Ortiz would have beat every fighter that went the distance with Mike during the 80`s, they probably didn`t look that great on the heavybag either.
Not trying to turn this into a “Where does Mike place” thread but I’ve always had him at tenth in my top ten heavyweights. In his prime Tyson gives anyone a hard night.
He isn`t really using the heavybag correctly which is down to his trainers but in the ring he looks real smart, he was beating Wildder and nearly finished him.
And with regards to professional athletes, boxers in particular, the aging process is uniquely different.
That and the progression of the sport/art. Often see people using chess and sprinting as analogies as to why the pros of today would destroy all of the old greats. This is true in a lot of instances but there are some styles and intangibles in the sweet science that are timeless and very resistant to the improvements the sport has made over the years.
I feel Ortiz`s fight IQ is higher than his trainer`s and is better than his technique on the heavybag, that is just one part of his game, just because you can`t punch a heavybag very well doesn`t mean you don`t have savvy,.