Is hand speed related to athleticism or is it completely different?

:rofl

 

i think handspeed isn't as much linked to athleticism as foot speed. the beauty about a prime roy jones was that he could blast you with a combination while you were running away because he was so quick on his feet as well.
a guy like toney or others like him can pop out quick salvo's on you while you're standing in front of them, but not if you move a lot.

 

It's hard to define what athleticism is. Different sports require different attributes. For example, ping pong requires more on hand speed, coordination, and quick reflexes as oppose to strength, stamina, and power . The same thing with badminton with the addition of agility and balance.

To me athleticism means anything related to muscle which means strength, stamina, and power done in a dynamic way. Football players, basketball players, soccer players, and boxers need to work on these athletic attributes as well as agility, hand/foot/body speed, and quick reflexes. I can't say a ping pong player is athletic if he runs out of breath trying to run 1 mile (or 1 kilometer). I also can't say that weight-lifters are athletic since they don't use their muscle attributes in a dynamic way.

But athletic and other physical attributes are not enough to be a great boxer. You need intelligence, intuition, and a certain character to want to fight. We all have different characters/personalities. Some are agressive and willing to take risks, some are more formal and methodical, and some are reserve and more defensive. But whatever your character/personality, you still have to be willing to fight. Usually an aggressive or risk-taker type will be proactive in a boxing bout, walk forward, and engage in battles. Whereas a more reserve or defensive character type will tend to counter-attack.

Also your physical attributes need to compliment your intellectual and character attributes. It's a tough combination to come up with. For example, if someone who is physically gifted, but may not have the mental toughness will often give up in a fight if pressured enough. Another example is someone who has the drive and ambition to be a great boxer, but doesn't have the physical gifts can only go so far and usually their careers will stop short of a professional one.

Intellectual gifts applicable to boxing are also important. Some have great "ring-awareness" like RJJ or PBF.

Another attribute not mentioned yet is Confidence, one's psychological condition. This is related to character/personality, because some people are naturally confident in a fight, and some also are better at taking a loss and rebounding from it.

Lastly, you have to love what you do. Look at how Pacquiao works, he loves what he does. He's energetic, excited, and ready to fight. He's got a great attitude, simply because he loves what he does.

 

good athletes will naturally be faster than others. Just because someone is fat doesn't mean they aren't a good athlete. Guys like Tua are fat, but are still great athletes, very powerful, and with good handspeed. You don't have to have a body like Evander Holyfield or Lennox Lewis to be a good athlete. Physique means nothing.

 

Not sure if its linked to athleticism much. Ibragimov is not a natural athlete, and he has fast hands, same with Povetkin. These guys, while good athletes are not natural athletes.

They have got to their level by training their asses off, both have great stamina. But you wouldn't see them doing well in football, athletics, swimming etc. Other really athletic guys like Meldrick Taylor, Roy Jones, jsut have it as a gift. And its vastly superior, obviously

 

1) You must be danish.
2) Nice rundown, though the discussion was limited to handspeed.
3) You forgot the aspect of technique, which is very important in both boxing(for handspeed) and badminton(without it you can't really play well).
4) Your aspect of the importance of reflexes is very good.
5) The rest of your non-hand speed related issues are all good. The psychological aspect is usually about 30%-50% of importance of a win, and intelligence is always good. The rest needs to suit your style of play and/or style of fighing.

No one makes it to the top, unless they have a love of the game. However, they can lose it along the way, and will therefore do like Milk Dud is doing(or don't do).