BoxRec

I'm glad I'm hearing these comments.... Long live the 1950's!

dempseyfire wrote:

evrenb wrote:Hi guys. Do you think that the fighters of today are punching harder than ever? I mean the guys are built better than ever, look stronger than ever.

Actually the fighters in the 50s and 60s had overall better physiques and musculature. Look at the back muscles of a Gene Fullmer or Rocky Castellani and then look at the middleweights today. And don't get me started on the heavyweights . . .

Yes or Carmen Basillio, Jonny Saxton, Ezzard Charles. Today's fighters look different because they do things like bench press to build pecs.

So all the specialist power training and fitness regimes, protein and recovery drinks, getting dieticians on board etc amounts to nothing???
Please do not get me wrong - I am obsessed with old school. But why would the fighters of yesteryear be as strong and punching as hard as todays fighters?? I do not want to view my idols through rose-tinted glasses.

evrenb wrote:So all the specialist power training and fitness regimes, protein and recovery drinks, getting dieticians on board etc amounts to nothing???
Please do not get me wrong - I am obsessed with old school. But why would the fighters of yesteryear be as strong and punching as hard as todays fighters?? I do not want to view my idols through rose-tinted glasses.

Points been made already but strength/fitness are not the same as punching power.

I'm sure nutritionists, plyometric/isometric programmes, supplements and the rest play their role, especially in weight making, but not really when it comes to punching power on the whole.

Othro wrote:Maybe Golovkin but he's not like Gerald McClellan or Nigel Benn . His power is delivered well because of his skill.

In my opinion, Golovkin has got brilliant power in his fists, but it is maximized by his accuracy. His punches do tend to find their mark when he senses his opponent is hurt. As such he doesn't waste punches or energy.

Tuan_Jim wrote:Body building has increased dramatically, technique has nosedived. Watching fights now and from the 60s, 70s and 80s is like night and day.

I would tend to agree with this. And I would also add that the old-days fighters had more courage and guts than today's guys. Could any of you honestly see any of today's fighters taking a hiding for 10-11 rounds, then having the conviction to keep pushing forward and going for the stoppage?

I wouldn't say so, a lot of boxers today tend to fold when they've been hurt and just cover up instead of fighting on.

I agree with Crease though the paradox is that Audley Harrison who is known as a 'bottler' did just that v Sprott.

evrenb wrote:So all the specialist power training and fitness regimes, protein and recovery drinks, getting dieticians on board etc amounts to nothing???
Please do not get me wrong - I am obsessed with old school. But why would the fighters of yesteryear be as strong and punching as hard as todays fighters?? I do not want to view my idols through rose-tinted glasses.

"Power training" has absolutely nothing to do with punching power. Lots of very strong guys can't punch for sh^&.

The strength guys built through working manual labor from an early age and generally being much more active in general (no such thing as sitting on the couch watching TV back in the 30s and 40s) beats any regimen some self-proclaimed 'guru' will concoct . . which generally mimics the same exercises that boxers have been doing for decades anyway. And look at someone like Manny Steward's training regimen . . it's very old school. Steward didn't even believe in using weights at all.

Protein and recovery drinks? Really? . . .

Evren, have you been reading the protein shake adverts and actually believing them?

The diet for strength training everyone is on about now is Paleo. Really old school

You mock me!! Lol :-(
Last time I went gym proper...it was protein shakes..that and injecting our sacks!

evrenb wrote:You mock me!! Lol :-(
Last time I went gym proper...it was protein shakes..that and injecting our sacks!

Injecting sacks sounds messy. It's real food that provides the best nourishment and beef, eggs, non polluted fish and organic vegetables were all freely available to boxers back in the day.

I can bench more than my dad, squat more etc etc but even at 66 he can still crush my hand. He worked as a brick layer from 13 and never did weight training. It's a wiry strength and you can see guys like Dempsey, Ketchel, Basilio, Marciano, Zale etc all had it. Dempseyfire makes better points but you know what I'm getting at. Look at Joe Choynski KOing Johnson.

I know what you mean about that ..My Uncle is like that - hands like a bunch of bananas and rock solid. We were trying to pull a tree up in my mums garden and no one came close - even my bro who is a very keen bodybuilder! Uncle at 74 came up and pulled it out - raw power. He is only 5ft 7 mind but boy he grew up tough. I love his stories!

evrenb wrote:Hi guys. Do you think that the fighters of today are punching harder than ever? I mean the guys are built better than ever, look stronger than ever.

If you look below the heavyweight division, you will see that most of the guys have very little body fat through out history. The tried and true ways of training may not be as time efficient, but they worked.

And as many have mentioned, being strong doesn't men you are a hard puncher.

Ambling Alp II wrote:

evrenb wrote:Hi guys. Do you think that the fighters of today are punching harder than ever? I mean the guys are built better than ever, look stronger than ever.

If you look below the heavyweight division, you will see that most of the guys have very little body fat through out history. The tried and true ways of training may not be as time efficient, but they worked.

And as many have mentioned, being strong doesn't men you are a hard puncher.

When I do train , which is intermittently, and I do weights I feel that my punch power is much higher than when I am not training. I haven't measured it but you get a sense. Maybe my imagination. . .

evrenb wrote:

Ambling Alp II wrote:

evrenb wrote:Hi guys. Do you think that the fighters of today are punching harder than ever? I mean the guys are built better than ever, look stronger than ever.

If you look below the heavyweight division, you will see that most of the guys have very little body fat through out history. The tried and true ways of training may not be as time efficient, but they worked.

And as many have mentioned, being strong doesn't men you are a hard puncher.

When I do train , which is intermittently, and I do weights I feel that my punch power is much higher than when I am not training. I haven't measured it but you get a sense. Maybe my imagination. . .

Do you do other strength training besides weights? When I began boxing long ago I was supplementing it with weights; then stopped but still did all the old school strength exercises with medicine balls, push-ups/pull-ups, hitting the tires etc. Never thought the weights made me any stronger than the other exercises.

dempseyfire wrote:

evrenb wrote:So all the specialist power training and fitness regimes, protein and recovery drinks, getting dieticians on board etc amounts to nothing???
Please do not get me wrong - I am obsessed with old school. But why would the fighters of yesteryear be as strong and punching as hard as todays fighters?? I do not want to view my idols through rose-tinted glasses.

"Power training" has absolutely nothing to do with punching power. Lots of very strong guys can't punch for sh^&.

The strength guys built through working manual labor from an early age and generally being much more active in general (no such thing as sitting on the couch watching TV back in the 30s and 40s) beats any regimen some self-proclaimed 'guru' will concoct . . which generally mimics the same exercises that boxers have been doing for decades anyway. And look at someone like Manny Steward's training regimen . . it's very old school. Steward didn't even believe in using weights at all.

Protein and recovery drinks? Really? . . .

Just sounds unmanly, doesn't it?

Do you have to be manly to be strong then...or a big puncher...what if I am effeminate ?

I think they punched harder back then because that's all they did. Today, fighters may have the fitness and technology advantages but simply don't fight as much as the old school. A guy today with 40+ wins is considered a full career when some boxers did that in two years. Boxing is the only sport where they do it less than they did before. The only way to be a better boxer/puncher ect. is to simply do it more.

IKSRTFO wrote:I think they punched harder back then because that's all they did. Today, fighters may have the fitness and technology advantages but simply don't fight as much as the old school. A guy today with 40+ wins is considered a full career when some boxers did that in two years. Boxing is the only sport where they do it less than they did before. The only way to be a better boxer/puncher ect. is to simply do it more.

Competition too...