Why are a disproportionate amount of great boxers religious?

I think most fighters who are religious tend to thank God that they won etc. Idk that they actually believe God picks them even though I have heard a few say it. People have all kinds of weird ideas when it comes to religion fighters are no different really.

 

Men without faith are weak.

 

Well, most people are religious, forget about boxers... it goes like this in any field but the academia and intellectuals that, generally speaking, make a effort to distantiate themselves from the common sense.

 

Jesus' PB is always going to be way more.

 

many of them would have had a Faith based upbringing, some would have 'met' God along lives journey and likewise others would have cried out after or while living through hellish lives... kinda just like most everyone else, not much difference there.

 

it's simply the discipline and belief that takes out most of the mental fortitude non-religious fighters usually have throughout camp or life in general. I can't talk for other religions, but Muslim fighters believe everything is determined by God: losses, wins, draws, everything happens for a reason, "God's plan is greater than yours". UFC champion Islam Makhachev had an early KO loss and immediately was seen praying when the decision was being read, these guys have such strong mindsets and mental clearance as they have faith in their future.

Outside of combat, they must wake up 5-6 am for morning prayer, and repeat this 5 times a day. The discipline required already requires mental strength before even getting to fighting.

 

Which Sport you have the opposite, really ?

 

Having a faith of any denomination can be a very powerful thing for the spirit. Having a strong spirit is useful in most of life's endeavours but particularly at the elite level of athletics in any form.
Korean philosopher Byung Chul-Han has written that the denarrativisation of the world stemming from society becoming increasingly secular globally has allowed for societies of rampant consumerism and a stress on productivity to emerge. He writes that this is because without a belief in a kind of narrative holding the world together (be it God's plan from any of the Abrahamic faiths, the karmic systems of rebirth in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, or Jainism, or even The Great Tao in Taoism), we become restless and nervous. When you believe that what you are doing has a purpose and fits into a larger picture, it can be a very motivating thing to believe in.

 

I have been around a lot of fighters at all levels. I don't recall a fighter praying to win. Mostly the prayers are that nobody gets hurt, with prayers that it is a good fight coming second.

 

Why do you need the threat of eternal damnation to make you be a good man?

-trolling

to be serious, boxers compete in a sport that they know damn well could kill them or disable them. I’d assume that makes you consider death and its implications a lot more than the average young man does.

 

Boxing as a sport has a very working class and even impoverished selection pool, and the poorer you are the more likely you are to be religious.

Simple.

Any other explanation is incorrect.