Fat Git wrote:Nat Flesicher always used to say Jim Jeffries would have KO'd Muhammad Ali - would he had done? I doubt it but when we are comparing fighters from the past to the present - the fighter from the past always has that unfair disadvantage with the fact they had inferior training methods, diet and lifestyle habits.
If Muhammad Ali had been born in 1980 instead of 1942 - he would be 6ft 6ins and 16 stone with the same attributes and whatnot then he would be more than a match for Vitali Klitsckho. 6ft 3ins and 216lbs Muhammad Ali would have had a hard time with Vitali Klitsckho - you may hate the thought but that is the truth. And the same goes for a 1939 version of Joe Louis against Frank Bruno.
As for Klitsckho vs Bruno - Vitali would use his long arms to push off Bruno and bomb him out on the outside - it would be over in 2 rounds and I love Frank Bruno - he was my hero growing up but Bruno was criminally overprotected, Mugabi is right when he says no-one at the time thought Bruno was anything other than what he was - a big strong, brave fighter who had heart and character and that is why the British people love him. I always remember when he was at training camp for Tyson I in 1989 and he was on a satellite link on Wogan and his little daughter saw his face on the big screen and went over to kiss the screen - Frank started to cry and was trying to hold back the tears and the whole crowd on Wogan strarted chanting Bruuuuuuuuno. No fighter - not even Ricky Hatton has had that support.
It is a shame we never got to see him against Trevor Berbick, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon in a rematch over 10 rounds, Francesco Damiani, Hughroy Currie, Funso Banjo and David Pearce, Mike Weaver, Bonecrusher Smith in a rematch, David Bey, Gerry Cooney, Renaldo Snipes etc - he would have beaten all them but instead we got him against Chuck Gardner, Reggie Gross and the likes and it was a damn shame.
That was a good post Carlos. I did hold a similar logic and then read the book; 'The Arc Of Boxing' Mike Silver. That got me thinking some. Though I agree that modern boxers are better athletes and have less body fat and bigger muscles; the boxers of 50 - 80 years ago learnt the trade, there were many more good class fighters around and the true top professionals had far more bouts. They were artisans of the ring. The very top class champions are legends and rightly so; they were masters of their discipline.
Joe Louis was not just a 'so so' heavyweight who happened to be World Champion; (it was a fair bit harder to be champion in his era). He was a good size heavyweight who wrecked big, strong decent class heavys with punches that were very fast, very accurate and very powerful.
For the most part the very heavily muscled boxers are 'pushing' heavy shots out; the punches are not thrown out. The muscle mass impedes the power of the shot.
There is no denying that Frank Bruno was a massively popular boxer who gave his all; I enjoyed his bouts against the other top men of his era (and hated the mismatches).
