Are Today’s Fighters Better Than The Great Fighters Of The Past? Part 3
Look at the sad state of today's heavyweight division. Vitaly Klitschko appears to be the best of a talentless crop of heavyweights. Vitaly looks amateurish at times, he shows no head movement and is straight up. He often throws punches out of position exposing himself to lethal counter-punches. How many good counter-punchers are there around today? (Answer: Perhaps Toney). How many counter-punchers who are in their primes and carry a devastating punch? (Answer: zero). Klitshcko makes too many mistakes to be considered a great fighter. When he gets hit he backs straight up so he can be hit again. He doesn't know how to duck and stay in punching position when avoiding punches and instead he leans away from punches which is a tactical error. Vitaly doesn't have the speed of Muhammad Ali to get away with such a maneuver and he is fortunate that he fights at a time when feinting is a lost art. Klitschko blocks but doesn't counter, neither does he have a complete aresenal of punches- he did not throw one uppercut against Sanders. He panics when he is attacked as in the Sanders fight, and he doesn't clinch well and looks awkward when he does. Further he appears to tire in the later rounds of a 12 round fight. He was winded in the Sanders fight and this against an opponent who was dead tired himself after 2 rounds of boxing. I doubt Vitaly could fight a hard 15 round fight like most of the great heavyweights were able to do. Vitaly is already 32 and yet he still has a lot to learn. Jack Johnson would have taken Klitschko to school and made him look like the advanced amateur that he is.
Another typical example of a "modern fighter" is Zab Judah. He is fast, has good movement, has a decent punch and throws combinations well. Judah was described by some writers- as he rose in the rankings -as one of the best fighters of modern times, and one young fight announcer had the audacity to say the great fighters of the past could not compete with him. But against Kostya Tzyu, (Nov 3, 2001), he backed straight up with his hands down as Tyzu kept firing at him and he was badly hurt and stopped. This is a mistake the old masters would not make but would certainly take advantage of.
The great fighters of legend would use such a fighter for target practice. They would make him miss and make him pay, they would keep him off-balance, upset his timing and rhythm, feint him out of his shoes and counter-punch with authority. The "old-timers" threw textbook punches, straight, short, and accurate, and knew how to pace themselves by wasting as little energy as possible. Joe Louis and the fighters of the “black dynamite” era (Joe Gans, Joe Walcott, George Dixon, Sam Langford, etc.) were prototypical of the great boxer-punchers of history. Those of the succeeding generation (Benny Leonard, Johnny Dundee, Tommy Gibbons, etc.) were completely "modern" in their mobility, and footwork. Admittedly, the footwork of the "black dynamite" era was engineered for a lengthy fight, but they still could spring forward with explosiveness, and kept their defense "tight" while doing so. They stepped and jabbed, set up their punches and worked the body far better than most of today’s fighters. Their style was a far more polished professional style than the top "amateur style" fighters of today.
One of today's more physically gifted athletes is Fernando Vargas (who has allegedly been caught using illegal performance enhancing drugs). However, he too stands straight up, shows no head movement, and can be countered by a smart, technically proficient puncher, as Ronald "Winky" Wright demonstrated, and Oscar Delahoya aptly exposed in beating him. Felix Trinidad looked like an amateur for most of his fight against Delahoya. He missed badly, and had not a clue as to how to cut off the ring on the dancing Delahoya. David Tua is a heavyweight with one of the most powerful left hooks I have seen. But he does not have the ability to effectively fight on the inside; and appears to lack the commitment to work the body (the bobbing and weaving movement of a Joe Frazier or a Jack Dempsey could teach him a thing or two). Recent heavyweights champions such as Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis are notorious for dropping their left hands after jabbing. Holmes was nearly knocked out by both Earnie Shavers and Renaldo Snipes after making such a mistake. Oliver McCall knocked out Lewis, after Lewis continually dropped his left. Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
Some modern boxing analysts have commented that Pernell Whitaker was the greatest lightweight because he was unhittable. But so was Benny Leonard. Benny was a true boxing master with much greater experience than Whitaker. He too rarely lost a round in his prime and bragged, "I never even mussed up my hair." Even a faded Benny Leonard was still a highly intelligent fighter. Former welterweight champion Jimmy McLarnin said of Leonard, (Heller 167), "I had a bad habit of leaning under a right hand, and the very first punch he hit me, I saw a million stars. I made a mistake and you couldn’t make a mistake with him." The great fighters like Leonard had the experience to find the weakness in an opponent’s style and capitalize on it, with devastating efficiency. Ray Arcel, (Anderson 148-149), was asked who was the greatest fighter he ever saw. He replied, (Benny Leonard or Ray Robinson), "I hate to say either one but Leonard’s mental energy surpassed anybody else’s."
Joe Gans would have beaten Whitaker as well. Gans was considered to be nearly impossible to hit with a clean punch and his defense so superb his opponents thought he was reading their mind in his ability to anticipate their every move. Further he was a devastating puncher, something that Whittaker was not. Gans, in fact, hit like Felix Trinidad, although he was only a ligthweight. Gans knocked out fighters that were much bigger than anyone Trinidad has beaten and he had nearly 90 career knockouts. Gans knocked out welterweights for 10 counts and then they had to be carried back to their corner to recover. Remember, those old-timers had to fight almost anyone and regularly ventured up far beyond their "normal" weight. Today's fighters are protected by business interests and the big money pay-off of a pay-per-view extravaganza. Don’t try and convince me that they are "better" because they fight today, as opposed to yesterday, and that Gans wasn’t as good because he fought "along time ago". That has nothing to do with it.
Most boxing fans are only knowledgeable of the fighters of their era (the ones they have seen), and are ignorant of history. If they really knew what those men could do they would fully comprehend that boxing skill does not accumulate like facts in science – that today’s theories are better than yesterday’s. It is not an adding up to of anything – it is a science in the sense that the strategies and tactics of hand-to-hand combat are principles that form the basis of the sport, which are ignored at the fighter’s peril. Boxing like the ancient art of the Samurai is a dying art form. The art of feinting is all but lost, body punching neglected, good defense and countering a rarity. The days of battlefield swordsmanship are gone. So too are the days of the great trainers and the great experienced fighters of old.
In conclusion we can say with clarity that while in some instances, today’s boxers are physically stronger athletes, they often lack the endurance of the old time fighters because they fight fewer rounds, and they lack the experience and skill of the great ring generals of the past. The fighters of today are sometimes artificially enhanced with performance increasing drugs and train for shorter fights. The rugged, “old time” brawler type fighters relied on durability and wearing their opponents down, while the boxing masters of old relied on a fight plan that took into account the fact that they had more rounds to work with than today’s fighters. Roberto Duran, for example, showed in his rubber match with Esteban DeJesus that he learned how to apply pace and strategy in the ring. He tempered his aggression and took apart a man that was considered a superior boxer. The Jan. 30, 1978 Sports Illustrated stated, “Moving fluidly and jabbing, slipping punches and countering rather than swarming over DeJesus, he stalked him, relentlessly wearing him down and coolly destroying him with savage punches to the body. For 11 rounds Duran bested the classic boxer at his own game, robbing him of his speed and his will to fight, and only then did he permit himself the luxury of putting DeJesus away.” Duran that night proved he was an all time great fighter and the old masters would have approved.
Today’s fighters, for the most part, tend to be over-rated while the fighters of legend are ignored, largely because so few know much about them.
References:
Anderson, Dave. 1991. In The Corner. NY. William Morrow and Co.
Callis, Tracy. 1998 July. Rating the All Time Greats, Cyberboxingzone Journal .
Goldman Herbert. 1996 March. Boxing Illustrated March 1996. p 29. Reiss quote in "In The Ring and Out: Professional Boxing in New York", 1896-1920", a 30 Page chapter in Sport in America: New Historical Perspectives, edited by Donald Spivey, published by Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1985.
Heller, Peter. 1994. In This Corner 42 World Champions Tell Their Stories,. Expanded edition. Da Capo Press. NY, NY.
Roberts, Randy. 1983. Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of the White Hopes. Free Press. NY, NY.
Suster, Gerald. 1994. Lightning Strikes: The Lives and Times of Boxing’s Lightweight Heroes. Robson Books. London pg. 192
Willoughby, David. 1970. The Super Athletes. Cranbury, N.J.: A. S. Barnes & Co., Inc.
Look at the sad state of today's heavyweight division. Vitaly Klitschko appears to be the best of a talentless crop of heavyweights. Vitaly looks amateurish at times, he shows no head movement and is straight up. He often throws punches out of position exposing himself to lethal counter-punches. How many good counter-punchers are there around today? (Answer: Perhaps Toney). How many counter-punchers who are in their primes and carry a devastating punch? (Answer: zero). Klitshcko makes too many mistakes to be considered a great fighter. When he gets hit he backs straight up so he can be hit again. He doesn't know how to duck and stay in punching position when avoiding punches and instead he leans away from punches which is a tactical error. Vitaly doesn't have the speed of Muhammad Ali to get away with such a maneuver and he is fortunate that he fights at a time when feinting is a lost art. Klitschko blocks but doesn't counter, neither does he have a complete aresenal of punches- he did not throw one uppercut against Sanders. He panics when he is attacked as in the Sanders fight, and he doesn't clinch well and looks awkward when he does. Further he appears to tire in the later rounds of a 12 round fight. He was winded in the Sanders fight and this against an opponent who was dead tired himself after 2 rounds of boxing. I doubt Vitaly could fight a hard 15 round fight like most of the great heavyweights were able to do. Vitaly is already 32 and yet he still has a lot to learn. Jack Johnson would have taken Klitschko to school and made him look like the advanced amateur that he is.
Another typical example of a "modern fighter" is Zab Judah. He is fast, has good movement, has a decent punch and throws combinations well. Judah was described by some writers- as he rose in the rankings -as one of the best fighters of modern times, and one young fight announcer had the audacity to say the great fighters of the past could not compete with him. But against Kostya Tzyu, (Nov 3, 2001), he backed straight up with his hands down as Tyzu kept firing at him and he was badly hurt and stopped. This is a mistake the old masters would not make but would certainly take advantage of.
The great fighters of legend would use such a fighter for target practice. They would make him miss and make him pay, they would keep him off-balance, upset his timing and rhythm, feint him out of his shoes and counter-punch with authority. The "old-timers" threw textbook punches, straight, short, and accurate, and knew how to pace themselves by wasting as little energy as possible. Joe Louis and the fighters of the “black dynamite” era (Joe Gans, Joe Walcott, George Dixon, Sam Langford, etc.) were prototypical of the great boxer-punchers of history. Those of the succeeding generation (Benny Leonard, Johnny Dundee, Tommy Gibbons, etc.) were completely "modern" in their mobility, and footwork. Admittedly, the footwork of the "black dynamite" era was engineered for a lengthy fight, but they still could spring forward with explosiveness, and kept their defense "tight" while doing so. They stepped and jabbed, set up their punches and worked the body far better than most of today’s fighters. Their style was a far more polished professional style than the top "amateur style" fighters of today.
One of today's more physically gifted athletes is Fernando Vargas (who has allegedly been caught using illegal performance enhancing drugs). However, he too stands straight up, shows no head movement, and can be countered by a smart, technically proficient puncher, as Ronald "Winky" Wright demonstrated, and Oscar Delahoya aptly exposed in beating him. Felix Trinidad looked like an amateur for most of his fight against Delahoya. He missed badly, and had not a clue as to how to cut off the ring on the dancing Delahoya. David Tua is a heavyweight with one of the most powerful left hooks I have seen. But he does not have the ability to effectively fight on the inside; and appears to lack the commitment to work the body (the bobbing and weaving movement of a Joe Frazier or a Jack Dempsey could teach him a thing or two). Recent heavyweights champions such as Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis are notorious for dropping their left hands after jabbing. Holmes was nearly knocked out by both Earnie Shavers and Renaldo Snipes after making such a mistake. Oliver McCall knocked out Lewis, after Lewis continually dropped his left. Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
Some modern boxing analysts have commented that Pernell Whitaker was the greatest lightweight because he was unhittable. But so was Benny Leonard. Benny was a true boxing master with much greater experience than Whitaker. He too rarely lost a round in his prime and bragged, "I never even mussed up my hair." Even a faded Benny Leonard was still a highly intelligent fighter. Former welterweight champion Jimmy McLarnin said of Leonard, (Heller 167), "I had a bad habit of leaning under a right hand, and the very first punch he hit me, I saw a million stars. I made a mistake and you couldn’t make a mistake with him." The great fighters like Leonard had the experience to find the weakness in an opponent’s style and capitalize on it, with devastating efficiency. Ray Arcel, (Anderson 148-149), was asked who was the greatest fighter he ever saw. He replied, (Benny Leonard or Ray Robinson), "I hate to say either one but Leonard’s mental energy surpassed anybody else’s."
Joe Gans would have beaten Whitaker as well. Gans was considered to be nearly impossible to hit with a clean punch and his defense so superb his opponents thought he was reading their mind in his ability to anticipate their every move. Further he was a devastating puncher, something that Whittaker was not. Gans, in fact, hit like Felix Trinidad, although he was only a ligthweight. Gans knocked out fighters that were much bigger than anyone Trinidad has beaten and he had nearly 90 career knockouts. Gans knocked out welterweights for 10 counts and then they had to be carried back to their corner to recover. Remember, those old-timers had to fight almost anyone and regularly ventured up far beyond their "normal" weight. Today's fighters are protected by business interests and the big money pay-off of a pay-per-view extravaganza. Don’t try and convince me that they are "better" because they fight today, as opposed to yesterday, and that Gans wasn’t as good because he fought "along time ago". That has nothing to do with it.
Most boxing fans are only knowledgeable of the fighters of their era (the ones they have seen), and are ignorant of history. If they really knew what those men could do they would fully comprehend that boxing skill does not accumulate like facts in science – that today’s theories are better than yesterday’s. It is not an adding up to of anything – it is a science in the sense that the strategies and tactics of hand-to-hand combat are principles that form the basis of the sport, which are ignored at the fighter’s peril. Boxing like the ancient art of the Samurai is a dying art form. The art of feinting is all but lost, body punching neglected, good defense and countering a rarity. The days of battlefield swordsmanship are gone. So too are the days of the great trainers and the great experienced fighters of old.
In conclusion we can say with clarity that while in some instances, today’s boxers are physically stronger athletes, they often lack the endurance of the old time fighters because they fight fewer rounds, and they lack the experience and skill of the great ring generals of the past. The fighters of today are sometimes artificially enhanced with performance increasing drugs and train for shorter fights. The rugged, “old time” brawler type fighters relied on durability and wearing their opponents down, while the boxing masters of old relied on a fight plan that took into account the fact that they had more rounds to work with than today’s fighters. Roberto Duran, for example, showed in his rubber match with Esteban DeJesus that he learned how to apply pace and strategy in the ring. He tempered his aggression and took apart a man that was considered a superior boxer. The Jan. 30, 1978 Sports Illustrated stated, “Moving fluidly and jabbing, slipping punches and countering rather than swarming over DeJesus, he stalked him, relentlessly wearing him down and coolly destroying him with savage punches to the body. For 11 rounds Duran bested the classic boxer at his own game, robbing him of his speed and his will to fight, and only then did he permit himself the luxury of putting DeJesus away.” Duran that night proved he was an all time great fighter and the old masters would have approved.
Today’s fighters, for the most part, tend to be over-rated while the fighters of legend are ignored, largely because so few know much about them.
References:
Anderson, Dave. 1991. In The Corner. NY. William Morrow and Co.
Callis, Tracy. 1998 July. Rating the All Time Greats, Cyberboxingzone Journal .
Goldman Herbert. 1996 March. Boxing Illustrated March 1996. p 29. Reiss quote in "In The Ring and Out: Professional Boxing in New York", 1896-1920", a 30 Page chapter in Sport in America: New Historical Perspectives, edited by Donald Spivey, published by Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1985.
Heller, Peter. 1994. In This Corner 42 World Champions Tell Their Stories,. Expanded edition. Da Capo Press. NY, NY.
Roberts, Randy. 1983. Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of the White Hopes. Free Press. NY, NY.
Suster, Gerald. 1994. Lightning Strikes: The Lives and Times of Boxing’s Lightweight Heroes. Robson Books. London pg. 192
Willoughby, David. 1970. The Super Athletes. Cranbury, N.J.: A. S. Barnes & Co., Inc.
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