Has the stamina of boxers declined? If so why?

[BitPlayer]

I find it crazy so many boxers touted prospects etc. have trouble going the 12 rounds, and then you look at the past and some boxers had gone even 20 rounds pretty early in their career. For example in 1889 a 19 year old Tommy Ryan fought Martin Shaughnessy, the boxrec records don't show It, but this was a decent step up in opposition, they fought 23 rounds before Tommy got the KO. Ryan later described his training for that match as being as week of running around a track daily, he also said he had stopped him for a 10 count in the 13th, but because Shaughnessy was the local fighter and people weren't happy with it Ryan continued. They fought again within a couple months this time it took 48 rounds.

Now 12 rounds is a test for many a up and coming fighter and one many struggle with if they don't fail it entirely.

There's footage of Battling Nelson's fights with Ad Wolgast and Joe Gans, and they fought at a pretty similar pace to a modern 12 rounder and kept going to round 40 and 42 at an albeit slower but still decent pace.

Even big fat Ed Dunkhorst came out fast against Gus Ruhlin and lasted 22 rounds before exhaustion stopped him.

[Controversial]

It’s hard to compare. You can find fights on YouTube where bareknuckle fighters scrap for ages, they aren’t fitter than a top pro boxer even though it appears tougher. I’m not so sure fighters were so much fitter it was more that their opponents had similar fitness and strength so they could match each other because you are comparing like for like. A bit like a marathon runner from the 1920 was still fit but they weren’t fitter than today’s top runners.

[Ezzard]

In my lifetime yes...12 rounds and not 15... Power and speed are valued more now than before.

[littlepug]

Because they prefer to fcuk about doing weights and boxercise type training vids rather than getting in the ring and throwing punches. Sparring/bagwork/pads/skipping/floor exersices/running that's it, don't need owt else.

[Crease]

Has the stamina of boxers declined? If so why?

Absolutely. Mainly because fighters train for 12 rounders these days, rather then the grueling 15 rounders that we were used to of the past.

Also, I would add that fighter's ability to take sustained punishment has greatly diminished these days. It is very common for fighters to shell up and try and survive until the end of runs, instead of firing back with confidence and conviction.

[Kalan]

Has the stamina of boxers declined? If so why?

Absolutely. Mainly because fighters train for 12 rounders these days, rather then the grueling 15 rounders that we were used to of the past.

Also, I would add that fighter's ability to take sustained punishment has greatly diminished these days. It is very common for fighters to shell up and try and survive until the end of runs, instead of firing back with confidence and conviction.

A boxer's ability to absorb a hard punch isn't dependent on the era he fights in... nor is his stamina.

NOBODY can take sustained punishment from a big hitter... People asked, "How's Foreman going to react when he can't hurt Frazier with his best shots?" .... Other clueless questions are: "What are the New England Patriots going to do when they get run over by the Helena Hellcats?" or "What's Anthony Joshua going to do when he has to face a clever southpaw like Francesco Pianeta?" Certain questions make invalid assumptions.

Nobody saw Frazier get hit by a 6'3" X 217 puncher with a rock hard physique and 17" biceps before.

If you're a bigger, stronger man, you're generally going to take a better punch... Facial construction, bone density, other genetic characteristics, and mental and physical conditioning all help - but if you match Dick Tiger with Bob Foster he'll get knocked out... If you match Bob Foster with Joe Frazier he'll get knocked out... If you match Joe Frazier with George Foreman he'll get knocked out... Tiger, Frazier, and Foreman all had good chins and a hard punch - but Tiger was teeny... If you go up to Light Heavyweight you need to add more muscle and size than Tiger did... You need resistance.

It's nothing to go 15 rounds if you're a good boxer... You can't get through a 4-rounder if you can't box.

When James Toney couldn't run a mile in 9 minutes he could box 15 rounds and probably box another 15 rounds the next day... He was a natural Middleweight who just couldn't stop eating... He put on a good amount of muscle by doing a lot of strength training for Holyfield, and he actually looked half good -- but he generally thought that kind of exertion was unnecessary and looked more like he hadn't trained a day.

[gilgamesh]

Just depends on which fighters you're talking about.

In general I'm sure it requires an extra bit of conditioning to go 15 as opposed to 12, but there are certainly guys that have fought in the modern era that give you the idea that they'd have fared just fine in the 15 round era.