Old Training v Modern - Too much or Not Enough?

Don't worry guys I'm not go gonna go all 'azania' on you with the modern methods business! 

I was reading something the other day in which a historian (can't remember where - may have been on monte cox's site) was being critical of the lack of training applied by modern fighters. He wrote that fighters of decades ago would be in the gym virtually all year round, days after a fight, training, practising, honing their skills. In contrast, today's fighters hone their craft whilst young, but when established only tend to train when they have a fight approaching. This means 2 or maybe 3 lots of 8 weeks per year, much of which is time spent cutting weight as much as working on boxing technique. 

I was reminded of this today when I read Nonito Donaires facebook on which he commented along the lines of "back in the gym after months away, feels good to be hitting something again". Donaires last fight was against montiel 4 months ago, so here we have a p4p top 5 fighter who has seemingly done little or no boxing training for a quarter of a year. 

Is the historian theory correct, do modern fighters not train enough and - can you say certain  skills or techniques are becoming a lost art as a result (I'm thinking blocking parrying etc).

Would be interested to here your thoughts. 

Oh dear. Can of worms, anyone..? I'll read your OP properly later Sugar Boy, but right now I gotta nap.

think some boxers have become lazy in between fights these days, hatton is the obvious choice. they now know alot more about there bodys and have strict guidelines to follow when coming into a camp but fighters of the past didnt have such luxurys. they fought alot more often and couldnt get away with spending months just on cardio and cutting weight. they needed to be fit all year round.

this could be related to burn out of the older fighters, current boxers are able to give there bodies the rest they need.perhaps why the likes of hopkins has been able to go on so long. think modern training techniques are helpful if applied correctly and you dont pig out, out of training. think someone haye is a good example of the modern day fighter who always looks in great shape come fight night.

I think you need to get the balance right. Modern fighters would be better off spending all year round working on the technical side of their game instead of only having short intensive training camps. There's no need to be in fighting shape all year but just staying in the gym and working on some pure boxing even when you haven't got a fight lined up would be a good idea and when you get 8 weeks away from a fight then its time to get in physical shape and lose the weight.

You not think old boxers took time off!!! Fitz, Corbett, Dempsey etc all did vaudeville etc....

John L went on the pee between fights!!!!

Mancini had time off between fights and anybody that has seen Mancini-kim would be amazed at the pace they kept up...

Modern fighters are gym rats and olden day fighters were gym rats too....I'm sure there were exceptions in both eras...

Think you are over reacting...a little..

think time away from the gym is good to rest batteries....

Interesting one, football players didn't act they were shot back then either lol... apart from the likes of Chris Arreola, Ricky Hatton and some of Enzo Calzaghes old lot, I wouldnt say its entirely true.

You know for a fact deep down that the majority of top boxers and those who care about themselves keep themselves in check through out the year. Bernard Hopkins is a great example, heck, the guy would wake up at 4am whilst on a cruise and jog around the ship for 2 hours... ON HOLIDAY. I hear that Floyd Mayweather also puts a lot of time in the gym which isn't surprising when you see how he looks on his return to the ring every 18 months.

The difference in this day and age is that it is easier to cut weight in an intense regime than it was back then, with the scientific knowledge of sports conditioning... and given the abundance of different weight classes its probably not as important to train every day.

Olden day fighters...smoked, drank and didn't have the "food sources" that modern day guys have..

So if they were gym rats then maybe it was a great leveller..who knows but interesting article..

A lot more hugging in the old days as well in fights..

Much more love..........for their fellow man!!

Its less a case of old v new and more of a case of each individuals preferance or choice.

Nowadays they fight competitively less often but it doesnt mean guys like Mayweather, Hopkins etc are idle in between fights. Mayweather is probably in the gym every week despite his various "retirements" and Hopkins never slacks off.

Equally in the older days there are examples of fighters who were not renowned for their love of training or doing little in between fights.

Also in the earlier days they fought more often but against much more mixed opposition. If a fighter did put on a few pounds in between fights he could simply have a bout at a different weight limit. Nowadays this practically never happens. Even if you go through boxrec and look at some of the older fighters in the days they fought more often, its not unusual to see them weigh in at qute a large variety of weights in short spaces which indicates they werent neccessarily strictly keeping to a certain limit. They had to make limits for the big fights or the title fights but in between that they could fluctuate quite a bit.

There are pros and cons. Fighting in more in the old days meant you gained more experience, but nowadays at the top level they have much more highly specialised training camps tailored to specific opponents who can be studied and replicted in sparring. There may be less time spent on the basics but camps overall are more specialised. Groves sparring and training with Dirrell for instance was probably better prep for DeGale than 2/3 fights against domestic level opponents. However fighting more often in the old days meant you were required to do more on the job learning and were tested more seriously, as well as encountering a wide variet of styles early on.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

John L went on the pee between fights!!!!

John L went on the pee between rounds!

I think that the simple fact is that old time fighters trained all the time because they fought far more frequently esp in the 1930s and 40s, but the emphasis in training has also shifted - as sport science has developed more time has been dedicated to "conditioning" as opposed to skill development, in the old days the conditioning and skill work were more a combined element. Modern fighters definately seem larger and more defined and possibly stronger, but not neccessarily more skilled, but I don't think that this phenomina is confined to boxing. I heard Darren Anderton interviewed about the current state of football, and he reckoned that whilst the likes of Drogba are better athletes than previous generations ie faster, stronger etc they are not as good as actually kicking the ball. Henry Cooper certainly believed the modern boxers focussed on bulking up and conditioning to the detriment of learning the trade, and that skills such as slipping and countering were becoming lost arts

Journeymen fighters today still jump about the weights between fights. They don't have the backing to have quality sparring sessions, so have to prize fight to make brass. Prime example listed below.

http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=14844&cat=boxer