It's more about the heart and work ethic of the boxer and not what the boxer has. If a fighter is aware that he has less and works to compensate for it with more work, I think that he/she could achieve the same level as the the boxer with state of the art equipment. "Put a man in a jungle, and he will become a beast. Put in a man in the city, and he will lose himself." Whether your hitting mitts or bamboo pillars, it doesn't really matter as long as your heart is willing to suffer to achieve your goal.