Least athletic SUCCESSFUL boxer in history

Monzon wasn't the best athlete. Earnie Shavers was a huge puncher but wasn't much else.

 

I mentioned Greg Haugen earlier in this thread. Can anyone tell me a successful fighter that was less athletic than him?

 

Lawrence Clay Bey

 

I was thinking more like a world champion, or at least a top contender.

 

When you start mentioning Frazier, Monzon and Fulmer as unathletic, this becomes the dumbest goddamned thread ever.

 

I don't agree. For all his talent, a lot of what made Joe Frazier was mental more than physical.

 

He had great stamina, balance and quickness, three very athletic attributes.

 

Fulmer was cited by writers and opponents alike as a guy that was not particularly fast or powerful.

 

Fullmer was a strong man for his size who could and did bull people around in the ring. He was not a strong puncher, though.

He was faster on his feet than most of the men he fought, period. His stamina was extraordinary and was commented on at the time.

What opponent said he was not particularly fast or powerful? Basilio called him the toughest opponent he fought. Robinson spoke highly of him.

Fullmer was relatively short, had stubby arms, and had an unorthodox and often clumsy looking style, but he moved gracefully when he went into his "boxing mode" and I would judge him all-around a superior athlete.

 

Ernie Shavers

 

Anyone ever looked at a photo of Jimmy Wilde?

The phrase "pencil necked Geek" springs instantly to mind. A scrawney thin frail looking pale boy - It still boggles my mind that he - as a Flyweight has 100+ KO's and place in the HOF. How the hell he did it with THAT body is beyond me

Just to head off the inevitable remark

- I don't care if he did fight TinkerBell Taxi Drivers from Tupelo -

100 KO's as a pro is still a huge achievement.

And he did it NOTHING to work with on a physical level.

Bob Mee, (Boxing Heroes p 335), stated, "Jimmy Wilde cut a pale, waif like figure, and conceded weight even to flyweights."

Even his IBRO bio says "The frail-looking Wilde, whose skinny limbs and protruding ribs belied the power of his punches, became the first flyweight champion to be recognized in the United States as well as in Britain."


Successful?

Nat Fleischer and Charley Rose both rated Jimmy Wilde as the # 1 all time Flyweight.
Herbert Goldman also rated Wilde # 1 in 1987.
Cox’s Corner currently Rates Jimmy Wilde as the # 1 Flyweight of all time.

 

John Ruiz comes to mind.

 

Was an excellent D3 Decathlete and 4 sport letterman in high school.

 

Ok, was wrong on that one