Not really. A handful of good athletes in my elementary school boxed. Some because their parents boxed, others because they liked the sport. Do you have a source for Marciano not being a catcher due to his lack of athleticsm? Big difference between that, and just not being a good catcher. Either way, his training regiment when he was a boxer speaks for itself. Joe Frazier is a icon of athleticism in the 70's. 15 rounds of fast paced high intensity action against Ali. It was one of the most memorable athletic events of all time. Frazier was a machine that night, a super athlete.
It's a common complaint you hear from the old time champs today. So the argument actually has a good base. You just don't hear of trainers today going above and beyond for a fighter the way Cus did with Tyson. Cus had to change Tysons life. He had to become his life coach as much as his boxing coach. Does anyone today have the breadth of experience Arcel had when he was training Holmes and Duran? There are some great trainers around today, no doubt. But I don't think they measure up with the other eras in the past.
Don't know anything about your school, whether there were anomalous circumstances there that drove kids into boxing at a high rate, or how well you remember it but I'd still bet you a ton of money that the best athletes in your county did not pursue serious boxing careers. I've seen quotes about Marciano being too slow in a ton of places, I think from his brother or brother-in-law. His training regimen speaks to his stamina but not to whether he was one of the "best athletes" in the way that the term is almost universally used. Frazier was a machine too. And an icon. But if you think he was the epitome of 70s athleticism, you may want to spend a little more time watching some other sports too.
A lot of people around the world would consider Ali to be the best athlete of the century, so I would win that bet. In an ongoing study Sport Illustrated conducts, it currently ranks boxing at the toughest sport in the world. When you factor in the endurance, speed, power, explosiveness, agility, it is the most demanding sport in the world. It's a fair assumption that boxing has the best athletes. Curious, what makes you say Gale Sayers is a better athlete than Frazier for instance?
People might consider Ali to be "the greatest" (whatever that means exactly) but I'd be stunned if many people who understand sports thought that he was actually the best athlete/most athletic. Your logic is deeply flawed. Even if we assumed that boxing is the most physically demanding sport it does not follow at all that the best athletes pursue it. In any event, I disagree that boxing requires the same level of speed, coordination, agility, etc. as certain other positions at the top level of sports. Guys like Sayers (and many other NFL skill position players) have footwork and full-body agility that make guys like Ali and Holmes look stiff and slow by comparison. Someone like Roy Jones had incredible, off-the-charts speed for a boxer. Put him on a basketball court with guys like Iverson and Westbrook and I bet he'd look pretty ordinary.
But Allen Iverson would be a marvel of speed and agility in the boxing ring? Relative to your point, he would look ordinary in the ring as well. You think Ali look stiff compared to Sayers? Ali is THE example of agility and speed. Sayers and Ali were both agile phenoms. Calling either stiff is ridiculous, exposes your cluelessness. Why would you be stunned if people considered Ali the best athlete of the century? It's definitely him, Jordan, Brown or Pele. Your argument is overly exaggerated, and misses the mark big time. No knowledgable sports figure would put Brown, Jordan, and any other athlete in a higher class of athleticism as Ali. Seriously, have you been living under a rock?
Completely disagree. Iverson might look clueless in the ring at first (though I suspect that he'd catch on very fast), but he would have extraordinary hand speed, foot speed, and agility from week 1. Not sure why you'd think otherwise. No -- Ali is "THE example of agility and speed" in heavyweight boxing. Very big difference there. I realize that you have somewhat of a fixation with classic heavyweight boxing but you might be surprised to know that there are other positions in sports that have even faster and more all-around agile athletes. Just to be clear, Ali looked extremely agile against other heavyweight boxers. But the overall agility, speed, and athleticism that it takes to slip punches, imo, is qualitatively different than the type of agility it takes to juke a would-be tackler off of his feet or to stop running and change directions on a dime while making would-be tacklers miss you so badly that you can just lightly push them aside while you run right past them. No offense to Ali or Holmes. This is just false. When it comes to athleticism, serious sports fans absolutely put guys like Jim Brown (and Bo Jackson for another obvious example) in a class above boxers like Ali. And for the record, let me be more precise with my terminology here. I'm talking about "best all-around athletes" as in the guys with the greatest overall athleticism (not the discussions where people pick the most successful athletes in various sports and then arrange them according to their dominance in their own sports).
Again relative to a world class pro? No. I don't know what makes you think something ludicrous like that. Every great athlete can look good playing other sports to a certain degree. Not just in heavyweight boxing, in sports lore at large. Being the best athlete isn't confined to having the best agility, or running speed. It's much more multi dimensional than that. I think you're reaching a bit much with this one.
I think folks call him mainly the greatest because of his bigger then life persona and not because of his accomplishments
I don't follow what you think I'm saying or why you think it's ludicrous. Iverson was an amazing all-around athlete. He was extremely fast, agile, coordinated, explosive, well-conditioned, and tough. He would have been a 6'0 middleweight (or maybe junior middle?) with a long reach. None of this is to say that he would have excelled as a boxer but his superior athleticism would have been unquestioned. Had he walked into a boxing gym at 17, trainers would have literally started salivating once they saw him shadow box and on the pads. But my point wasn't to focus on Iverson. I think there are tons of NBA guards and NFL skill position players -- including benchwarmers, special teams players, and practice squad & D-league types -- who would have stood out as extremely athletic light heavies, cruisers, and heavyweights. No, you're the one who's reaching here. This is very basic stuff to people who follow sports. Go look up some "best all around athlete" type lists and you'll find Jim Brown on literally every list and Ali on very few.