Did old school boxers have more skills?

[ShoulderRoll]

Or have modern fighters with their cutting edge training methods evolved way beyond the primitive techniques of the old days?

[-PBP-]

That's a myth. Lomachenko, Rigondeaux, Kovalev, GGG, Crawford, Chocolito and many others are very sound skill wise.

[Run]

I think you'd have to be more specific.

Ala cite specific examples and name off the comparisons between the "old schoolers" and "new schoolers"



| |

[Run]

That's a myth. Lomachenko, Rigondeaux, Kovalev, GGG, Crawford, Chocolito and many others are very sound skill wise.

Compared to who?



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[bojangles1987]

There were more boxers with the skills of today's best, because there were more boxers competing for less opportunities than are available today.

There are certainly fighters today just as skilled as fighters in the past.

[SterlingStained]

Or have modern fighters with their cutting edge training methods evolved way beyond the primitive techniques of the old days?

the modern athlete will always have the advantage.

not just medical aspect of it but also the knowledge aspect.

all the fighters now have prior knowledge of other past greats and they can integrate whatever info they have to their game. past greats only had who has existed during their time.

plus they didnt have youtube.

[dan_cov]

No I think overall there is a decrease in skill level in particular footwork and the jab. You can probably count on one hand the amount of fighters today with a legitimate world class jab. How many fighters today even move their head?

I used to be someone strongly under the impression that everything had evolved but this is clearly not the case. In fact I think majority of fighters operating at world level really are not that good at all.

The heavyweight division is a joke, the weakest its ever been.
The middleweight division has one good fighter in it the rest are Euro level at best.
Light middle has Alvarez and Lara, the rest of the crop are a joke.

There are exceptions, we do have some supremely skillful fighters but as a whole its a real step back. I think 80% of top fighters today at a sheer guess would be journeyman/gatekeepers in practically any other era.

[SterlingStained]

No I think overall there is a decrease in skill level in particular footwork and the jab. You can probably count on one hand the amount of fighters today with a legitimate world class jab. How many fighters today even move their head?

I used to be someone strongly under the impression that everything had evolved but this is clearly not the case. In fact I think majority of fighters operating at world level really are not that good at all.

The heavyweight division is a joke, the weakest its ever been.
The middleweight division has one good fighter in it the rest are Euro level at best.
Light middle has Alvarez and Lara, the rest of the crop are a joke.

There are exceptions, we do have some supremely skillful fighters but as a whole its a real step back. I think 80% of top fighters today at a sheer guess would be journeyman/gatekeepers in practically any other era.

that's party because boxing has lost its standing sports wise across the globe. especially in america.

all the top athletes play other sports now because of all the choices and relative quickness when it comes to making big money. If you are a great athlete, why choose boxing where you have to toil for years before you get a big shot when you can instantly make millions playing in the nfl, nba, mlb, nascar, etc...

back then, you either played baseball or boxing. that was it.

[dan_cov]

Rankings list from 1992 - picked at random.

Pound for pound

Julio Cesar Chavez
Pernell Whitaker
Terry Norris
Orlando Canizales
James (Buddy) McGirt
Rid**** Bowe
Azumah Nelson
Sung-Kil Moon
Julian Jackson
James Toney

Heavyweight
Title Vacant

Rid**** Bowe
Lennox Lewis
Evander Holyfield
Michael Moorer
Tony Tucker
George Foreman
Razor Ruddock
Ray Mercer
Tommy Morrison
Alex Garcia

cruiser
Bobby Czyz
Anaclet Wamba
Alfred Cole
Orlin Norris
James Warring
Nate Miller
Arthur Williams
Akim Tafer
Marcelo Victor Figueroa
Robert Daniels


Super middleweight
Title Vacant

Michael Nunn
Iran Barkley
Chris Eubank
Victor Cordoba
Nigel Benn
Tim Littles
Darrin Van Horn
Tony Thornton
Frankie Liles
Frank Nicotra

Middleweights
Julian Jackson
James Toney
Reggie Johnson
Roy Jones Jr.
Mike McCallum
Sumbu Kalambay
Gerald McClellan
Lamar Parks
Bernard Hopkins
Thomas Tate

Jr middle
Title Vacant

Terry Norris
Gianfranco Rosi
Vinny Pazienza
John David Jackson
Verno Phillips
Julio Cesar Chavez
Gilbert Dele
Carl Daniels
Aaron Davis
Laurent Boudouani

Go here and select a year Its night and day that todays fighters aren't a patch overall. I don't think its numbers or anything like that I feel its a lack of good trainers.

[Hype job]

that's party because boxing has lost its standing sports wise across the globe. especially in america.

all the top athletes play other sports now because of all the choices and relative quickness when it comes to making big money. If you are a great athlete, why choose boxing where you have to toil for years before you get a big shot when you can instantly make millions playing in the nfl, nba, mlb, nascar, etc...

back then, you either played baseball or boxing. that was it.

Exactly the talent pool is simply smaller in today's era because boxing is a niche sport. Fighters who earn serious money are few and far between, literally a minuscule amount earn top money. The rest get their brains rattled for a pittance.

Yes diet, knowledge, training methods have evolved etc... but the talent pool is simply smaller as it's not very lucrative and is a niche sport that is less popular than Golf and cricket.