Legends can beat anyone at any time (note: this is NOT the same thing as saying they will win...but they surely can, no matter the era the dog they are facing hails from) I don't know why you are having trouble w/this concept. There is NO guarantee that any dog from this era (I don't care how great he is) could beat one from days gone by, surely not one of the old aces. It's just that simple. It's why they call it gambling, son.
Nothing guarantees any starting lineup (whatever that is) to any dog from any era. Just b/c a dog is a modern day legend does not guarantee they would make the "starting lineup" IN ANOTHER ERA. To put it another way: whoever your personal choice of "ace of aces" is this year is NOT guaranteed to beat any one of the old timey aces. He might win, sure...but then again, he might not. You pays your $ & you takes your chances. There is no "proof" of anything you have alleged about "new being better than old." Good ones & bad ones are where you find em. In any year.
And I won't hold today's dogs era against them, but I won't say they could have done the same in days gone by. We are even there.
The only guy who is trying to "qualify that animal as making the grade in a completely different day & age" here is you. My point was that you have no idea about whether or not a dog of today could whip a dog of yesterday. You'd need to level the weights, erase the years, put em in a keep, then set em down (for $$$). And since no one can do that, all you are doing is speculating. I'll say it again: aces are aces.
Today's great dogs are great b/c of what they did against who they did it against & how & when they did it. However, as magnificent as they are in their day (today), nothing guarantees they would do the same against a different opponent in a different day & age. Again, we are even here.
Anybody who makes an inane argument like "an athlete of today is, by that very reason of "today," superior to LEGENDS of days gone by" hasn't demonstrated the maturity not to be called a kid! ;) Every time I've heard the argument made (on behalf of various 4 footed & 2 footed athletes) it has been by a guy who is just a kid, & doesn't know enough to know when he's said something factually untenable.