Right, cat like reflexes and 10/10 slegdehammer power aren't things you can simply be taught or enhanced with a bunch of drugs.
I think Roy was an unnatural talent. Nature doesn’t commonly bestow such gifts, and when it does they are rarely given to someone who ends up in the proper discipline to apply them. Someone with great vocal talent will probably, at some point, sing along and someone will notice their aptitude. And thus they will be steered in that direction. Not always so for athletics. Like if he had been unnaturally talented at football or basketball, he really wouldn’t have been big enough to be an elite in the NFL and almost certainly wouldn’t have even made it to the NBA because of his size. A child who was born in Cameroon and lived their all his life who was born with innate abilities necessary to baseball greatness might find other outlets, but a 100 mph fastball or an ungodly knack for hitting a curveball are somewhat particular skill sets. Roy ended up in boxing, IIRC, by his choice but got exposed to it by his father — had his dad been a journeyman golfer he might never have put on a glove. And what his father did to him (similar to Tiger Woods) in drilling him and driving him (for instance riding along behind him when he did roadwork hitting the backs of his legs with a switch) was inhuman but probably also played a role in him excelling even further in boxing (to detriment in other areas of childhood development no doubt).
A combination of natural talent, and the will to learn his craft and dedication to work hard. Look, Jones Jr. Was a heck of a basketball player his lateral quickness was on display in that sport, and he could dunk if I remember right. If he played football and dedicated himself from Pee Wee league, he probably would've became a heck of a running back in the NFL if he avoided the injury bug. God given fast twitch muscles, and exstradinary vision can't be taught. There's quite a few fighters higher on the ATG list than Jones Jr. But only one had his athletic ability...... Ali.
Torturous is the right word, a lot of boxers would have improved a lot if they were under the same mental pressure and intense training that young Roy endured but only a few of them could have reached the heights he did. He was in amazing shape all the time but there are some things you can't teach and Roy was special from the start.
Father made a radar out of Wilfred Benitez. So father made a machine out of Roy. It's clear if you know them bio's
Obviously, there's other championship qualities apart from talent (like guts, passion, courage, will to win). Wilfred had it all, his brothers didn't
Yeah but did he look all that different from others his age first day in the gym? That’s the more interesting question. I remember different people coming in off the streets, so to speak, when I was training some amateurs and pros and some you could tell right away had power but you never could guess which ones could handle being hit, which ones were going to do the work and really get in the kind of shape it takes to do boxing (where the work-to-rest ratio is 3 minutes/1 minute as compared to like 7 seconds/40 seconds in football, for instance), which ones were going to absorb the teachings and be able to apply it under fire. Some who I would have bet against ended up being pretty good. Some who you’d have thought would become monsters had no taste for it when they got hit or no discipline when it came to training. Most of the ones who walked in acting like Billy Badasses, however, you could bet wouldn’t be around a few weeks later. They got humbled real quick.
Or 100's of other fighters that had the dedication, and willingness to work hard, but not the ability.
Roy Jones won titles from 160-200+. One of only 3 men to ever do it in over 150 years. I'm guessing if he walked into your gym as a youth he'd stand out.
