Someone once said the greatest HWC is in the NFL...

I don't know, I often hear this call of "Oh what if these super athletic NFL stars were into boxing" well, in boxing you've got to be tough.
Theres a big differnce between being athletic and being tough, Do some of these pampered NFL stars have what it takes?

I honestly believe that on a whole boxers are the fittest 'athletes' out there and are easily more fit than the average NFL player. (linemen probably drag down the average though to be fair)

 

Btw, good posts by LONGROB.

You can also say the best tennis player in the world has never picked up a racket (they might be a physician); the best hockey player has never put on a pair of skates... true, but so what?

This constant whining :| about the current HW scene is :tired
If I was so disatisfied with some part of the entertainment biz, I'd stop watching it and posting about it on some board. It seems that (HW) boxing is more than a hobby/entertainment to some. It's a way to "achieve" self esteem through someone else's victories.

Whether Peter of Wlad or some American is HW champ, my lot in life will improve only by my own efforts.

 

I think that there is so much potential in NFL players. Not crossover potential. But if they had taken up boxing instead of football.

 

And the moron who said it was Bert Sugar. Another gem of idiocy.

 

And the moron who said it was Bert Sugar. Another gem of idiocy.

 

the first person to come to mind is TO. The man is tall, built and crazy athletic.

 

This argument can go on infinitum because none of it is provable and it all relies on the eye test. Take for instance, this weekend's fight between McCall and Gomez. Everyone was touting McCall because he looked so impressive at the weigh-in. But looks have little to nothing to do with boxing and McCall got his ass handed to him. Look at Chagaev and Ibragamov, not exactly body beautiful, but they are guys making the millions off the heavyweight title(s). Am I to believe that all these great looking athletes playing on practice squads or in arena leagues are passing up on that money?

People give too little respect to the fighters we have. And if it was so easy to be one of these top earning heavyweights, a lot more people would be trying.

 

Right back at you. Sorry I hurt your poor wittew feewings with the truth

:shock: OMG, you can't be so dense as to not have gotten my point. Regardless if you agree/disagree. You think that some athletes in the NBA/NFL could be the HW champ/top contenders if they started out as boxers. Maybe so. All I have done is use your own logic (generalizing it) and stated that this is true for any sport. There is some guy out there who is a good ahtlete, and might have been a top tennis player or whatever. But he had the smarts and skills (not true for others) to have other choices, and decided to become a doctor. Not exactly a bad choice or life.

I like and enjoy boxing myself. Boxing had been sliding away from being a prime sport well before US dudes stopped dominating the HW scene. It was not as much "front page" during Tyson's era as Ali's. Boxing has become more politically incorrect with an increasing segment of the US pop. Maybe you should tell the folks that influence/control the media or the US sports fan in general to go **** themselves :-( The HW scene is achieving greatness - just not the kind you want.

See above. You are way too US centric - and probably biased in other ways. Lewis was hurt by not being a US boxer. When you get to the East Euro HWs, it's even worse in your eyes. But you, and the US, is far from the whole world. In fact, and I don't like this, the US has the appearance of a declining world power. East Europe is emerging from the shackels of Communism. India/China also have a growing middle and upper economic class. I could add more, but don't want to disturb you with reality or OT comments.

You make some fair points, but you're living in the past. Now if you could only make them w/o acting like a jackass. When posters quickly respond with personal insults I usually think: deep down inside I got them to question their incorrect world view, and they got po'd; or that, one way or the other they're just losers. :deal

 

:good Excellent points. The problem many on here have who constantly gripe about the HW scene - apart from what I call the nostalgic birgade - is that don't like the look or where the current top HWs originated from. They are just bigots hiding behind lame arguments. It's sad and funny at the same time. :yep

And adding to your last point. There are many, many large US men who are top athletes, but are just not good enough to make it into the NBA or NFL. Forget the name players who look like they could be top fighters. Why doesn't this other, even larger pool of athlete try to earn some of that HW cash? As you said, why are they passing up on that money? Maybe for many reasons. So what? You can also say that if HW boxing was truly a world sport in the 60/70s, the then US fighters would not have been as dominant. I think at minimum they would have struggled more. It is also a smaller world today with improved mass communication. Who is to say there wasn't some Vitali or Ruslan or Valuev in the back woods of the USSR in the 70s that didn't even make it to their Olympic teams? And in any case would not have had the chance to turn pro.

 

Amare Stoudamire.

 

Given the eastern European dominance of the heavies it is odd so few people comment on the Cold War era, when so much talent was not allowed to compete on the professional level. That was a situation of real and proven boxing talent not being materialized at the top of the professional ranks, rather than the jock-sniffing imaginings of some armchair experts.

 

I think we both know why it's so "odd".
I believe East Euro/Soviet block would have produced many top fighters in the other weight classes too :good