The argument that American Heavies are "in other sports"

Like I said man, I have seen guys with athleticism out the ass, and couldn't box for ****. I did say that yes, I think we have lost some great boxers to other sports, but again, most probably aren't the mega stars you hear and read about everyday.

Going by pure athleticism, Chris Johnson vs. Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw isn't even close in favor of Johnson. I would take Bradshaw any day as a prospect over Johnson.

Who could run, jump, etc. faster, Kostya Tszyu or Sharmba Mitchell and Zab Judah?

Athleticism can mae it easier to reach certain levels of athletics, but to become a champ in boxing takes a shitload more than athleticism.

 

I've seen Manny Pacquiao play basketball. And he can ball. So can Floyd. Saw Manny a little ass filipino do a Dr. J behind the back board reverse in a pick up game. Floyd was also very good playing ball in that celebrity all-star game they have in the NBA.

Kelly Pavlik is probably a really good basketball player, he's 6'3 and long. Sergio Martinez was supposedly a really good soccer player. Being a star goal scorer in the junior leagues, all so played competitive tennis and was a cyclist. Probably where he gets his insane footwork from.

Jermaine Taylor is more athletic then both of them. Seen him vertical leap into the ring like it was nothing. But he was trained to be too orthodox by his handlers, thus making his superior athleticism worthless. He stands right infront of you and trades blow for blow, he has no horizontal movement. He backs up in straight lines which is what gets him knocked out against guys like Pavlik, Froch and Abraham.



Nobody is saying that everybody in the NFL would be a star boxer. Just like a great basketball player wouldnt be necessarily a great football player, other great athletes wouldnt necessarily be great boxers.


But of the millions of kids who choose football or basketball, and who arent ever introduced to boxing, which is becoming more and more the case we are losing potential super stars, sorry that is just the facts. Both James Toney and Roy Jones jr were star football players in areas whereits hard to be a star football player. Do you know the level of football being played in Pensacola and Ann Arbor, do you know the names Derrick Brooks and Emmitt Smith? For Roy to be a star in this area he had to be great.

 

Pavlik would be a terrible basketball player unless playing against midgets. 6'3 he would be a guard(1 or 2, pick your "poison"), with the footwork of a wheelchair bound person. Manny can't ball better than most.

Boxing just doesn't come natural to Jermaine, fighting doesn't make sense to him like it does BHop. He is a much more explosive athlete than BHop and Martinez. Ann Arbor and Pensacola put out plenty of star football players every year. Not all of them even go D1 let alone to the NFL, let alone to a starting position, let alone to a star.

 

This is primarily because of the stop-start nature of American football. For obvious reasons, the continuity of Rugby prevents huge collisions from occurring on a regular basis...

 

It is an accepted fact by most people that rugby league has the best all round athletes, as they don't get to have a little break after a run and tackle like in the NFL

 

Moron, he started boxing because he couldn't make it in soccer. Please STFU.

Americans always think good "athlete" = good player because their sports are based mostly on that and not skill (baseball is the exception).

Not true when it cames to real sports, like soccer or boxing. The best players in the world this year (Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Sneijder) are under 1.70m.

The idea that a NFL player would've been a good boxer is wrong.

 

At 6'3 Pavlik would play the post at most high schools in America outside of the ones that regularly churn out athletic talent. Of course he's not NBA caliber, but I guarantee you he can play. And judging how quick a feet a fighter is in the ring is not a good idea. If you see the way Jermaine Taylor moves in the ring, how he fails to slip punches, how he moves laterally and is quite stationary even for a middleweight, you'd think he wasnt that explosive unless you see him showing off his athleticism in training.

As for Pacquiao, he's probably one of the better ballers in the Phillipines.

Both Martinez and BHop were taught to use their athletic tools to the maximum in the ring. They are awkward unothrodox fighters who dont stand infront of their opponents but constantly circle and give their opponents angles.


Jermaine Taylor just had poor training. Somewhere along the way someone taught him to stand infront of his opponents and move in straight lines. Dont think it has anything to do with fighter instincts. Guys like Ward and Hopkins were taught to be crafty.

All im saying If you are good enough to distinguish yourself in these areas you are a helluva football player. This aint Indiana football. They were obviously really good athletes that chose boxing over football.

 

Thats not the point moron. The point is he was a great athlete before he was a boxer and he is proficient in multiple sports. Doesnt have anything to do whether or not he made it. atsch Im guessing being a star junior soccer player in Argentina would put you pretty high on the totem pole in most countries.

There is loads of skill involved in basketball and football. Please stop talking.

Yes I've said earlier in the thread soccer players are inferior athletes to basketball players and football players. As to why soccer wouldnt produce many great boxers.

The idea that a great athlete groomed at an early age to be a boxer wouldnt have been a good boxer is wrong.

 

Dude, after boxing for 2 months those were two of the first things I was told NOT to do. These weren't exactly world-class trainers, just passionate fans in the navy. I highly doubt anybody trained Taylor to do that, he just doesn't have the mind for it. Andrei Arlovsky was trained in boxing by Freddie Roach. He does the same ****. Do you think Roach told him to do it? Hell no. Taylor is a natural athlete, much more natural than most. He is NOT a natural fighter, and it shows. I'm not bagging on him, he is one of my favorite boxers(though more because of his integrity and character than as a boxer) but it is what it is.

 

Maybe. It just doesnt seem to hard to realize that you dont stand infront of fighters like Pavlik and Arthur Abraham. Hell Richardson saw that once you took away Pavliks right hand he was useless after watching one tape.

 

Exactly. Richardson couldn't get in the ring for him, it was all up to Jermaine.

Zab Judah is one of the most incredibly gifted fighters of this era, at least for the lower weights, and he didn't come close to achieving what his ability would lead you to believe.

Curtis Stevens got all ****ed up against Brinkley who isn't nearly as explosive an athlete as he.

Lennox Lewis wasn't close to the athlete Corrie Sanders was, but would have killed him in the ring.

 

....china won the last olympics

 

the idea that people believe a good athlete means he can be good in all sports ****s my mind!

was Jordan good at baseball? no

has Curtis Woodhouse set the world alight in boxing? no

Bitchiganwarrior keeps claiming nfl players would make great boxers and football players wouldnt yet there is one thing every footballer has that boxers need...stamina!

Wayne Rooney did boxing as a kid.....if only he didnt become a footballer....****ing lame excuse.

 

Moron, if he was a "star junior soccer player in Argentina" he would play football now in Europe.

"proficient in multiple sports"? In what other sport than box did he make it in?

Bull****. In basketball there is some skill but if you are tall and can move a little you can make it. Except for the QB and the guy that kicks the ball the rest of the players in american football have 0 skills. They just need to be fast and strong.

 

If boxing is such a minor sport in the US then why are there literally hundreds of boxing gyms listed in places where were told boxing is the most dead in the country, places like new york

Listing for new york boxing gyms are huge

http://www.boxinghelp.com/new_york.html
http://www.boxinggyms.com/addresses/newyork.htm

Didnt someone once say there were only 10 boxing gyms left in NY, i wonder who that was?