A question about the 70's Heavyweights

[fg2227]

Most people think that this was the strongest era for the heavyweight scene.What i wonder is that during the 70's did the boxing public and experts think that it was the strongest?

[kenmore]

Most people think that this was the strongest era for the heavyweight scene.What i wonder is that during the 70's did the boxing public and experts think that it was the strongest?

At the time, nobody talked about the division as being at its strongest point historically. People knew that Ali, Frazier and Foreman were all-time greats or near greats, but that same high esteem wasn't necessarily extended to the era's contenders. Only in the '80s and '90s did people look back on the depth of talent in the '70s and accord it high respect.

[Marciano Frazier]

No, people weren't saying that it was the strongest era ever, but it is notable that pretty much no one was saying it was the weakest ever or one of them, which a lot of people usually are saying in any given era.

[punchy]

You have to ask yourself how much television played a role here

[pmfan]

No, people weren't saying that it was the strongest era ever, but it is notable that pretty much no one was saying it was the weakest ever or one of them, which a lot of people usually are saying in any given era.

I agree. People enjoyed the competition and the great fights and didn't complain, so that means they thought it was a good era.

[clark]

I must say. All great comments. No doubt with the lack of stations then, a (non- pay-per-view)heavyweight televised championship bout was huge.

[MGUNZ48]

The reason the 70's heavywgts look so good, is becasue how weak the guys fighting today are.

[BlackWater]

I agree. People enjoyed the competition and the great fights and didn't complain, so that means they thought it was a good era.

This is probably the biggest thing. There are always draw backs in most eras.

[elindiomonzon]

it was the biggest era for the heavyweight division. the division was so strong that they had excellent contenders like bonavena who in todays era he would have beat almost everyone and would have been a very solid champion.

[Bokaj]

I'm not really sure that guys like Bonavena, Ellis, Quarry, Lyle, Shavers, Bugner, Norton and Young where that special each and one of them. It's just that you had so many quality contenders and then four ATG champions in Frazier, Foreman, Ali and Holmes. That of course makes it a very special era.

[Longhhorn71]

The Contenders fought each other.....then the de-throned champ fought the best contenders to get a shot at the championship again.

ABC Wide World of Sports, CBS Sports Spectacular, NBC Sports World all brought top of the line heavyweight fights to you.

Then the very best fights were on Closed Circuit which was like going to the fight in itself.

Great days.....not like the "marketing system" we have today...boxing was truly a major sport back then.

[AREA 53]

As well as the Top Guys, it was a time when nearly every couple of months, a new heavyweight "One to Watch" would Emerge, Jose Luis Garcia, Big Dave Matthews, Ron Stander, Al Lewis, Morris Jackson, Ted Gullick, Al Jones (x2) Pedro Lovell, Biff Cline, Boone Kirkman, Jeff Merritt, Walter Moore, Gord Racette ect ect the local Prospects just kept coming, most ultimately faltered and fell away but they added some good ink to the Trade Journals of the Time and it was interesting to see who would come through or who would fall at the first hurdle, like most Periods the Top end was bubbling Away nicely, but at grass Roots Level it was also a very fertile period.

[The Kurgan]

I think one of the most notable things about the 1970s was how non-chalant many observers were about what we today would regard as FOTY candidates. For instance, Lyle-Shavers was nearly totally ignored by the press and was only filmed for archival purposes, yet it was a fight between two experienced, well-known and entertaining punchers. Great scraps like that were just so common that they weren't seen as too special.

It's also worth noting that, thanks partially to Ali's loud mouth, the greats of the 1960s and 1970s got a lot more respect from many observers in head-to-head matches than their predecessors. There wasn't the same cult of nostalgia that is present in the modern era.

One thing that's interesting is that even when the top of the division was boring (during some periods of Ali's later reign) the division was well-regarded due to Ali's personality, promotional skills and the very strong competitive layer of contenders below. Managers also took more risks (I cite Foreman-Young and Berbick-Norton) which made for a less predictable division.

[Longhhorn71]

I think one of the most notable things about the 1970s was how non-chalant many observers were about what we today would regard as FOTY candidates. For instance, Lyle-Shavers was nearly totally ignored by the press and was only filmed for archival purposes, yet it was a fight between two experienced, well-known and entertaining punchers. Great scraps like that were just so common that they weren't seen as too special.

It's also worth noting that, thanks partially to Ali's loud mouth, the greats of the 1960s and 1970s got a lot more respect from many observers in head-to-head matches than their predecessors. There wasn't the same cult of nostalgia that is present in the modern era.

One thing that's interesting is that even when the top of the division was boring (during some periods of Ali's later reign) the division was well-regarded due to Ali's personality, promotional skills and the very strong competitive layer of contenders below. Managers also took more risks (I cite Foreman-Young and Berbick-Norton) which made for a less predictable division.

I think he means Duane Bobick vs Ken Norton

( Bobick takes a big right hand to the Adam's apple from Norton....
now that really hurts......and is ko'ed in one).

[The Kurgan]

I think he means Duane Bobick vs Ken Norton

( Bobick takes a big right hand to the Adam's apple from Norton....
now that really hurts......and is ko'ed in one).

Indeed I do. Berbick vs. Norton would actually have been pretty interesting, considering that they were both only really good when they were on the front foot.

[ChrisPontius]

One thing that's interesting is that even when the top of the division was boring (during some periods of Ali's later reign) the division was well-regarded due to Ali's personality, promotional skills and the very strong competitive layer of contenders below. Managers also took more risks (I cite Foreman-Young and Berbick-Norton) which made for a less predictable division.

Agreed on the first part; in fact, outside of Ali's entertainment value, the period of 1975-1980 wasn't all that. Ali basically kept the title hostage, refused to face Foreman, should've lost to Norton, Young and arguably Shavers. He had a lot of boring fights against undeserving challengers. Young, although one of my favorites, was not an exciting fighter, Foreman retired, Shavers was erratic, Frazier retired, and then Spinks became linear champ...Holmes looked promising though, and didn't have that "boxing used me, now i'm gonna use boxing"-attitude yet in the late 70's.


But i'm not sure if Bobick-Norton was such an unnecessary risk. Or well, of course it was a big risk (especially in hindsight), but didn't Bobick come off something like 30 or even 40 tomato can-wins in a row? A manager taking risk with a prospect is for instance Alexander Povetkin's manager; not 40 Foremaneqsue wins before stepping up.

[The Kurgan]

But i'm not sure if Bobick-Norton was such an unnecessary risk. Or well, of course it was a big risk (especially in hindsight), but didn't Bobick come off something like 30 or even 40 tomato can-wins in a row? A manager taking risk with a prospect is for instance Alexander Povetkin's manager; not 40 Foremaneqsue wins before stepping up.

It certainly wasn't as risky as Povetkin's stepping up (although Povetkin has had an even longer amateur career than Bobick) but it was a surprising choice. Bobick went straight from C level to A level, if one remembers that Norton was regarded as at least a top 5 fighter.

Also, one has to remember that the current generation of non-American heavyweights is an exceptional one in terms of stepping up. Wladimir, Vitali, Povetkin, Haye, Chagaev etc. are hardly typical. It's because of a rare correlation of hunger, brave management, television (which allows for early exposure; you needed 30-40 fights in the 1930s just to be known in boxing circles) and competitive spirit amongst prospects. The early-to-mid-1980s saw a similar period of boxers stepping up early.

Norton was a very risky choice for a boxer with limited experience against competition of even a top 20 calibre. It'd be a bit like Tye Fields facing Ruslan Chagaev in his next fight.

[Coast]

I wish more "experts" would correctly talk about the EARLY 70's because the late 70's were not a great era for Heavyweights. Aside from Neon Leon of course.

[Bokaj]

1966-1975 seems really to have been the golden era. During this time fighters like Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena, Lyle, Shavers, Bugner were at their best or close to it, and they more or less all fought each other and several of those fights are modern classics. Add a resurgent Patterson to that and you have a great set of fighters.

[Bigcat]

As well as the Top Guys, it was a time when nearly every couple of months, a new heavyweight "One to Watch" would Emerge, Jose Luis Garcia, Big Dave Matthews, Ron Stander, Al Lewis, Morris Jackson, Ted Gullick, Al Jones (x2) Pedro Lovell, Biff Cline, Boone Kirkman, Jeff Merritt, Walter Moore, Gord Racette ect ect the local Prospects just kept coming, most ultimately faltered and fell away but they added some good ink to the Trade Journals of the Time and it was interesting to see who would come through or who would fall at the first hurdle, like most Periods the Top end was bubbling Away nicely, but at grass Roots Level it was also a very fertile period.

I hear ya man, very quality post..

The competition at the highest level was amazing but it was these top notch contenders arriving that made it a Boom period for heavys..

I actually thing some of the heavys in the early eighties weren't that bad, Larry ruled the roost and some great prospects made the champs fight very hard to strive to follow Alis lead..