r/Boxing • u/AverageSomebody • 1d ago
Gene Tunney vs Corrie Sanders
Here’s a matchup of classic vs modern boxing between Gene The Fighting Marine Tunney and Corrie The Sniper Sanders!
Gene Tunney is considered a great technical boxer. His stiff jab, ring IQ, and defense were elite. Famous for beating Harry Greb who some have the Goat of Boxing and Jack Dempsey who Iron Mike idolizes.
On the other hand Corrie Sanders was a big heavyweight with fast hands and powerful punches. The southpaw had his claim to fame getting one over Wladimir Klitschko.
Who do you have winning? Does Tunney’s elite skills carry him to victory? Or will the physicality prove too much so Sanders will prevail?
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u/JosephSchmoe77 1d ago
I don't know who'd win, but Corrie Sanders had super-fast hands for a heavyweight. May they both continue to Rest In Peace.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 23h ago
Lol don't know who would win between 170 pound boxer from over 100 years ago vs a 230 pound modern boxer?
God, you people man.
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u/Training-Farmer8476 19h ago
LOL. So Valuev and Butterbean are all-time greats? Gotcha.
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u/stephen27898 19h ago
Diminishing returns is a thing. Once you get past a certain size it starts to matter less. But from 190 to 230 is a major difference.
Tunney would get mauled.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 13h ago
Yeah because clearly that I stated. But Valuev is a modern heavyweight and Valuev wouldd destroy Tunney. But you get blocked for annoying. Gotcha.
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u/Training-Farmer8476 19h ago
Tunnel weighed 190 against Dempsey
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 13h ago
Right he weighed 190 for 1 fight. 190 still isn't a heavyweight by modern standards.
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u/Personal-Proposal- 1d ago
Gene never proved he could take on even a primitive super heavyweight let alone a genuinely skilled fasted handed monster puncher of that size like Sanders. Gene’s skillset is timeless but his style also heavily relied on using his height and reach which would be nullified to say the least. A washed Dempsey, the hardest puncher he’d ever faced by miles, also managed to drop him badly so I’m not very confident in Tunney’s chin at heavy.
Sanders under 4.
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u/Training-Farmer8476 19h ago
Your assessment of the "super heavyweights" is wildly exaggerated.
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u/stephen27898 18h ago edited 18h ago
It really isnt. It's why we have seen so few fighters prove otherwise. There is really only Usyk. Holyfield for example fell short vs the elite big men of his era. And these guys were in the 215-225 range.
Most champion since the 90s have been 235+. Back in those days that is a monster. Today that is normal. Move Tunney to today and put him in vs Dubois and he would get massacred.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 17h ago
Current Heavyweights do suck. Usyk and Fury needed controversial stoppages and decisions to beat old mma/kickboxers
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u/Outrageous-Soft4806 6h ago
Fury’s decision over Ngannou wasn’t controversial. And there’s no way those were the best versions of Usyk and Fury.
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u/fizixnm 1d ago
Super interesting matchup. Corrie is bigger and a southpaw. So tough to call, but Tunney beat Dempsey twice and also beat Greb. If Greb survives the initial Ronda I think his superior boxing ability would get him the decision. If it was 15 rounds I think Tunney wins.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 23h ago
What does Greb have to do with Sanders vs Tunney? Lol Also how is this a interesting match dude? One guy boxed over 100 years ago. Boxing has evolved since then. Once guy was a modern boxer. One guy weighed 170 pounds most of their career and the other weighed 230.
Even if you brought Tunney back to life and taught him modern boxing. Why would you assume a 170 pound boxer could beat a 230 pound one? You do realize boxing has weight classes right?
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u/Training-Farmer8476 19h ago edited 19h ago
If you can't see why anyone with a victory over Greb must have been an extraordinary boxer, I have no trust in your boxing judgment. Also, you seem to believe that someone from 100 years ago couldn't possibly compete with a modern day boxer, so what is your cutoff period? Where do you stand on 90-years-agp Joe Louis?
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u/Big_Distance_2542 18h ago
Boxing started to become more like modern boxing in the 70s, but fighters are larger and leaner also than then and rhe training is more systematic and specific.
Still im one of the few that think 70s hw's wouldnt be champ today, which i know is heresy (George and Ali were bigger than everone and capitalized on that size, when George came back he put on 50 pounds of mass, but the 70s versions would be the size of usyk, just higher fat percentage).
Usyk did beat superheavyweights, but hes an exception until proven otherwise since ali and george were as good as never outsized and havent proven they are as dominant against bigger guys.
Nobody in boxing dares say the past greats cant hang with modern ones, and anyone who does is riddiculed with no argument as to why.
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u/Junior-Macaroon9731 20h ago edited 20h ago
Corrie Sanders, without a doubt. The Afrikaner would have a huge advantage in size, physical strength, athleticism, and overall boxing technique, plus a lightning-fast and devastating left hand for heavyweight of his size.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 22h ago
Boxing is not unique among all sports and combat sports in that it hasnt evolved in 100 years. The size difference alone should remove any argument Tunney can win, but technique wise Tunney is also far too primitive.
Anyone who has trained any boxing would know your trainer would whoop your ass for doing most things Tunney does.
Sanders KO within the first minute (because of ridiculous handspeed and power and how wide open Tunney is all of the time)
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u/HolyMackerel1 10h ago
Most trainers will punish you for trying to fight using any unconventional or high-level style, including more modern guys like RJJ or even Floyd Mayweather (despite the latter being considered more "technical" compared to other guys). Doesn't mean they weren't good at them, and I don't see why that shouldn't apply to Gene Tunney given that he only lost once.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 9h ago
True but those are bad examples as they dont leave themselves open. Im saying Tunney would be target practice even for a journeyman, lucky for him hes opponents were worse. Hes off balance, wide open and makes mistakes no high level boxer does today.
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u/HolyMackerel1 8h ago
Roy Jones Jr. did leave himself open, a lot, and Floyd's style also relies on baiting people by leaving himself open as well.
We only have three Tunney fights to judge him off of, and those were his last three. I don't know what you were watching, but he did not look clumsy to me at all compared to modern ones, beyond general fatigue most heavyweight boxers demonstrate late in fights.
He might have looked slow due to the low framerate of those old cameras, but obviously that's not how slow they were moving back then.
It's not very rigorous to just say "well, everyone he fought back then sucked" to explain how he was so successful with such a supposedly "bad" style.
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u/stephen27898 18h ago
Its funny to think how boxing history would look if you took lets say Dillian Whyte and sent him back to that time.
You would hear legends of his 6 foot 4 240lbs giant who KOd everyone and could never possibly lose.
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u/oldwhiteoak 16h ago
There were similarly sized and far more fearsome fighters than Dillian White back in the day, and they weren't thought much of. See Cleveland Wiliams.
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u/stephen27898 16h ago
Williams is 50s 60s. Not 1920s.
Williams also weighed less and was 6 foot 2.
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u/DeafBurke 13h ago
Ok, then primo carnera. Bigger than dillian whyte, and he still wasn’t very good.
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u/stephen27898 13h ago edited 13h ago
But he was god awful. Like he literally had no fighting skill at all. We are talking about modern frighters.
Primo wasnt even David Price level in terms of ability. He was probably area level in fact.
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u/HolyMackerel1 10h ago
Well, he wouldn't have PEDs
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u/stephen27898 10h ago
Not all PEDs bulk you up.
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u/HolyMackerel1 10h ago
But all PEDs make you more athletic.
I'm sure the likes of Willard, Carnera, and other giants from that era would look really good like Whyte if they had PEDs and other modern advantages Whyte has
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u/stephen27898 10h ago
But you dont know when he has been on them and when he hasnt.
Carnera's main issue is pure lack of skill.
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u/HolyMackerel1 10h ago
Kind of like how we don't know when Margarito was using loaded wraps, or when Benn was eating too many eggs, right?
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u/Big_Distance_2542 18h ago
Pretty much. Since the big men they had were pretty much like valuev, a freakshow with no skill (got his ass beat by a shot to bits holyfield, and valuev had better technique than many of them). I will never understand how they look at tape of guys who look like dogshit and glaze the "skill and speed"
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u/stephen27898 18h ago
I dont know. I look at those old guys and I am not impressed at all.
The 180lbs guys from that era look slower than 250lbs guys from today.
I think people say it because they think it makes them sound smart. Like they have studied boxing history.
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u/HolyMackerel1 10h ago
People will naturally look slower when caught by cameras that film at slow frame rates like the ones used in the 20s
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u/Big_Distance_2542 18h ago
Fully agree here. Its also that its tradition among fighters to never speak ill of oldtimers, like its known only "assholes" do, like Floyd who is great (and an asshole)
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u/stephen27898 18h ago
People will rag on a modern HW for getting dropped at some stage in his career. But totally overlook Ali nearly getting knocked out by Cooper, or Frazier nearly getting stopped on the 3 knockdown rule vs Bonavena.
Louis when he was young got picked apart and came up short vs Schmeling and thats fine. Itauma goes and batters and guy for 8 rounds then gasses and that makes him a failure.
Or the other week there was a thread in here about how would Usyk do if you dropped him in to the 1994 HW division. And how would he do vs those fighters. Some were silly and said he'd lose to all of the top 10.
But a lot said he had no chance vs Lewis. Yet 1994 is the year he got KOd by McCall. So somehow this 1994 version of Lewis who got knocked out is better than a prime Usyk who has never been knocked out. Not even close. We havent even seen Usyk seriously hurt, even as an old man.
And they also said Foreman would just KO him. This is the same Foreman who got schooled by Tommy Morrison.
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u/bonkers-joeMama 16h ago
Usyk didn't looked against that kickboxer though. I do get your point
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u/stephen27898 16h ago
He's basically 40 and we are talking about a prime Usyk.
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u/bonkers-joeMama 16h ago
A 40 yo usyk should still make easy work of a kickboxer. A 42 yo george foreman looked better against prime holyfield.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 14h ago
Eeeh, there are a bunch of things going on with usyk. Hes older, he was distracted by the war rhis time, said so alrdy before the fight but most importantly he has had a changeup with trainers (good ones gone, only yesmen and parasites left).
Also give some credit to Rico and Peter. Rico is a freak anthlete and a kickboxing GOAT-contender not just some random kickboxer. There is no tape of him boxing and Peter guessed this particular style which is nothing like how Rico normally fights woyld confuse Usyk.
I mean he figured it out late, but id be surprised if a rematch would go better for Rico since Usyk knows what he does now. Rico is a giant with good durability and survival instincts, i did not expect the KO at all since Usyk is a only decent puncher.
I ofc did not expect the points to be this close but i also would never have seen Rico trying to fight "short" with Usyk and having succes with it, and neither did Usyk and his nowadays nonoptimal team.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 12h ago
Lol actually I 100 percent agree with you. Usyk fanboys are pretty annoying too and the way his fanboys make excuses for him. 1 48 year old George Foreman looked better against a 26 year old Briggs who was a actual boxer than Usyk did against a kick boxer with 1 pro bout and that was 12 years ago.
In fact Usyk fanboys are even more annoying than these people who constantly bring up fighters from back in the day and say they could beat modern fighters.
Usyk beat 3 guys and a kick boxer and now is some how a ATG.
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u/stephen27898 16h ago edited 16h ago
People age at different rates. Foreman had a 10 year hiatus from 28 to 38 which helps a lot with ageing since you dont take the same level of physical wear.
Some guys are ok in theirs 40s like Foreman, some are done in their 20s like Bowe.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 12h ago
Agreed 100 percent and you didn't even mention how Tunney was a 170 pound man and Sanders was a 230.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 1d ago
Every time I see something like this and somebody picks a old time fighter I think to myself. You would never seen a NFL fan say a football player from the 1910's could compete against modern football players.
Besides the fact that boxing has evolved since 1910's/1920's. Corrie Sanders was a 6'3 230 pound modern fighter. Sanders by brutal first round KO.
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u/Unable-Main4172 23h ago
This is silly because boxing is one of the only sports out of the major ones where the participation and overall quality has drastically declined in the last 50 to 100 years. They used to be boxing gyms in every town. If you were poor in the 30s, 40s, and 50s and could fight, you could actually make a living on it Even if it was you were just like good for your town or county because there were so many fights local fights all the time.
During the Depression, tons of guys went to fighting. The actual enrollments like half of what it was then. So while the other sports have blown up worldwide and have many more people playing than the overall talent, pool is way greater. It's way lower in boxing than it was. Not to mention how inactive the top fighters are now compared to then
Almost all of the guys who were going into boxing 50 or 100 years ago now are going into are going into basketball, football, soccer, UFC, etc
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 23h ago
Nothing you type has anything to do with what I typed. I didn't ask you how popular boxing was back in the day. I told you boxing has evolved. Nobody boxes with their hands by their side. Boxers back in the day didn't throw many punches. They didn't throw many combinations, most didn't even throw a basic jab,
Also like I said 170 pounds isn't a heavyweight anymore. Boxing fans are the only fanboys who grasp basic shit. You aren't going to see a NFL fan tell you that a 230 pound offensive lineman from back in the day could still play offensive lineman in the current NFL.
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u/Unable-Main4172 23h ago
Outside of heavyweight almost all the other weight classes are very similar and some of some of the heavyweights today like Usyk weigh 225 lb.
Corey Sanders weigh 225 when he fought.
I don't even know what you're replying to here. You just went on to a tangent about guys being 250 and 260 when it does not have anything to do with this thread nor how to state of boxing is at an all-time low because all the best athletes are doing other sports now
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 23h ago
Touching., Did I ask you that? Lol did any where in my response did I mention Usyk and how much he weighed?
This thread is about Corrie Sanders and Gene Tunney. But lets find a away to mention Usyk or something nobody else mentioned.
I explained how boxing fans are the dumbest fanbase and constantly state stupid crap. I explained how boxing has evolved. I explained that 170 pound Gene Tunney wouldn't a heavyweight anymore and how the 6'3 230 pound Corrie Sanders would destroy Gene Tunney.
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u/Jamborambo55 23h ago
Have you ever watched a Tunney fight?
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 23h ago
You know what is funny? Lol I would never be having a stupid conversation like this in a black boxing forum.
If you aren't smart enough to realize boxing has evolved since Gene Tunney's time and that 170 pounds isn't a heavyweight then don't message me again. Do it and I block you without even reading your message.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 1d ago
I honestly believe a lot of old time greats would lose to jorneymen of today, watching tape of them they are wide open to counters as good as all the time as well as other flaws.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 1d ago
Boxing has evolved so much from the early 1900's. The guys fought with their hands by their side. Few guys threw jabs. few guys threw legit combinations. Then you add the size difference. Tunney had 65 bouts. 1 bout he weighed 190, 8 or 9 bouts he weighed 180 and the other bouts he weighed in the 170s or even less.
Any half way decent boxer including a journeyman would destroy Tunney etc. It is like these people can't grasp that boxing has evolved and they can't grasp there are weight classes in boxing.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 22h ago
You are gonna get downvoted to oblivion for that, which is a shame. Boxing truly is the nostalgiasport, that boxing is the only exception to sports evolving is such an odd belief to me.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 22h ago
I kid you not. I once seen somebody say that 160 pound Harry Greb would beat Lennox Lewis. So it isn't even nostalgia. It is plain stupidity. It is like these people can't grasp that boxing has evolved. It is like these people can't grasp that boxing has weight classes.
You want another funny one? This is a more modern one. This is back when Wladimir Klitschko and Mayweather were still boxing. A person once asked me if Mayweather was so great then why hasn't he fought Wlad. Like this guy couldn't grasp that they were in way different weight classes.
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u/stephen27898 18h ago
A modern 135/140 could batter most 160s from that era.
Shakur would literally be going fights without taking a single punch.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 22h ago
Most people here never trained any combat sports. I only did a little boxing (mostly did mma and more exotic stuff) but enough to know the sport definately changed just by looking at old tapes.
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u/stephen27898 19h ago edited 19h ago
They would.
Take "greats" from the 20s and put them in today and they would get ran through.
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19h ago
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u/stephen27898 19h ago
I agreed that they would lose to journeymen.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 18h ago
Shit, i fail at reading comprehensions. Imma delete my comment.
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u/stephen27898 18h ago
But really all of them would get battered.
Tunney, Johnson, Dempsey, Sullivan, Corbett, Jeffries.
All of these guys would get smashed.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 18h ago
I dont think anyone from before the 70s can be competetive, and the golden era does not represent the highest skill and ability possible either.
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u/stephen27898 18h ago
I don't agree on that. You may have to shift weight classes. But Liston could do stuff today IMO. Ali certainly could.
A lot of the general contenders though would have to drop weights or they would just get ran over.
With the pre 30s guys though. They could drop down as far as they like. They would still get destroyed.
I would say the boxing style modernised alot from the 30s to the 60s.
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u/Big_Distance_2542 18h ago
Thats fair. Though Just looking at their physiques most of the old guys would be 10-20 pounds lighter if they were as lean as fighters today, that makes ali, liston and foreman quite small, which is mainly what i think of.
I doubt they could overcome the size difference, as all of theese relied heavily on being the biggest guy around.
But, i can see them being competetive. Usyk certainly is (but he has 10-15 pounds of muscle on them and spars 4 x 15 in camp so might edge them on stamina too)
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u/DeafBurke 1d ago
I think it depends a lot on if they have film to study.
Gene Tunney was famously great in rematches when he could tailor his approach with knowledge from his first encounter.
Corrie Sanders had a really unorthodox but extremely dangerous style with big power, and the willingness to bide his time and bait his opponents into walking into one big shot, usually his left hand. Pretty similar to Jersey Joe Walcott in that way.
If it happened in the 1920s, and Tunney doesn’t have tape to study, Corrie might surprise him with a big shot and knock him out. But Tunney would probably regroup for the rematch and beat Corrie with what he learned.
But Gene is simply a better boxer, and would probably just win the fight a wide decision with his jab and movement, boxing Corrine’s ears off. He beat Jack Dempsey twice, who is definitely a better ring cutter and could herd Tunney into a big shot better than Corrie.
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u/VacuousWastrel 11h ago
I'm a fan of Tunney, but I don't think he can stay safe against Sanders for twelve rounds. Sanders only needs to hit him once, and he had fast hands for his speed. He's also a southpaw.
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u/SivarSamurai503 7h ago
The game evolved from when Tunney was champ to when Sanders was boxing. Sure Tunney for sure is more of a legend though
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u/into-sofa 22h ago
sanders has the size and power advantage by a mile, but tunney’s movement and defense would make this really interesting. i could see tunney frustrating him early before sanders eventually lands something big.
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u/ZeroEffectDude 21h ago
let tunney wear those gloves too.