Is Boxing the only Sport that has not Improved over the Years?

[SeekDaGreat]

They should hold their fights tournament style thus way the best are always fighting the best like UFC. But they're too busy pushing bums like Broner.

[Elroy1]

They should hold their fights tournament style thus way the best are always fighting the best like UFC. But they're too busy pushing bums like Broner.

Overlooking the biased comment, I can actually agree with this.

If the best fought the best in tourney style then Wilder would NEVER have seen a HW title.

[D4thincarnation]

A lot of the top fighters get top level sparing against other top fighters.

In the past they never fought this quality of sparring, hardly any sparring at all in some cases.

[Elroy1]

A lot of the top fighters get top level sparing against other top fighters.

In the past they never fought this quality of sparring, hardly any sparring at all in some cases.

Yep, that was the basis of Holyfield's famous speech.

Amateur programs are far more developed these days and top boxers have far richer pedigrees. Once pro, the best prospects have a tremendous fight output when the competition is low, which is comparable to the top level competition of yesteryear at worst. When considering top level competition, the fight rate is much lower but it must be understood that by this time the boxer is tremendously more experienced in the ring through ammy, early pro and the much better sparring they receive and the old timers never fought at a level like today which requires far more preparation.

It was not necessary to prepare for 12 weeks for a big fight back in the day because the opposition was simply not good enough to warrant it.

And as stated, the quality of sparring received today is worth so much more than fights against even top opponents of yesteryear in itself.

It's clear... World title fights of the past = light sparring sessions today. Fact!

[1g5a22]

For good or bad boxing today is more streamlined, more regulated, more diluted & a lot more safe! I think a lot of old timers view those great fighters & fights from the past & confuse these wars off attrition & in a lot of cases mainly Americans fighting Americans (No big asian, EE or Cuban contingent) with some sort of superiority complex, when in fact today's fighter are probably less inclined to machismo, bravado & cavemen like performances & more attuned to the scientific side of the sport in terms of training, nutrition, mentality & in ring performance! Probably why there's so many so called boring fighters today because the art has been so finely perfected & honed by this point, after all it is a science & the aim is to hit and not get hit.. Of course there ate exciting fighters too but still they are so far ahead of the brawlers from latter year its laughable to even compare! I think boxing has rightfully left the dark ages but for some this is hard to deal with, they need big KO's, smack talk and lots of bells & whistles! They cant deal with civil individuals plying there trade in a much cleaner sport (less corruption) with a much wider diversity of peoples & a truly international presence!

On a reasonable enough time frame everything evolves & adapts over time, of course there will be the odd peaks & troughs but boxing 100 years ago looks positively archaic & almost cave man like, human beings evolve that is just fact & the sports they partake in show this! Every generation thinks the one that they fought in ****s on the one that follows them, its been going on since time immemorial but its not really the case all told! There's a lot of agenda too it too...

[Suckmedry]

Yep, that was the basis of Holyfield's famous speech.

Amateur programs are far more developed these days and top boxers have far richer pedigrees. Once pro, the best prospects have a tremendous fight output when the competition is low, which is comparable to the top level competition of yesteryear at worst. When considering top level competition, the fight rate is much lower but it must be understood that by this time the boxer is tremendously more experienced in the ring through ammy, early pro and the much better sparring they receive and the old timers never fought at a level like today which requires far more preparation.

It was not necessary to prepare for 12 weeks for a big fight back in the day because the opposition was simply not good enough to warrant it.

And as stated, the quality of sparring received today is worth so much more than fights against even top opponents of yesteryear in itself.

It's clear... World title fights of the past = light sparring sessions today. Fact!

[B-Bomber]

The very question is spurious.

Sports don't evolve, they change.

Footballers (soccer players) score more goals because they changed rules and equipment to have more goals.

If you knew what you are talking about you'd know the difference between a ball 20 years ago and now. You'd know the changes regarding fouls commited by a gk or last defender etc.

For sprinting materials make a huge difference, same in tennis with lighter rackets and so forth.

As for boxing, it has not improved, just like horse racing, which used to be extremely popular, but isn't any longer, and dozens of other sports.

[////]

It has improved over the years but as an individual sport it's subject to heavy nostalgia and bias that isn't present in most team sports.

If you don't like someone as a person one of your main options is to pretend they suck compared to "true legends" yatta yatta.

I consciously try to avoid this path. I don't like Floyd as a person but I know he would make many historical greats look like clumsy fools, just like Wladimir and Rigo would. Gotta keep the two opinions separate.

[Tom Cruise]

I think the talent pool has decreased massively over the decades and that has led a decline in modern day boxing.

In other sports this just isn't the case.

Football (soccer) is bigger and more popular than it has ever been. It's taken over Africa and AAsia. So naturally there are more players and the top of the pyramid gets higher.

This is the same in Rugby, Am. Football, Basketball, Athletics, Cricket etc etc.

Boxing is just too violent for modern day western kids to get involved in. Obviously you can say the former Soviet states make up for this drop, but these guys are still way to involved with amateur boxing to really fill the gap. Most former Soviet bloc fighters turn over mid to late 20's/early 30'.

To counter tthe modern day sports science argument, Manny Pacquaio has one of the most sophisticated training regimes in the sport, and he was outboxed by a guy who liked to drink his own piss

Skills matter.

[D4thincarnation]

I think the talent pool has decreased massively over the decades and that has led a decline in modern day boxing.

In other sports this just isn't the case.

Football (soccer) is bigger and more popular than it has ever been. It's taken over Africa and AAsia. So naturally there are more players and the top of the pyramid gets higher.

This is the same in Rugby, Am. Football, Basketball, Athletics, Cricket etc etc.

Boxing is just too violent for modern day western kids to get involved in. Obviously you can say the former Soviet states make up for this drop, but these guys are still way to involved with amateur boxing to really fill the gap. Most former Soviet bloc fighters turn over mid to late 20's/early 30'.

To counter tthe modern day sports science argument, Manny Pacquaio has one of the most sophisticated training regimes in the sport, and he was outboxed by a guy who liked to drink his own piss

Skills matter.

Great Point with Marquez.

For is Floyd fight he drank his own urine and threw rock, and did old school training. And he was flabby bloated slow and weak.


In Pacquiao IV, he used modern day science and nutrition training, incorporated advance methods and he looked like a beast, muscle bound, fast and powerful.


Proof what modern training does and the difference it can make.