Someone in the comments said boxing was better when Don King was on top. I think I agree

[NormanConnors]

Heavyweights of this era are way more talented than they were when DK was around

Nah, competitive, but not more talented

 

[NormanConnors]

Is boxing the only sport where the talent hasn’t evolved?

Natural talent is still there, just not as many elite athletes in boxing compared to the past

 

[Po pimp]

Floyd would absolutely NOT come out of the 80's undefeated as a Welterweight

Leonard
Hearns
Duran (a little past his prime)
Benitez

I said Willie Pep, but you brought up fighters from the 80s. Also, Floyd was never the most athletically gifted fighter like a Roy Jones Jr. He was certainly athletically elite, but what always separated Floyd from the rest was his mind.

 

[WesCrook]

I said Willie Pep, but you brought up fighters from the 80s. Also, Floyd was never the most athletically gifted fighter like a Roy Jones Jr. He was certainly athletically elite, but what always separated Floyd from the rest was his mind.

You stated fighters from the past. The 80's are from the past last i checked.

 

[Po pimp]

You stated fighters from the past. The 80's are from the past last i checked.

I’m not of the mindset that athletes of the past COULDN’T compete with current athletes (of any sport). I was just pointing out how in sports like boxing, no one has a problem saying fighters from before the modern era like Joe Louis would beat an Ali or Willie Pep would give Floyd fits. No one says Bob Pettit would dominate in todays NBA.

 

[Harry B]

Boxing is so weird I don’t understand how there can be so many undefeated or 1 loss fighters in the same weight class. It should be technically impossible
Mayweather fukked up all these dudes heads.

 

[MJ Truth]

Oh, I agree. I’m just saying when people try to make these arguments, boxing is one of the main sports where people argue that fighters of the past would compete with todays fighters. Some of these fools think Willie Pep would give Floyd a good fight

I will say the heavyweight division isn’t the same now as it was back then. Big dudes would rather play basketball or football than get in a boxing gym. Or rather, they’re being pushed towards playing those sports.

Overall, I’m definitely taking the heavyweights from the 60s-90s over today

There’s a couple of factors here. Football and basketball and even baseball to a certain degree have literally adjusted and outright changed their rules over the decades, so guys from the 80s and 90s were almost essentially playing a different game than the players play now. Boxing has been consistent over the years, except for 15 round fights (which will always look better on older fighters when guys argue toughness).

 

[MJ Truth]

I’m not of the mindset that athletes of the past COULDN’T compete with current athletes (of any sport). I was just pointing out how in sports like boxing, no one has a problem saying fighters from before the modern era like Joe Louis would beat an Ali or Willie Pep would give Floyd fits. No one says Bob Pettit would dominate in todays NBA.

That’s because in boxing people ONLY talk about the best fighters. No one talks about the average fighter at all. In basketball, people usually talk about how the average player today is light years ahead of the average player of the past, but you don’t really get the arguments that the very best of the past wouldn’t still be the very best today, just that there would be more guys near their level.

 

[CHICAGO]

Boxing is so weird I don’t understand how there can be so many undefeated or 1 loss fighters in the same weight class. It should be technically impossible
Mayweather fukked up all these dudes heads.

YEP...

EVERYBODY WANNA BE
UNDEFEATED LIKE MAYWEATHER.

KING WOULDA HAD
ALL OF THESE nikkaS
FIGHTING EACH OTHER.



​

 

[Po pimp]

There’s a couple of factors here. Football and basketball and even baseball to a certain degree have literally adjusted and outright changed their rules over the decades, so guys from the 80s and 90s were almost essentially playing a different game than the players play now. Boxing has been consistent over the years, except for 15 round fights (which will always look better on older fighters when guys argue toughness).

I should’ve clarified that I was talking about the pre-modern era. Ain’t no way Joe Louis would’ve beat Ali.

 

[feelosofer]

Yes the talent pool was better but also Don King's had a unique combination of street smarts and business acumen. He knew how to appeal to talent boxers many who came from poor backgrounds and he had connections all over due to working with people from the ground floor all the way to the boardroom.

 

[Erratic415]

You will never see a loaded card like this again.

He also had this one 4 months later

 

[Shadow King]

Boxing is so weird I don’t understand how there can be so many undefeated or 1 loss fighters in the same weight class. It should be technically impossible
Mayweather fukked up all these dudes heads.

There's virtually an unlimited amount of fighters, you may know the 10 who have those records but there's 150 more with 8 and 9 losses who the best use as tune ups before seeing one another.