Vitali - Sosnowski Weigh-in Pictures

Cheers NBA

I've alway thought this too ( from my admittedly limited experience ) the US grooms its athletes of almost every sport except boxing ( I beleive one can even get a college scholarship for wrestling ?!?) but for some reason boxing has just been left behind.

I dont dispute there are more good europens about than there used to be but that wouldnt explain why the standard of ahtlete that is now representing the US Heavyweight has dropped so much.

Can you imagine what a guy like Frazier must think when he sees these scamboogas turning up to a title fight with fat hanging over their waistbands ?

 

According to Boxrec there are 442 active heavyweights in the US. According to Boxrec there are 90 active heavyweights in the former USSR. That simply doesn't support the theory that they are producing more heavies. It is worth pointing out that in the KHL alone there are 721 players, that doesn't take into account the number of Eastern Europeans playing hockey in other leagues, including the NHL, or the number of Eastern Europeans playing in the Euro League.

 

But what NBA was saying is the US has endorsements and reasons to go into the other sports ( i,e college education ) which boxing doesn't have.

that same disparity doesn't happen in other countries

 

Believe me we're waiting for that over here too, just doesnt look great right now.

 

Okay,thanks for the info:good Hopefully they will show the fight on German tv or Eurosport,so i can see the fight.

 

If I am a 6'3" 220lb Russian I have far more incentive to go into hockey or basketball than I do boxing. If I play in the NHL or KHL I would be guaranteed seven-figure salaries plus endorsements.

 

Since your joining this discussion do you think that a scholarship progamme similair to what Football and Hockey have would make it more likely that a great champion would be found on your shores ?

Of course for that to happen one governing body would be neccesary

 

Very true.. But I know we get alot of European imported players and latino players, pretty much all over the world they come here to play.

Not saying that sports in other countries aren't as big and don't take away from the big heavyweight division. but there are some huge athletic ballplayers who could have excelled in different sports rather than the ones they chose.

But of course the European talent level has grown immensely, as you can see their talent in the other divisions as well.

 

You can get it on the primetimelive website ( or at least i can ? )

 

Ok so if the europeans are just producing better fighters , they win championships so why are the athletes form the US we get so allergic to training ?

 

If Sosnowski wins i bet Haye will fight him asap

 

The reason why Europeans have, across the board, become more competitive has to do with several things. Firstly is the opening of the East Bloc. The East Bloc was producing Europe's best athletes but they couldn't turn pro. Secondly, until about 15 years ago professional basketball, hockey and boxing in Europe were not as developed as they are today. Soccer and rugby have always been developed, but there was no real continent wide European basketball league, which there is today and allows for players to be full time athletes and get paid well. The KHL is now seen as near comparable to the NHL, and is growing every year taking in more teams from across the continent. Boxing was near death in many parts of Europe, but the influx of Soviet Bloc fighters and new capital has seen its resurgence.

 

All I am saying is that we don't know what would have happened back in the day if guys like Korolyev, Vysotsky and Gorstkov (sp) could have turned pro. What is to say that Joe Louis wouldn't have had trouble with a very competent, slick and hard hitting boxer like Korolyev, or if Gortskov, who was bigger than Joe Frazier and a more complete preasure fighter, wouldn't have been able to beat Ali?

 

If he win, Vitaly is too old/shot/finished etc, if he lose, he's a bum as expected. I don't see a bright future for this polish plumber wathever happen in this fight.

 

Absolutely, like others have said in this thread there is absolutely zero incentive for young people to go into boxing over here, a kid can play 10 different sports in high school and boxing is not one of them. Kids play these sports like swimming, wrestling, football (both), basketball, baseball and hockey and dont box because its not an option in high school. If kids can get scholarships for all these different sports and can basically go to college for free why would they box and get nothing out of it? Thats the mindset at least.

On top of that to box over here you basically are on your own to find a gym and pay for it out of your own pocket whereas if you play a sport offered in high school you can play every day for free.