
Originally Posted by
JazMerkin

Originally Posted by
Jimboogie
I dont see why there should be a bias for fighters from an older generation... IMO Manny Pacquiao is already better than the likes of Duran, Leonard, Whittaker etc... Is it so bad that i feel Floyd Mayweather is more accomplished than Hank Armstrong in every sense of the word?
It depends if you've seen said fighters in action. It also goes both ways. If you haven't seen many of them in action, then don't make a judgement. If you haven't seen Armstrong in action then it is wrong, however, if you have & simply feel Mayweather is better that is fair enough.
But, the simple fact is you do have to factor different things in. In the eras of SRR, Pep & Armstrong, they would be fighting top opponents every few weeks, which makes their performances all the more impressive. Now a top fighter gets in the ring every 6 months at best.
Also, I can't see Pacquiao as being better than Leonard or Duran yet & probably not Whitaker quite.
The thing that gets me is, as time goes on, styles evolve, tactics tighten and fighters become more athletic and so on... I don't look at Ray Robinson and think ''with today's training methods he'd be unbeatable...'' He was yesterdays fighter and i judge him as such. Hence achievement is the biggest thing these older fighters have going for them. (Hence why it's only the fighters with exceptional achievements who stand out).
Ray Robinson has more knockouts than most guys these days have had fights. But what of things like the 'tours of Europe' and b.s like that? How does that ''factor in'' to his tally?
I'm not knocking Robinson one bit but being
old skool is not to be viewed through rose tinted glasses IMO. It's a two way street. There's a lot of old skool shit that went on back in the day that, if still incorporated in today's game, would make some current fighters God like icons (outside of the Philippines).
Another thing about Ray Robinson (Sorry!) was how far ahead of the game he was. Nobody could do the things he could do, brought the fight the way he did (or at least that was how it was viewed).
Thats no different now with both Floyd and Manny (Probably more so Manny; albiet ironically with his technical deficiencies).
NO ONE in the sport today, nor ever have been able to fight they way they do. And this is two guys who
have beat the best and done it through numerous weight classes just the same... So how are they NOT ranked higher than those oldies?
I thought i'd rather not go quietly on this one

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