Modern Boxing V Classic Boxing

[basilm07]

Modern day boxing isn't at the same calibre as classic boxing.

Legendary boxers ranging from Jack Dempsey, Sugar Ray, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman to Mike Tyson fought at a completely different level, have a different style and technique of boxing in comparison to today's era of boxing.

Current styles of boxing tend to be more defensive including much more counter puncher style fighters such as Floyd Mayweather, Jr, Bernard Hopkins and Evander Holyfield. This is not to say modern style boxing and fighters aren't entertaining, though the sport has changed a lot since strategy and technique was the main priority.

Boxing is no longer the only famous contact / combat sport, and with the current fastest growing sport in the world (U.F.C) boxing has to maintain its greatness and expectations.

 

[griffin]

you're on the ball. i think that you have the right idea and you know your boxing. ps im watching you!

 

[blblues]

Some good points made. There are genuine boxing fans and then there are people who watch for the violence. The more modern tactical nature of boxing probably means there are less wars and the spectators that used to watch it for the violence have headed towards MMA to appease their appetites. Big boxing events still do huge numbers in ticket sales and PPV, so the fan base is still there. It's up to the promotors and fighters to stop millking boxing fans dry with average events in which they ask for top dollar.

 

[demons 123]

yeah spot on there

 

[keyboard_warrior]

do you think it could have something to do with the don king era and people have been turning away from it??

 

[daicos21]

Some good points made. There are genuine boxing fans and then there are people who watch for the violence. The more modern tactical nature of boxing probably means there are less wars and the spectators that used to watch it for the violence have headed towards MMA to appease their appetites. Big boxing events still do huge numbers in ticket sales and PPV, so the fan base is still there. It's up to the promotors and fighters to stop millking boxing fans dry with average events in which they ask for top dollar.

This is an unfair call blblues. I follow both boxing and MMA and have trained in both and i can say there is plenty of tactics and skill in MMA. Just go have one BJJ training session if you ever get the chance, to get a bit of an understanding of what is involved.

 

[blblues]

This is an unfair call blblues. I follow both boxing and MMA and have trained in both and i can say there is plenty of tactics and skill in MMA. Just go have one BJJ training session if you ever get the chance, to get a bit of an understanding of what is involved.

Wasn't having a crack at MMA, it's a very tactical sport that possess a huge amount of skill. Just pointing out that their are people that watch these sports for the skill and others that watch it for the violence. Currently MMA is a more appealing brand to the violence seekers. That's the point I was trying to make.

 

[basilm07]

do you think it could have something to do with the don king era and people have been turning away from it??

For sure, personally I hate don king and using Mike Tyson as an example, I think he called Don a wretched swine of a man or a crook, something like that, the way boxers were being cheated and robbed back then changed the style in a whole different way. Not saying this is 100% true though i believe boxing is becoming more about the money less about the glory. Boxers are Artists not sluggers.

 

[hellfire]

I don't think the quality of skills are declining in any way. Yes, we have more defensive fighters like Mayweather and Hopkins, but it's no different to Joe Gans, Pernell Whitaker, Wilfredo Benitez or even Willie Pep who were all defense-first fighters. That said, I think there a several reasons for the decline in the quality of the sport.

1. Longer intervals between fights - If someone had have told Sugar Ray Robinson or Henry Armstrong to wait seven months until their next fight, in order to allow for "proper preparation and recuperation", they probably would've laughed in their face and then landed a rip to the liver for good measure. The problem with these longer intervals comes in two parts: Firstly, it is much more difficult for fans to become attached to a particular fighter, as they only fight once or twice a year once they reach the world stage. Imagine footy teams only playing once every 6-7 months... we would lose interest. Secondly, a loss for a fighter becomes devastating to their career given the relatively fewer amount of fights. This leads me to my second point...

2. Poor match-making - Put simply, the best fighters simply do not fight each other. This is because of fear of losing for the above reason. Oscar De La Hoya may have lost a lot of big fights, but he fought everybody, he feared nobody. He was a credit to the sport. I can't say the same for many of the best fighters out there today. This lack of big fights only diminishes the appeal of the sport, as results become predictable, hype is minimal, and there is a lack of quality in matches.

3. Proliferation of the titles and weight classes - Four belts that are all considered "championships" leads to ambiguity in the boxing community and general public about who is the champion. Rewind to any other era prior to the 1990s, and you would have found the public could name most of the champions at the time. Now, with 17 weight classes rather than the traditional 8, there are 68 world champions walking around, rather than the 8 from previous eras [there were a few more once the first "new" divisions were introduced]. Being a world champion isn't as prestigious as it used to be, and it is making the sport a lot more boring to follow. Henry Armstrong was once the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight champion of the world simultaneously. It was probably the single greatest achievement in boxing history. Now, when Michael Buffer introduces a fighter, he says "the seven time world champion, the former lightweight, former super-lightweight, former two-time welterweight... etc. etc." It's all just losing meaning!

4. Money talks - Boxing has succumb to the commercial beast. All big fights are on PPV, no exceptions, costing around $50 each time. The undercards are shit, and the main events are often lackluster because of the poor match-making. Fans quickly lose interest because their hip-pocket suffers, and whilst PPV numbers are sustained, the general public simply doesn't care. Large followings are simply nationalistic - see Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao - not because people adore a certain fighter or genuinely follow the sport. Promoters like King and Arum simply choose to match fighters from their own stable in order to generate the most profit, again, leading to poor match-making. It's terrible to see what greed can do to a sport.

5. Different era - Boxing flourished during times of hardship. It was probably at it's peak in the inter-war era [during the depression] and just after WW2, when Louis and Robinson were at their peak. Obviously PPV numbers are huge these days and fighters are paid more than ever, but boxing used to generate a buzz, everyone would want to know the result of a title fight. Ali brought the sport back into the spotlight after a lull in the late 50s and early 60s, and then the Leonard/Duran/Hearns/Hagler rivalries revived it again in the 80s, along with Mike Tyson. But with the four factors mentioned above, I'm not sure another charismatic fighter could put the sport back on the map like it has in the past.

Essentially, the sport needs a total overhaul. It needs more free-to-air coverage. Less PPV means less pay for the fighters, which means they will want to fight more often. More regular fights means that fighters can establish a fan following, which means more interest from the general public. The belts need to be abandoned or unified permanently, one-champion per division. This way, there is more hype and anticipation prior to big fights, because the world title is genuinely at stake. Consequently, all of the best fighters will want to fight each other, because they need to in order to become champion. Which again, leads to more public interest. If all of this happens, the sport can get back on the map, and get back to it's glorious best. Viva la sweet science!

 

[Mr Gor]

^^^

Not that I'm adept in boxing knowledge, neither in or out of the ring, but in my short time of following the sport this seems to be spot on. I learnt most of this through looking up the career of my now favourite fighter Emanuel Augustus.

He was/is an old fashioned fighter in the modern era. Fought all the time, against anyone, in their home town, on short notice, pretty much the definition of "anywhere at any time". Took on the toughest opposition available. He Feared nobody and always took the fight to his opponent despite not having the knock out power to help that style. Problem was, this meant that a lot of his fights went the distance and he ended up getting robbed constantly by the hometown judges who would favour the prospects and record-proven fighters he was facing.

Obviously this resulted in a bad record which he was constantly judged on despite him being a world class fighter who ended up giving Floyd Mayweather his toughest fight (Floyd said so himself). Because of his shoddy record, it was impossible to get fights as anything other than an opponent even though he was the most entertaining fighter around who could mix it with the best. Who knows who he could've beaten if he'd been given the proper preparation and training before a fight.

I guess what I'm saying is, you couldn't be more correct in your analysis of Modern Boxing vs Classic Boxing. It's just completely different these days. For a boxer to be considered good now, he MUST have a good record. Start looking up some boxers on Boxrec, and you'll notice a trend among a lot of prospects and/or "good" fighters: their first 10-15 fights will be 1-3 round KO's, then a few fights against other boxers with "good" records, before they start getting the big fights around no. 20-25, where they eventually lose and never return to the ring.