Now 24 hour weigh in's are fully ingrained in combat sports weight cutting is far more encouraging a prospect. Essentially, making size one of your main facets rather than skill. That should only be the case at heavyweight (obviously you get a physical freak now and then)

 

BIGGER, FASTER, STRONGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MOSLEY POWERBOX

*gets beat twice by not particularly quick or athletic, flat footed classic standup boxer*

Looking at boxing like athletics is a dead end way of thinking.It's a singular sport with a very different aim in the end.

 

That's an absurd statement to make. When did Holmes and Foreman fight Lewis, Tyson or Bowe during the 90s?

 

That's clearly not what he meant.

And it's not like either of them avoided punchers. Tyson did Holmes, and he was an old school fighter around the time of Holmes still (training methods wise, when he wasn't partying) and Foreman took some beatings, but none of them could even drop Holmes or George, let alone finish them.

 

Pelé was a great dribbler as well.....even if we agree that Messi is better at it, this doesn´t give to him a big edge.......quicker pace ? Yeah, but actually this is Messi´s best attribute....Now Pelé has a lot of clear advantages.....better header, an amazing free kick taker, shoot with both legs, everything at the highest level you can get....
And obviously is easier to know how good Messi is because we watch him easily on TV every week, this is not true about PElé.....how many games we watched about Pelé ?

Pelé was better in the skill comparison, at least I don´t see how he isn´t as far as I know.....more complete and everything.....
Pelé also has good advantages in terms of achievements.
With 24 years old Pelé was two time World Cup Champion, Libertadores Champion (a strong as hell tournament at the time with all the great south american players active in their countries) and his goal rate at that age was better than Messi is currently....

And let´s remember, the 60´s was a golden era for Brazilian Football....

Is easy to forget how great Pelé was and is easy to know how great Messi was....
And obviously, if Messi never win anything outside Barcelona, in very tough to do this comparison....

Both are okay......Andre Santos always was overrated IMO.....

 

I know you're a huge Pele fan so I doubt we're going to come to much of an agreement on this

BUT Pele is nowhere near as good a dribbler as Messi, I don't think he's fast either. Messi is obviously an excellent finisher, scores from free kicks and is reasonably 2 footed himself.

On a side note I wonder how much the Growth Hormone Messi took as a youngster helped him develop beyond the norm

 

I just think too much time is wasted on the scales now and experimenting with diet programs. We have excelent fighters today who can watch all the ATG champions on you tube and practice moves but do they have the seasoning and timing required to defend against seasoned fighters wearing smaller gloves? Are they active enough? are there enough fight clubs and fighters today to compare?

 

Pelé often dribbled people without touch the ball, only with his body....like he did against the uruguayan goalkeeper in the WC of 70......Messi is better dribbling at close distance

But yeah, we won´t agree with this.....someday when someone make a thread about this in the Lounge we discuss deeper....

 

Because people like Tyson and Roy Jone Jr. embarrassed the sport by easy KO's... Also, dudes not fighting each other despite public demand and wack decisions by judges