Im sorry Old school fighters are not automatically the best

[SkillspayBills]

People tend to romanticize the past fighters.....but that's like every sport. The old greats are always treated like they are too much for the current era. The only current era athlete that is called the GOAT is Michael Jordan.

[Barry Halls]

People tend to romanticize the past fighters.....but that's like every sport. The old greats are always treated like they are too much for the current era. The only current era athlete that is called the GOAT is Michael Jordan.

If Jordan is the "current era" then people in this thread may have to reconsider their statements that Pernell Whitaker is old school.

But yeah, not really. Karelin is widely considered the goat wrestler. Usain Bolt the best sprinter. Federer the best tennis player. Tiger the best golfer. Etc. Etc. Etc.

[bojangles1987]

People tend to romanticize the past fighters.....but that's like every sport. The old greats are always treated like they are too much for the current era. The only current era athlete that is called the GOAT is Michael Jordan.

Before the steroids stuff came out lots of people were ready to call Barry Bonds the GOAT in baseball.

[SkillspayBills]

If Jordan is the "current era" then people in this thread may have to reconsider their statements that Pernell Whitaker is old school.

But yeah, not really. Karelin is widely considered the goat wrestler. Usain Bolt the best sprinter. Federer the best tennis player. Tiger the best golfer. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Jordan retired in 98. I am in my 20s and I have seen him play, that's what I mean by "current" era. An even better example is Kobe Bryant, widely considered a top 10-5 greatest players ever. It isn't often that current era athlete's are appreciated while they are still around. It usually takes years.....maybe decades before that happens.'

There are a FEW sports that give the GOAT to some current athletes. Boxing will NEVER EVER be one of them. I don't care if Floyd went up to 175 and beat Andre Ward for the LHW belt. Nothing he or any person in the near future could do would allow them to be called the GOAT.

[MRBOOMER]

Put Vitali Klitschko back 1930s-1950s and hed be 50-0 with like 48 KOs

I dont think so with all the hard hitting. Better skilled and faster heavies he would lose sometime he'd be good but not what he is now his size would be the major factor other then that now I don't see him knocking out Louis Marciano Walcott baer ezzard Charles those would all be tough fights they would push him to limits none of us know he can make it to because he hasn't showed it they have. He's just In to crappy a era to make any account of what he could do then every tough fight he's been in he lost. I'm just saying.

[I Love Jesus!]

You need to know the history to be even close to a Historian.

Not just 06+

Which I assume is when you started following Boxing.

He started watching boxing the day he saw Mayweather in ring ****zine and got a hard on.

[bojangles1987]

I hear you. But then again, just think of how adamant Roger Mayweather is in saying that his nephew isn't in Robinson's league. I do agree that their is some sort of condescending aura that some posters and pseudo historians like to wrap the old school with.

That said, I also think that the longer you watch boxing, the more you become like them . I can't help but watch welterweights today and note that Oba Carr would probably beat the living **** out of every welter fighting now but two or three. And see heavyweights while chuckling to myself thinking of what Lennox Lewis might've done to a David Haye. Or how Ricardo Lopez would've been considered a god--actually, a lesser version of Ricardo Lopez (Juan Manuel Marquez) is almost considered a god today for his skills. I'm not one to down today's boxers. Especially since so many of them fight like yesterday's version. Ironically, especially Floyd.

Honestly, it's hard not to be that guy that says, "Those fighters back then..." when you watch a sh***ty fight between fatass heavyweights, then watch what not even greats, but good fighters could do in the ring. Or watch Andre Berto, one of the five best welterweights in the world, and shake your head at how mediocre he is.

[bojangles1987]

I agree. But not just that, it's unfair to both fighters (the old and the new).

The game like in any other sport will evolve, training/nutrition will improve, methods of instruction will improve, so the fighters themselves will naturally improve. A "club fighter" or a journeyman today will even be a lot different than club fighters/journeymen back then.

But in that same token, its not fair to discredit what some of the old-school greats have accomplished because their accomplishments as well have to be looked at in context of era and age. what fighters like SRR, Rocky Marciano, etc. were able to do is great not just in deed, but in the fact that they DID do it in those times, among men that were incapable to.

Everything is respective, and folks need to realize that. Which is why I never really entertain the "Old school great vs. current great" discussions, because it's impossible to gauge. The best we can do is assess both fighters and indicate similarities, differences, strengths & weaknesses.

Boxing is a rare sport though, in that there aren't many fighters like Floyd or Ward or Hopkins, who are well practiced and skilled in the nuances of the sport. In general, fighters today have less stamina and skill than fighters even in the 90s did. Also, other than heavyweights, fighters are the same size in boxing they always were, using much of the same tried and true training methods used for a hundred years.

[Barry Halls]

There are a FEW sports that give the GOAT to some current athletes. Boxing will NEVER EVER be one of them. I don't care if Floyd went up to 175 and beat Andre Ward for the LHW belt. Nothing he or any person in the near future could do would allow them to be called the GOAT.

Maybe not but a good start would be for the greats of this era to actually fight each other.

People appreciate fighters of today. Lots of people have Floyd and Pac around top20 of all time p4p. Thats out of hundreds upon hundreds of great fighters spanning over 100 years.
Media continuously try to push Pac as a top10 worthy of comparison with Henry Armstrong.

What were people saying about Tyson while he was in his prime? Ali? Leonard? Lots of people give B-hop a good chance against Monzon and Hagler.
People do appreciate greatness if they see it. And Floyd is great. It's just that it's easier to recognize if he fights people that are great themselves. It tends to bring the best out of them.

[bojangles1987]

Even older than James Toney.

George Benton.



Tell me they're not similar. That's great skills.

Outstanding stuff. Not many fighters parry with the glove anymore, let alone smack every jab away like that.