Boxing Kangaroo

the reason why we dont have so many good boxers anymore??

Four words "high Standard of living"!!

Why would a young bloke with some athletic ability want to compete in a solitary sport like boxing, risking his life, getting his brain mangled, when he can play a fun team sport for fun & work as a tradesman etc & live very comfortably, we have a very big, comfortable middle class, people may whinge & whine a bit but things are to good for blokes to get desperate & get into the fight game

 

your obviously not a fighter then mate... I can tell you one thing, every SINGLE PERSON who boxes properly does it for the absolute love of the sport. Because deep down inside they are a fighter. Its not the sort of sport you can be half into... You kill yourself everyday in training, and compete in literally the hardest sport in the world. There is absolutely no room for compromise, you need to be totally and completely dedicated to it.

Its has to be the sort of thing that you eat and breathe. Fighters as athletes epitomise pashion and courage... Every one who steps in the ring does so because its something deep down that they believe in.

You couldn't explain it to someone that just isn't like that, it doesn't make sense.

Thats why fighters have so much trouble giving it up at the end of their careers.... Its more then a sport, its part of who they are.

Its the adreneline rush that shakes through you when you feel that first punch land and you taste their power... The feeling you get in your hands when you land crisp clean punches... The overwhelming sense of accomplishment, when you take yourself so far past the depths of what you thought your body could take, and you keep on fighting. And the feeling you get that you get deep inside that you would rather die then lose...

If you think that the pro fighters are "desperate" and doing it for the money, you couldn't be more wrong. These guys waste their lives killing their bodies in the gym for a ****ing mesley pay cheque, most of which goes to their promoters and management. Boxing is more then a sport to those guys, its a way of life.

As deep as all that sounds, if you don't understand it you never will.

But when you watch guys like Fenech, or Kostya or any pro fighter, and you see the tears in there eyes as they tell the camera they are prepared to die in the ring.... Thats why:deal

 

High standard of living is part of the reason, MSTR added some good pts aswell.

 

High standard of living would come into play if you're contemplating becoming a suicide bomber, or something along those lines, but I don't think it's the reason why we don't have more good/great boxers.

Our major sports get funded pretty well, and we do hit above our weight when it comes to sport in general, but boxing receives far less funding than many of our other sports. This is the major problem imo. The more funding you get, the more you can promote the sport, and the athletes get more looked after.

Apart from Mundine, Green and maybe Kat, theres not really any other Aussie boxers who are very well off, or at least not getting what their achievements deserve compared to other athletes who have achieved a similar level at other sports.

If you're in the top 100 best players in AFL, or even the NRL, you're pretty much set up for life (providing you spend your money wisely), but to do this in boxing in Oz, well, you've almost got to be the best.

 

All good points. The main reason IMO is that the sport gets very little exposure though, lack of gyms, lack of trainers and knowledgable people in the sport. Makes it pretty tough to get involved in.

 

If I was your parent (and I very well could be your daddy), I wouldn't mind if your friends took you to a mine field in Iraq.

 

Fair enough, i didn't interpret the post that way personally, but i agree with what you have said.

95% of middle class parents wouldn't dream of letting their kids in the boxing ring... I know mine certainly wouldn't until i was an adult. My post was touching more on pro boxers and why they compete. But from an amatuer perspective i couldn't agree more. Which once again makes it very hard to have successful fighters, when most kids are already playing other sports.

The fact that most kids start playing junior sport at a MUCH younger age anyway then 12, means they have most likely found something they enjoy doing, and would have no motivation to start boxing.

How long did you box for?

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl

Gold.