Joe Frazier. Almost no physical talent, half blind and almost all hard work and determination. No notable speed, size, and strength. He had decent power in his day but i think it was more down to his technique when setting up and throwing that left hook. He did have a good gas tank though
Marciano, poor balance, average hand speed,slow feet,poor defence. Counterbalanced by incredible determination and self belief,fantastic conditioning,excellent stamina , huge heart,iron will, and top end power p4p.
Felix Trinidad - Mainly just a banger with a big left hook. Nothing out else really stood out. Bernard Hopkins - Lost his 1st fight & was unremarkable until he hit his 30s. The Klitschko's - Big, strong & athletic, but we're manufacturered as fighters. They were also quite stiff & robotic (especially Vitali).
He was a good, entertaining fighter & had underrated boxing skills (especially earlier in his career) but other than his power, there wasn't any other area that Tito really shined in IMO.
When we say guys that didn't have natural talent are we referring to? For example Vitali Klitschko, Rocky Marciano and Joe Frazier have been listed here but even before boxing training I doubt they were anything to play with while on the other hand there's guys like Oscar De La Hoya who claimed he cried the first time he got punched in a street fight so he clearly wasn't a natural when it comes down to the art of fighting as opposed to those three other guys. I agree that Wladimir Klitschko wasn't really a natural too.
I believe the story of how Weaver got into boxing is because when he was in the army he knocked out their amateur champion in a bar fight with one shot. He said in an interview his brithers liked boxing growing up but it was one of the only sports he didn't like at all growing up!
There are so many ways to reckon talent. Some guys have a talent for power. They may be otherwise remarkable but you can’t teach another guy to hit with the same power as Earnie Shavers or George Foreman. Others have a gift for conditioning — Rocky Marciano had an absolute talent for outworking people. You can motivate someone to work harder than they are inclined to, but some guys just have this gift of wanting to do it well past the point that most people quit or call it a day. I also think determination and grit is a talent. You see the guys in every sport who after the game have a dirtier uniform than the rest because they do the dirty work, diving for balls or hustling past when all others kind of let up.
I remember reading that Gene Fullmer was neither the fastest nor most powerful but he put it all together well. Leon Spinks was a talented LHW in the Olympics, but was too small for his pressure style at heavy.
