best athelete in boxing

Ignorant. Baseball is very athletic. I would say Bryce Harper is easily one of the best athletes in the world. Go back to MJ's baseball career. There was a mutiny that he was even playing because high school guys were so much better athletes than him on the baseball field. Speed, base running, fielding.

 

Bradley?
He is one of the most unathletic boxers I've seen at that level, as evidenced by his lack of power or explosiveness. What does his build have to do with anything? Bodybuilders have muscular builds and they're closer to marathon runners in terms of muscle fibre phenotype than to a weightlifter.

 

[url]http://www.bleachernation.com/2013/02/18/michael-jordans-baseball-career-is-the-most-impressive-thing-he-ever-did/[/url]

 

I disagree.

Once again, I wasn't listing my top 15 athletic fighters. Just throwing some of the most athletic in my opinion out there.

I don't see how power became such a massive aspect of athleticism. Is the best season in the career of Barry Bonds more showcasing of athleticism than the best season in the career of Alex Rodriguez? Didn't think so.

Besides, power in boxing is up to the beholder, especially in the case of Bradley. I would argue that most of the top 10 guys at 140 would have the same KO%, no higher, since Bradley starting fighting world competition with Vazquez/Witter.

While you say lack of power and explosiveness are evidence of him being "one of the least athletic boxers you have ever seen at that level," I would say that I've seen plenty of moments in Bradley fights where I would describe a move he made as "explosive."

With the criteria of "best athlete in boxing," it's easier to debate than "who is the better boxer." Cases can be made and destroyed for just about every fighter out there...

I will say if you feel certain about what you said and feel I'm an idiot for suggesting what I have, that's not very smart/respectable of you.

 

Haye deserves a mention here, very athletically gifted

 

You are quoting a fan's article of a guy who did absolutely nothing in baseball. Try again.

 

Floyd Mayweather Jr, of course. I like Ward, but there is something fishy about him lately. Wlad is also super prepared but I also don't trust him after the Vitali episode (steroids). The rest are not even close as preparation.

Yeah, but he was juicing.

 

Did you read it? It's an opinion close to my own, the same as you having an opinion. What the hell do you expect?
Are you really claiming that Michael Jordan isn't a great athlete because he didn't dominate a game he turned to at a reasonably high level for a season at the age of 31 to fulfil a wish for his recently murdered father? Slap yourself for being an idiot.
Roy Jones was never an exceptional basketball player, he played semi-pro but he was no world beater and he played that far more regularly than MJ played baseball. You can't just switch sports and dominate, no matter who you are.

 

Power is the basis of all athleticism, athleticism is being able to change direction, move quickly, change momentum with no notice. Impulse, or force x time underpins that. You need strength, you need power to be athletic.
I don't know what world you're living in where Bradley has power. Bradley can move his arms quickly but not his whole body explosively. The legs can produce far more force and power than the arms ever can by themselves and Bradley has weak little chicken legs that struggle to just hold him up without breaking down. Bradley is a very poor athlete, I really don't see how he can be in this discussion at all.

 

Roy Jones Jr, no contest, the guy has played full on basketball tin the morning and then defened his title that same evening

 

Bradley does most of those things you listed quite well.

As for the leg aspect, 90% of boxers are chicken legged and have extremely weak legs compared to athletes in other sports. One could state that Wladimir is chicken legged and would lose in a footrace to a good amount of the population. Shouldn't running speed and running endurance be factored into athleticism a great deal? Yes it should. But from what we see in boxers really limits how we can view their overall athletic prowess. Shouldn't stamina be factored in a great deal? In which case Bradley is among the tops in the sport.

What would you say about prime Ivan Calderon? He showcased footwork and body positioning better than any or almost any fighter listed here in a way which would warrant him being in discussion if he were active and prime. Yet he has absolutely no power whatsoever, according to you, right? And therefore is omitted from the conversation? I just don't agree. I have no doubt that you know what you're talking about and aren't stupid, but I just disagree with the conclusions you draw in judging a fighters' athleticism.

 

wlad and haye have the physiques of greek gods (no homo)

 

Pretty homo tho...

 

Running speed is directly proportional to strength, the back squat is highly correlated to sprint ability. Relative strength is key. Just because you have thin legs doesn't necessarily mean you're not strong. It's the quads, hamstrings and the glutes that are responsible for generating that force on the achilles tendon, you can have thin calves and still be very strong and powerful, boxers shorts cover up those power generating muscles so it's hard to tell from just looking at them.
I was saying that more to emphasise the point that Bradley has weak legs. I've seen him leg pressing a tyre in a training video, which shows how seriously he takes strengthening his legs. A lot of boxers are top heavy and they're worse off for it, their power and explosive speed suffers because of it. Guys like Tyson and Hamed had powerful legs and as a result they had very good punching power.

Stamina is impossible to judge because fighters are using vastly different amounts of energy when they throw punches. If you arm punch (As Bradley tends to do) then you're producing very little power which means very little energy produced/used in watts. David Haye on the other hand generates a lot of power with each punch so he's performing far more work and using up far more energy with each punch. So who really has the better stamina?
Anyone can run 20 miles, fat supplies almost unlimited energy so running endurance isn't a component of athleticism at all imo, you have 80 year olds running marathons. Power and coordination represent athleticism imo, strength underpins that and results in increased agility as well.

Gamboa, Martinez and Haye are the best examples of athleticism in the sport imo.

 

Good names thrown out, I'll even say Canelo is a pretty athletic guy. Not the most athletic, but he flies under the radar in this department.