The argument that American Heavies are "in other sports"

So just because a guy is a good athlete he could've been a great Heavyweight? :rofl

That's just flat out stupid. Ray Lewis is a great linebacker but how do you know if he has the reflexes necessary to avoid punches or the chin if he gets hit?

 

but the fact is, most countries have boxing as a fringe sport...its a fringe sport in the uk, although on the up at the minute.

The whole 'our hw's are playing basketball/nfl' is ****, britain is tiny compared to the USA yet we have still churned out MW/SMW over and over, we dont use 'football/cricket' as an excuse or Rugby for the lack of HW's

 

Yea that guy is a beast... but look at all the people he is running over.. there are so many puny little guys that wouldn't even have the size to play College Football at a community college here in the states.

 

If you understood the number of Athletes in this country who are between 6 '0 and 7'0 and over 200lbs , and how many of them are playing others sports ... or even just doing drugs and being useless... we wouldn't be having this argument. Boxing is simply not part of the Culture anymore.. I worked in low income areas as a coach, these kids all just wanna play Basketball or football. They couldn't even tell you who Floyd Mayweather is.

 

Yeah, but y'alls amateur system is still doing great, you have a thriving scene. It's not just the heavies, it's every weight class. All you need to know about the state of boxing in America right now is to look at our performance in the sport in the olympics in the last couple of years. CHINA had more golds than us. Our only medal was a bronze won by Deontay(who quite frankly isn't that hot ****) at HW. The truth is that the vast majority of people really don't give a **** about boxing here anymore.

People watch MMA for their fight satisfaction here, people think of boxers as less manly for wearing bigger gloves, not making fights, etc.

 

Wasn't Sergio Martinez supposedly a decent football (soccer) player?

I suppose if some people are using the argument that athletic NFL or NBA players would make for good boxers, then it could apply to football players as well.

 

there are dozens time over the amount of soccer fields, baseball fields, football fields basketball gyms/courts than there are organized amateur boxing in every city in every state

 

Soviet union did not compete until 1952. It didn't exist by 1904.... soviet union won more than 14 gold medals in boxing. And Wlad won gold medal at 1996. USSR did not compete in 1984. And basically didn't have any school for boxing until 1962.

You also have BIG basics for wrestling and still suck balls against eastern block......

 

yeah sadly i'd say even soccer's starting to become more popular here than boxing

fail

 

the same can be said in england....how many athletes are playing football? we have 92 pro teams in england alone! yet we still produce mw/smw

 

our amatuers are doing well, and yes we have more and more boxing gyms opening at the minute, but this is relatively new thing...past 5-10 years max

 

But, even so, surely you'd expect some people in a nation of 300 million to have a look at the money Floyd has made, even a look at the kind of money the likes of Judah, Malignaggi and Diaz have made, and say to themselves, "I want to get some of that action"?

It's not even as if America has a strong presence in the light divisions, who wouldn't get in to the NFL / NBA.

 

It started with guys like Lennox and Calzaghe, but you can see the results even now, can't you? The difference is that your scene is improving. Ours degrades by the day.

The thing is lack of exposure. How many people have HBO or Showtime, and how well are those events advertised? How many boxing stories make any significant news headlines apart from retrospectives on ali and a couple pieces on pac/mayweather? Boxing just isn't trending enough, people don't consider it relevant. I also think a lot of people "don't wanna end up with brain damage" for a living. Boxing certainly has that rep now here. It's not easy money, and it's a harsh sport. there are a lot of other ways people can get by here.

 

Benn, Eubank.

 

I didn't make that "they're playing football" argument did I.

But boxing's fall from grace has been precipitous here. That's something you wouldn't really understand since you didn't grow up here.

When I was a kid boxing was huge. Seemed like every family had a pair of gloves in the locker. We had tons of gyms and boxing clubs for kids everywhere. Fights were on prime time on major networks. Newspapers had boxing beat writers.

Take it for what you want. I realize I'm not gonna change anyone's mind. I'm just speaking mine. Plus you hate anything American. So that kind of minimizes your point.