Honestly, isn't this something to do with the absolute titans we had boxing years ago? And don't seem to have now? I quite like the “gypsy king”, and follow his bouts, because he's got a lot of what boxers call heart, but surely not for the beauty of his boxing.
There's just as many great fighters as there was always was. People look at the past with nostalgia and think it was better but all sports things have improved over the years and boxing is no different, it's just there's no way to measure it like sprinting or something, but it would be naive to think sports have moved on so much but boxing hasn't.
The likes of Crawford, Inoue, Bivol, Beterbiev, Usyk, Fury, Lomachenko, Golovkin, Canelo etc etc would have been very good fighters in any era. Only people clinging onto the past think otherwise.
The only thing better in the past was there wasn't so many things in the way preventing fights as much, like promoters that don't work with each other, broadcasting deals and things like that... but that seems to be changing now with the Saudi money in boxing and we are getting the fights that should be made.
I do think boxers were held in higher regard in the past and are seen as titans, but a lot of it was because boxing was held in better esteem because there wasn't as much frustration around it with boxing politics. The fighters themselves are just as good as ever. In reality, fighters like Crawford would match up very well with Ray Leonard and whatnot.
Also Tyson Fury is a fantastic boxer, skill wise. Just because he just lost a fight to another great fighter doesn't change that, many great fighters lose. Boxing has never seen anyone like Fury, a massive man that size that can box inside, outside, orthodox, southpaw, forwards or backwards, high ring iq. Anyone who knows the art of boxing knows he's a tremendous talent, he just lost to another tremendous talent. Both of those guys would be good in any era.
But as I always say, people only cling to the past in sports with no definitive measurement. In sports where things can be proven, records have improved over time generally. That means athletes get better over time, so it'd be silly to think football or boxing hasn't either.
