Charisma should be a respected attribute in a boxer.

No problem, one thing for sure though, I'm not kiddo in nobody's language.

 

Kind of hard to appreciate someone's charisma when they don't completely speak the same language. Golovkin is awesome regardless.

 

Charisma for me is a leadership trait that shines best through both inspirational speaking and actions. Not many boxers have it and I think respect comes with charisma. Ali had it cos of; what he stood for, those specific times and his ability to reach out to the world and the generations. Others have it in small doses like Vitali Klitschko for the Ukraine and what hes trying to do there on the political front (not sure about that but I know hes proactive in that). Since Ali, no ones really had charisma IMO, would love to be proven wrong though.

 

Too much charisma in boxing will turn it into professional wrestling where it's all show and little sport.

IMO what boxing needs is less mess and greater consequential context. Two top fighters gearing up to fight a meaningful elimination bout for the chance to take on a beltholder, which in the case of HW at least should be someone who is almost a household name, should be the attraction (and charismatic personalities can come into play naturally from that core scenario).

Instead we too often have belt-holders defending against sub-top 10 opposition, multiple belts and alternative belts, inactivity, few top tier fighters who regularly take on other top tier fighters, etc. Without the context of a place in the history of sport as part of the equation ... charisma doesn't mean that much.

Fury has charisma, Wilder has charisma ... but few general sports fans or the mainstream sports press really pay much attention to them because they're not making a huge mark in sport, and boxing is losing some of its over-all attraction because of the constant mess within it, especially in the HWs which is the main entry point for new followers.

 

Charisma is subjective. One man's charisma is another's annoying *******!

 

Tyson Fury has a ton of Charisma and could become the 2nd coming of Ali if he would get fit and active.

 

For example, WBC champion Wilder who had options such as Fury, Parker and Ortiz but selected Wawryzk. Would that be an example of your underlined descriptions above?

Could you care to elaborate?

 

Yeah I guess so. Personally I dont see Fury nor Wilder as charismatic. Theyre entertaining in the ring and outside but theyre not the athletes I personally want to follow or aspire to be like. As I said entertaining, kind of like the Rowan Atkinson (you dont want to mess with). Theyre not like 'I wanna be like Mike' Michael Jordan.


For Fury, hes all over the place - he loses the belts without defending them, he shows off his big belly after agreeing to a rematch with Wlad etc its just not charasmatic to me. For Wilder, its his inconsistency in his statements and his actions - he said hes going to do everything to unify the titles and it doesnt look like that given an opportunity thats passed.

Some people do find these guys charasmatic. Each to their own.

 

Roy Jones had real charisma, probably the most charismatic boxer since Ali. In boxing, being truly charismatic really goes hand in hand with being at the top of the sport. And Roy Jones still has charisma, whereas Ali's charisma faded as he got older. However I don't think anyone in boxing could ever be more charismatic than Ali was in the 1960s.

Surely there's levels of charisma, and there's plenty of boxers who may be charismatic, it fits into being an entertaining boxing character, not just a fighter. But to really be charismatic, you're delivery of promos can't feel forced, or scripted, or repetitive. You really have to live the boxing character you are portraying 24/7. In the ring and out of the ring. You have to be genuinely funny, and you have to do it in a way that's playful, silly, and comes out right.

Like I'm reading above someone said Wilder has charisma. No, sorry, he doesn't. Fury, kind of, but it feels forced, like when he rushed into the ring on Wilder. That's not real charisma, that's trying to act like a pro wrestler. Like Real Charisma involves creativity and top delivery when cutting promos. It's gotta be completely natural and not forced.

People throw around the word charisma, and many may argue someone has charisma, but real charisma you know it when you see it. Also, it's hard to have charisma (as a boxer) if you are not fluent at speaking english. I mean how are you going to be charismatic when you have to have your promos translated. To have real charisma as a boxer, you have to be larger than life, you naturally inspire people by your words and by your actions. To be truly charismatic as a boxer, what you do in the ring flows effortlessly and your promos roll off your tongue.

There are plenty of boxers who have some charisma, but like if we're talking 1960's Clay/Ali-level charisma, there's a very short list of boxers that are anywhere near that. Roy Jones was definetly in that ballpark, I can't think of too many others.

 

How many fighters out there try to emulate Roys style? You see it a lot, absolutely inspirational. You watch in anticipation for greatness and at times he delivered wow moments. When he was undefeated in the mid 90s (I think it was) there was none better.

I think thats a good post above by the way.

 

What about cleanliness and good table manners?

 

Dressed like Batman? Sure...

At least Ali had a brain and could talk about many things on many levels.

 

Yep - exactly. Wilder is getting to the point where he's making a mockery of the belt ... the same belt that Bowe and Holyfield fought for, Douglas took off Tyson, etc. Parker this year alone has taken on 2 fighters who are probably at least the level of Wilder's best win. Even Meehan at his age last year was a solid fight for someone on their way up. Wilder has little credibility with his lame opposition so he has no purchase even as a belt holder. It's a waste as far as marketing the sport IMO.

As for charisma ... the way I see it, maybe it's more an image. I actually thought that I don't really know he has much charisma when I was typing it, but with his size and his knockout ratio and being from the US it seems like he has an image that theoretically could compliment his boxing achievements (when/if he gets them).

 

Ironically not being a native English speaker is what gives him his charisma

Q. Whats your favourite food?
A. Baaxing. I love baax *big smile*

Will be a sad day when Gennady perfects the English language