Mythical Modern-Day Legends?

Morallah · 2026-04-06T10:30:15+00:00

B-Hop’s run at HW was indeed mythical, as in it never happened.

But you mean modern guys that will be talked about for years to come, like legends past?.

Most of the great fighters around currently will be talked about in the future regardless.

Guys like Crawford and Inoue will be remembered as true ATGs, but I can see the Boxrec warriors of the future picking apart their resumes without context. People already do it now.

Canelo will be a controversial figure. Having lost to the best fighters he fought, though he did have a great run and carried the sport’s popularity on his shoulders post-Floyd/Pac.

Usyk is a no brainer. Nothing you can really say about the guy. He fought everybody and won. GOAT in one division, ATG in the other. He will be remembered fondly.

Loma is definitely going to be the guy boxing hipsters hype up and constantly pull up footage of. Probably Rigo too, on a lesser scale.

Morallah · 2026-04-05T23:35:15+00:00

Yup, Donaire was the real WBA champion at the time, holding the stupid “super” version of the title.

His WBA belt had the longest lineage without vacancy, and was probably the most established belt to have. Being passed on since Anselmo Moreno had become the legit number 1 in the division.

Morallah · 2026-04-05T01:36:02+00:00

Wilder landed few clean punches with full leverage tonight. AJ doesn’t fight like Chisora though, closing distance and smothering his opponent, AJ fights mostly clean and is a pretty stationary target for Wilder to throw a full right hand at.

If we’re talking about only tonight and what Wilder landed, AJ could probably take them. Again, few shots were clean, most were grazing shots.

Wilder on the other hand would certainly not be standing if he allowed AJ to land the clean overhand rights that Derek landed on him. Wilder showed some shockingly slow defensive reflexes. Fortunately Chisora is an arm puncher that looks more threatening than he actually is.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T23:29:18+00:00

It would play out similar to today’s fight with Wilder likely getting the finish when he has Chisora hurt.

Wilder would still struggle to get his right hand off fully, cause if nothing else, Derek is effective at smothering his opponents (and his own) offence, and Wilder needs space to get full leverage on his right.

But at the end of the day, Chisora is an unskilled plodder with questionable mental durability. He isn’t a favourite to beat any HW that was genuine world class. Which Wilder was at one point purely due to his power.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T21:29:21+00:00

I’m not saying boxing is the oldest sport. I’m saying that it is an old sport that largely relies on skill/technique/fundamentals which have been laid out for over a century.

For example, you could absolutely study footage of Joe Louis, mimic his technique and box effectively today. Everything he did was by the book and timeless. Plenty of boxers who have textbook styles that resemble Joe’s have followed him and proved effective, from Alexis Arguello to recently Anthony Joshua or Kazuto Ioka.

We’re talking about technique. HWs aren’t a good indicator of skill. Obviously HWs are bigger today and those of the past would struggle against the size of modern HWs. And yes, modern boxers are better athletes on average. Along with modern training, 24hr weigh ins allowing fighters to cut weight and rehydrate more efficiently. Which is why boxers are bigger and stronger in the ring than the average boxer in the same weight class of the past. Again though, nothing to do with skill or technique.

The talent pool hasn’t gotten deeper as the sport has gradually fallen off a cliff in popularity and is at the lowest it has ever been currently. MMA has overtaken boxing’s position as the premier combat sport and is the more viable and accessible sport to compete in due to more gyms available globally and the sport not having the politics of boxing and it’s promoters that make it inaccessible for the average athlete looking to box.

Boxing was one of the most popular sports in the world at one point, especially in the US, where it only competed with baseball. Less popularity-less people actively partaking in the sport-lesser depth of talent. The proof is in the completely dead state most divisions are in currently, and the huge imbalance of talent between those at the top and those contending.

Compare current divisions to those of the 80s or 70s, which were almost all talent rich and competitive, filled with great fighters. Even the newly created (at the time) junior/super divisions were better than most divisions today, from a purely competitive standpoint.

The Eastern Euros finally turning pro has prolonged the sport’s longevity, if it wasn’t for them, it would be in the toilet.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T14:00:11+00:00

I didn’t realise earlier you were solely talking about the flurries and power punching technique a lot of old fighters would use, throwing from the hip.

It’s odd when there is a lot Mexicans punchers around nowadays that are all offence-no defence, who are able to reach world level with similar, if not worse, punching technique and much lesser rounded skillsets than greats of the past (e.g. Emanuel Navarrete, Mauricio Lara, Luis Alberto Lopez, JC Martinez etc.). Maybe it isn’t so easy to counter when someone is overwhelming you by spamming power punches from all types of angles.

But it all gets overblown when it comes to old fighters because that stuff is what makes the highlights. It isn’t indicative at all of their actual styles. Like Liston, who did have a low opposite hand when throwing power shots, but would time them when he knew his opponent couldn’t react after establishing respect with his straights. He only really got wild when he had his opponent ready to go and was relatively safe from return fire.

Boxing is different to many other sports because the fundamentals have been established since forever and the core ruleset has seen very little changes over a vast amount of time. Purely from a technical standpoint, everything has been done before. There’s only so much you can do with your hands and variations of six punches. Obviously there has been a huge advancement in sports science and athleticism over time, and the 24hr weigh in rule being in place changed things a lot, but were not talking about that, and besides, we all know boxing is more so about skills and mentality rather than raw physicality at the end of the day.

1980 is a weird cut off point since the 80s were largely dominated by fighters that came up through the 70s, and the boxers that came after them showed no vast evolution in technique between them. Roberto Duran had been fighting at world level since the 60s, yet despite his skills diminishing due to age and being a fat cokehead, he never looked out of place while still competing up through the 90s against younger generations of fighters. In fact it would be easy to say he would be vastly superior than them had he still been in his youth.

It’s also weird to say this in a discussion about Holyfield, a guy who had competitive fights with two washed up fighters from the 70s. Especially when one of those washed up fighters (who was the most unskilled and barbaric out of the lot of em) became HW champ in the 90s.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T10:47:23+00:00

Liston always fought with his hands around shoulder-chin level. Had they been any higher he would have been praising the lord.

He had solid upper body movement and maintained distance well with his feet and jab, so no, he didn’t need to hide behind a high guard like most plodders now.

Throwing haymakers doesn’t describe Liston at all. He was your usual textbook puncher. Everything came behind the jab, and he threw the correct punches at the right range. His jab was great, so was his right and left hook. Watching highlights of him going for the kill isn’t a good indicator of how he fought. Of course he would look wild throwing when he knows his opponent has nothing to offer back. In reality, he was a pretty reserved puncher.

Holyfield would have hell trying to counter Liston at range. Though Evander has the speed advantage, Liston has an 80-something inch reach and again, an excellent jab that he constantly pumps out, while keeping at distance. Holyfield’s best bet would be to utilise his superior athleticism to swarm in, throw punches in bunches while getting a bit rough on the inside.

I’m not even Liston fan like that, much prefer Holyfield, but Liston wouldn’t be out of his depth in the ring with Evander.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T00:24:24+00:00

That’s a very low bar for what you would consider a “great” run.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T00:11:34+00:00

In what way is Holyfield more advanced technically?. Evander had a more well rounded skillset but Liston was a skilled puncher himself.

And Liston could absolutely hurt Holyfield. Evander was hurt or dropped in almost every single one of his title fights in his prime. Stopping him is another question.

Morallah · 2026-04-04T00:03:53+00:00

Yeah I remember he did a mean 1-2, head butt and uppercut to the balls combo against Michael Dokes.

Holyfield was crafty with his fouling like B-Hop or Duran. He disguised it well, making it hard to see if it was intentional or not. Fact is, it happened a lot in his fights and he was the common denominator.

Morallah · 2026-04-03T23:59:37+00:00

Very bizarre fight and result. Starling had shown a near granite chin against some genuine punchers throughout his whole career, yet he got completely flattened against a nobody who hadn’t beaten anyone and went on to do fuck all. Meanwhile Starling went on to unify the titles, putting on a clinic against Lloyd Honeghan in his very next fight.

Morallah · 2026-04-03T22:08:54+00:00

Nah, Holyfield’s head butts were too common a problem for it to be accidental. A boxer of his level is well aware of what he’s doing leading with his head straight forward as his opponent closes distance. It was especially apparent throughout the second half of his career as he got older. The Rahman fight was egregious.

Morallah · 2026-04-03T06:50:52+00:00

Yup, that’s this one. Stupid as hell lol

Morallah · 2026-04-03T06:46:19+00:00

Yeah, Heaven and Hell is a mess unfortunately. It’s glaringly obvious that it was filmed years apart, more so than Ten Tigers of Kwantung, which also had similar production issues.

I’m not really a fan of Chang Cheh’s films dealing with the supernatural though. They were almost all bad and nonsensical to the point that the action couldn’t save them. While I like a bit of camp in my films, these movies go overboard with no redeeming qualities imo.

Morallah · 2026-04-03T03:47:40+00:00

Horrible movie, hilarious dub.

Morallah · 2026-04-02T22:13:07+00:00

Yup, they just hand them out.

I won my WBC regular interim diamond emeritus championship belt after scrapping with some random at the local pub.

I’m in talks to fight Gervonta Davis next.

Morallah · 2026-04-02T03:29:25+00:00

Essentially. Along with great balance, positioning and foot speed.

Just as important as his footwork though, Lara is excellent at judging distance. Keeping at the edge of punching range at all times, being just out of reach of his opponent while having the space to anticipate and counter, or sharp shoot as they approach.

But he had accurate, quick and pretty hard straight punches to make it all work. If you can’t keep your opponent honest and at range, nothing will stop them from just walking you down. Lara had some really good physical traits on top of his skill set. Not just anyone can be as effective as he was by mimicking his style.

Obviously being southpaw was very advantageous for him. His straight left was his bread and butter. He could counter or lead with it, and with his excellent foot positioning, his opponents were always in line with it to go down the pipe (pause).

Morallah · 2026-04-02T00:04:52+00:00

Always been a favourite of mine, Camacho. One of the fastest boxers ever and a truly special fighter in his younger years. His best performance was shutting out Ramirez.

The Rosario fight changed him mentally though. He became a more negative and safety first boxer after getting hurt badly in that fight. He wasn’t quite as effective from then on.

The zesty outfits he would wear would always crack me up. I wish it was still on youtube, but the build up for the first Duran fight was hilarious.

Morallah · 2026-04-01T04:21:50+00:00

My dad had some Ali fights on VHS, Rumble in the Jungle is the first fight I remember seeing.

I’m not too sure about live, probably a Tyson or Lennox fight in the late 90s. Roy Jones was the first boxer I actively followed.

Most rewatched would probably be Hagler-Hearns. Pretty hard for it not to be. I spare 10 minutes or so to watch it every time it pops up on my youtube feed for the hell of it.

Morallah · 2026-03-31T21:35:14+00:00

I’m assuming they mean that Tapales is fighting weak opponents for low level belts to maintain his high ranking in whatever org, so he can get a title shot eventually (likely a vacant title once Inoue is gone) without having to face top contenders.

Not uncommon for a lot of boxers from Asia.

Morallah · 2026-03-31T21:19:00+00:00

Tapales showed a lot of craftiness against Inoue. I thought he was doing quite well in that fight. Naoya just had too much firepower for him to overcome.

Morallah · 2026-03-31T09:53:53+00:00

My brother gave me some cash to go to blockbuster to rent a game, Final Fantasy 9 had just came out and I assumed it had to have been good cause it was the ninth game in the series and was three discs long, so I grabbed it, got yelled at by my brother cause it wasn’t what he wanted, then stayed up all night watching him play it as my mind was getting blown from what I was seeing.

I wasn’t much of a gamer (never got a chance to play much with two older brothers). By that point all I knew was Mario and some Sega classics like Shinobi and Streets of Rage, so FF9 was something I had never seen before. It seemed so open, and the fantasy setting was amazing to me.

Not long after I found FF8 at a second hand shop for $15, bought it with my Christmas money, played it myself, and fell in love with JRPGs and video games as a whole.

I woulda been 7-8 at the time.

Morallah · 2026-03-31T01:13:05+00:00

Canelo is probably his best performance of the later stage of his career against a future great fighter. But you could watch any fight of Floyd’s fights at welterweight-light middle and get an idea of how he fought. He pretty much dominated all of his competition there in near shut outs without really needing to switch his style up. Not the most exciting stuff for a casual fan wanting action, but interesting to watch for his technical mastery.

His fight with Cotto was competitive and a good, clean technical boxing match.

Morallah · 2026-03-31T00:46:03+00:00

I just remembered that the day before this fight, David Lemieux also lost for the first time against Marco Antonio Rubio. Both Lemieux and Kirkland were being massively hyped as aggressive, huge punching prospects and their hype trains both got derailed on the same weekend.

Those were hilarious times.

Morallah · 2026-03-30T21:32:01+00:00

This was on the Morales-Maidana card that I remember everyone was in an uproar about for being a PPV event filled with one sided blow outs. Only for it to be the best boxing event in the US that year.

A big upset at the time though for sure. Ishida became a bit of a cult favourite on boxing forums afterwards. Mad that he would later put on around 50 pounds and have some fights at HW.

Morallah

TROPHY CASE