se even when Lennox was dominating the HW scene, the Americans were still oblviously much better than what we have today.
Because you don't understand the economics of it. NFL and NBA did NOT bring fame nor fortune pre cable television. What did? Boxing. All of that changed in the late 70's when cable television began buying up rights. Look at the pay of top NFL linebackers (because that is where I think the US HW champion is). This is there BASE salaries BEFORE bonuses and such: 1 This content is protected David Harris at Linebacker $9,900,000 2 This content is protected DeMeco Ryans at Linebacker $9,000,000 3 This content is protected Anthony Spencer at Linebacker $8,856,000 4 This content is protected Karlos Dansby at Linebacker $8,800,000 5 This content is protected Brian Urlacher at Linebacker $7,500,000 6 This content is protected Chad Greenway at Linebacker $5,900,000 7 This content is protected James Harrison at Linebacker $5,565,000 8 This content is protected Quincy Black at Linebacker $5,500,000 9 This content is protected D.J. Williams at Linebacker $5,000,000 10 This content is protected Ray Lewis at Linebacker $4,950,000 It is pretty obvious where the American beg men are going.
This is such crap. If a parent has a choice of what to guide their child in they can see a ton of NFL/NBA stars. Boxing? Not so much. It is really a simple economic choice. How in the hell does the NFL and NBA being dominated by children from the same walks of life equate to "pussified"? To this day, the lower weight classes are well represented with US athletes.
exactly, the same reason an american won the SMW Super-6...because all the europeans are playing football.
If not for the fall of Iron Curtain the HW landscape would be the same as 20-30 years ago. Remove all the EE from the ranks and all you have is Americans and Brits.
They're busy with sports that generate more guaranteed money and scholarships. That does not mean American heavyweights would rule if it weren't for other sports, far from it... they'd however be more prevalent in the division.
Nice argument, however you can say that about every culture. Boxing is even less popular in Russia then in America, and most people try to become hockey, soccer players, weight lifters, or even tennis player instead of boxers, and boxing is 1 of the least popular sports. It's probably less popular then Karate there.
It's like saying why is there no good american soccer players, rugby player, cricket players. Or even why aren't there many black professional swimmer, hockey players, NFL kickers, or pro cyclists. People either don't have interest in boxing or the opportunity just isn't there.
Exactly right. Even in the 1960's a lot of NFL stars had day jobs in the off season, just to get by. - And professional basketball was still practically a joke in the '60's. Today, an NFL / NBA player who just sits on the bench makes more than a typical top-20 heavyweight boxer. Plus, if you are in the NFL, NBA, etc, you don't have to pay for your own trainers & gym time.
Another major factor: If you're a large, athletic teenager in the USA, from a poor family, you have a decent chance of going to college on an athletic scholarship. That means Football, Basketball, or baseball. Boxing? Not a chance. Plus, boxing obviously is dangerous to your brain. - OK, so is football, but that is not the common perception. So which sport is Mom & Pop going to steer you into?
Now all you need is for soccer to be a full contact sport. :roll: Nice attempt at being clever, but you look like an ass. The fact is that HW Boxing's decline correlates directly with the rise of cable television and huge NFL contracts. The US is quite capable of competing in all weight classes below which viable athletes are found for our core sports.