Would USSR boxers have changed the HW golden age of the 70s?

This thread is about the 70's, correct? Name one Soviet team that was better than the 76' American team. Specifically talking heavyweights, it's not even close. Stevenson from Cuba is the only guy that could have potentially given the American pro's a run for their money but I highly doubt he would have. The Cubans have never produced a heavyweight that had much success in the pros.

The fact is, Americans don't stay in the amateurs past their early 20's and in a lot of cases, turned pro in their teens. The Soviets would trot out grown as men to fight those teenagers and still lose to them. What if Ali, Leonard, Roy Jones, Mayweather had never gone pro? You still think Soviet boxing is superior?

Again, for the "new" poster, USA boxing was far superior to the Soviets.

 

If there were any good ones around at the time then sure.

 

Here is the full stats. The medal count tables of all the major tournaments at Boxing where both the Soviet Union and USA both entered and competed against each other.

Olympics at Boxing
Olympics 1952, Soviet Union 7th, USA 1st
Olympics 1956, Soviet Union 1st, USA 3rd
Olympics 1960, Soviet Union 4th, USA 1st
Olympics 1964, Soviet Union 1st ,USA 4th,
Olympics 1968, Soviet Union 1st, USA 2nd.
Olympics 1972, Soviet Union 2nd,USA 6th
Olympics 1976 Soviet Union 6th, USA 1st.
Olympics 1988, Soviet Union 4th, USA 1st.

World Championships at Boxing (which started in 1974)
World Championships 1974 Soviet Union 2nd, USA 3rd,
World Championships 1978 Soviet Union 2nd, USA 10th
World Championships 1982, Soviet Union 3rd, USA 2nd
World Championships 1986 Soviet Union 3rd, USA 2nd
World Championships 1989, Soviet Union 1st, USA 4th
World Championships 1991 Soviet Union 4th, USA 5th

Final Result = Soviet Union 8 USA 6.
Soviet Union bettered the USA 8 times out 14 of when they both competed at the same major tournament.

So @AwardedSteak863 's comment of ''USA boxing being far superior up until the 2000's'' is clearly not true.

The truth is.. they were both major forces, but the Soviet Union were better.

 

Newsflash.

Soviet Union competed at the same major tournament as the USA.. 4 times in the 70's. Here's the medal count table standings from Boxing in those tournaments

Olympics 1972: Soviet Union 2nd, USA 6th
World Championships 1974: Soviet Union 2nd, USA 3rd,
Olympics 1976: Soviet Union 6th, USA 1st.
World Championships 1978: Soviet Union 2nd, USA 10th

Soviet Union 3 USA 1

I'm sorry but the Soviet Union usually tended to be better than the USA at Boxing. Surprised you didn't know that already, well now you know. I've educated you.

 

Again, USA boxers go pro and don't sandbag medals. The 76' team slaughtered everyone, went pro and immediately won world titles. The 78' world's didn't have Leonard or the Spinks brothers on the team. If you want to call that a victory for the Soviets go right ahead.

 

Good sides to both arguments. The USA clearly had a superior amateur program than the one that barely exists today. However it's also true the Communist countries boasted incredible programs as well, but their fighters could never go pro. I think it's irrefutable that had they gone pro the landscape of who was champion and who dominated would of changed somewhat. The question is how much.

 

Again, the Soviets were never better. The best of USA boxing has always been superior. Name one Soviet heavyweight better than Ali. Name one Soviet lightheavy better than Spinks. Name one Soviet Middleweight better than Roy Jones Jr, Name one Soviet Welterweight better than Leonard. I could go on and on but can you "new" poster?

I'll say it again, USA boxing was better than USSR. It's not even close.

 

I agree with you, it definitely would have changed the landscape if they could go pro but I still think they would have had a limited impact.

You could even look at the late 90's and 2000's for reference. Kostya Tszyu and Vassily Jirov both were hold overs from the old Soviet program. Was Kostya better than Floyd or Oscar? He quit in the ring against Hatton and was knocked out by former USA amateur standout Vince Phillips. Vassily Jirov who was the Val Baker winner in 96's got wrecked by James Toney and later Michael Moorer. No way he beats Jones or Tarver who were from the USA boxing program.

 

@Don'tBeFoolish, I'm still waiting for your reply. All of the fighters that I named below were produced by USA boxing. Let's see what USSR fighters you can come up with. Come on you smug little *****. And don't try and claim Uysk or GGG, they fought for independent countries that were NOT Soviet boxing.

Name one Soviet heavyweight better than Ali
Name one Soviet Light heavyweight better than Spinks
Name one Soviet Middleweight better than Jones Jr.
Name one Soviet Welterweight better than Leonard.

 

You're being a little biased here. Tszyu quit against Hatton in his final pro bout, not really fair to bring that up. Yes he lost to Phillips in a huge upset and a thrilling bout. He did score some good scalps too though, he iced the athletic Judah in 2 rounds. Jirov was also good although he slightly underachieved as a pro. I wouldn't say he got wrecked by Toney, Toney an all time great and Jirov put on an amazing fight and I had the fight even until the final the round. I know the official cards were wider but Toney showed why he was Toney putting Jirov on his butt in the final moments. The soviet fighters of the 90s were competitive they were not embarrassing themselves and again to be fair they had a much shorter adjustment period to the pro game than their American counterparts. They also traveled here not vice versa which say what you want it's much harder to win on the road. I don't think anyone wuold of wanted to travel to Russia to fight back in the day. I do think some Americans would of always been the cream of the crop like Leonard and M. Spinks but I admittedly don't know much about the blue chip prospects of that era from the USSR

 

I'm a fan of both Tzysu and Jirov. Tzysu did quit in the ring in his final fight. Would he have beaten Hatton if he was younger? Probably. He was great fighter that went out in a crappy manner. He was nowhere near as good as former USA boxing Olympians Mayweather or Oscar.

When I say Jirov was wrecked by Toney, I'm talking about what Jirov became after that fight. He never beat a top guy again and looked like damage goods. Again, he fought a war against Toney and I respect the hell out of him.

 

And when Ex Soviet Union countries finally could turn pro. What happened..

Usyk, W Klitschko, V Klitschko, Golovkin, Lomachenko, Tszyu, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Bivol,etc

There would have been that same elite invasion had they been able to turn pro earlier.

 

Only Tszyu and Klitschko came from the USSR program. Everyone else, was independent counties

 

Try telling any current Ukrainian fighter that he was developed by the old Soviet system and they woukd **** all over you. They are fiercely pro Ukranian and consider themselves completely separate. Lomo and Uysk were trained by Lomo's dad.