How do we define eras in boxing?

Is it by the years. By the champs. By the styles. What?
I personally think it is by the champs but that is hard to judge.

it is hard and very subjective

when I honestly hear the word era I think 20 years

so this current era would be 1990 to know

Good question, Sooner. I would think it would be by fighters and divisions. I define the 80's by the fighters. Same thing with the 90's. The 21st century has left a lot to be desired, but we're still at the beginning of it.

all are perhaps correct ansers..an era by champ like johnson dempsey louis marciano ali tyson lewis now klitchko is one way as an example..a dominate champ.but that example can be given i feel for just the heavyweight division only..or my time frame.i think 20 years may be to long..15 may be ideal perhaps or a decade..the 20s 30 s 40 50s for example.by divisions its mostly by decades i would think overall..how would you desc rbibe the middleweight era of zale graziano lamotta cerdan robinson for example.or the robinson turpin olson basilio fullmer era..surely not the robinson era but saying either the late 40s to early 50s or the 50s.both imply a decade.
mentioned often here are the 70s 80s or 90s fighters.20 years is to long..instead of an era thats called an age...example the golden age of boxing .the mid 20s or early 20s threw the 50s.or baseballs golden age 1920-1941 the emerging of babe ruth to world war one then its second golden age 1947 to 1965 the yankee dynasty dimag mantle ford berra and the greats like musial mays williams arron robinson etc etc and the third golden age from the 90s till now.. i think its either a great decade or a 15 year period at most..

Its hard to tell. I have a hard time putting my finger on it. I know with the HW division its a little easier.

It's a combination of time, great fighters, and memorable events.

It can be defined by remarkable fights and/or remarkable fighters in their peak years. When those guys fade away, a new generation takes over. Then when enough time has passed we try to group those fighters and moments into a timeline and label them.

The era we're in right now has been defined by Manny-Floyd and the Klits with guys like De La Hoya, Mosley, Morales, Barrera, BHop, Calzaghe, Gatti, etc. all being a part of it in their twilight years. And new guys like at 126, 140, 168 seem poised to take over the new era as the great fighter's of the Manny-Floyd era will start fade away.

Then we'll go back and classify the Manny-Floyd era and rank all of the lesser fighters on how they measured up and the level of competition, and people can debate which era was the best.

Gumby wrote:

It's a combination of time, great fighters, and memorable events.

It can be defined by remarkable fights and/or remarkable fighters in their peak years. When those guys fade away, a new generation takes over. Then when enough time has passed we try to group those fighters and moments into a timeline and label them.

The era we're in right now has been defined by Manny-Floyd and the Klits with guys like De La Hoya, Mosley, Morales, Barrera, BHop, Calzaghe, Gatti, etc. all being a part of it in their twilight years. And new guys like at 126, 140, 168 seem poised to take over the new era as the great fighter's of the Manny-Floyd era will start fade away.

Then we'll go back and classify the Manny-Floyd era and rank all of the lesser fighters on how they measured up and the level of competition, and people can debate which era was the best.

Well said.

Gumby wrote:

It's a combination of time, great fighters, and memorable events.

It can be defined by remarkable fights and/or remarkable fighters in their peak years. When those guys fade away, a new generation takes over. Then when enough time has passed we try to group those fighters and moments into a timeline and label them.

The era we're in right now has been defined by Manny-Floyd and the Klits with guys like De La Hoya, Mosley, Morales, Barrera, BHop, Calzaghe, Gatti, etc. all being a part of it in their twilight years. And new guys like at 126, 140, 168 seem poised to take over the new era as the great fighter's of the Manny-Floyd era will start fade away.

Then we'll go back and classify the Manny-Floyd era and rank all of the lesser fighters on how they measured up and the level of competition, and people can debate which era was the best.

Would you consider this era the Manny/Floyd era or do you also need to include Oscar in that. He was the face of boxing until he retired. Is Oscar an era then Manny/Floyd era starts at the end of the Oscar era?

Oscar should get his own era. He was a megastar. He made the little guys more relevant than big guys.

Gumby wrote:

Oscar should get his own era. He was a megastar. He made the little guys more relevant than big guys.

I agree. I think he made both Pac and Floyd much bigger stars than they would have been also.