Lol mate, current Mihawk has that view. 20+ years ago Mihawk wasnt as strong as this one so this excuse makes no sense.
Also, no. Current Marines dont know what exactly is going on in Wano but they know Oden was a strong swordsman from Wano.
They know there are ''powerful', samurai in Wano.
Meaning information doesnt actually get out from Wano, and therefore I dont see why Mihawk would know more than the WG.
He would know about Ryuma though, he would know that Wano is a country of swordsmen though. And yet he never visited.
It does make sense because as i said, Mihawk looks for Pirates
I didn't imply young Mihawk saw himself stronger than Kaidou, but the point is that if you're on a Journey to face Strong Pirates & u heard that the Strongest Human Country is Wano, but they also lost against a Pirate, then no need to check any Kingdom really, just fight Pirates, they are clearly the Strongest
Mihawk isn't looking for "Strong" Fighters, he is looking for "Strongest"
So the moment you lose or get past your prime, you're literally taken from Mihawk's List
Oda literally answered all of these questions when he showed him not wanting to Fight even Current Shanks
Even Crocodile lost interest in fighting WB after seeing that he got weaker with Age, and you think Mihawk of all people would dream to fight Fighters who lost against others? What is there to gain in fighting Samurai who lost a Fight?
There is no Honor in fighting a Defeated Fighter, you mentioned Shimotsuki before, but why don't you go & see what Ushimaru said.
His Defeat made him abandon his Name !!
And when did Mihawk became interested in Zoro? It was when he said Defeat is worse than Death
And what did Zoro promise Mihawk & Luffy? He will never lose again till he faces him
The Key Word has & will always be "Defeat"
Mihawk is looking for someone who can "Defeat" him, not just give him an Exciting Fight
Characters like Mihawk, Zoro, Yonko, WB, Samurai, Elbaf Warriors ... etc those who have Pride in their Strength, they prefer Death over Defeat, their Honor is above everything
In Conclusion, if you're Defeated, Nerfed, Past Prime, Sick, Old ... etc then you're not on Mihawk's List for the Legendary 1 v 1 he is looking for.
That's why his only Hope is waiting for Zoro to reach his Prime
Not to mention that Mihawk already achieved the Title of WSS. He might not have met every Swordsman, but the World agreed to call him that, so from general perspective, they failed to name a stronger Swordsman. And as holder of such Title, it's other Swordsmen who should try & challenge him, not Mihawk roams looking for random people
The same thing applies to Young Mihawk, cuz there is nothing to gain from fighting someone who is already defeated.