[IceTea]

IMOP big, faster, stronger or measurables such as how fast someone can run a 40 yard dash or how much someone bench presses doesn't factor on how skillful a boxer is or will become. Boxing has devolved rather than evolved as have training techniques. Most of the great trainers were out of the sport by the 1980s and only a few remain (Roach, Atlas, Richardson, and Manny). Just go to any boxing gym and you will discover what passes for a boxing trainer, instructing future pugilists how to lead with their faces. Most boxing trainers today are nothing but mediocre conditioners.

If you watch film of Jack Johnson, Tommy Laughran, Charley Burley, or Joe Louis you will see that they keep most of their weight inside their back knee unlike most of todays professionals who fight over their lead foot. Bernard Hopkins is one of the few exceptions. I believe that since WWII each generation of boxers are less skilled than the previous generations. This is due to several factors mainly lack of competition. In 1920s there were generally between 8 to 10 thousand professional boxers licensed each year and today there are barely 2 thousand. That means there are less capable trainers, less gyms, less shows, and boxers are not fight as frequently. Some of this is due to most being over protected.

I think boxing reached its zenith skill wise sometime between the end of WW I and the start of WW II.