Least athletic world champion?

How is size not an athletic trait? An athletic trait is any physical feature that gives someone an advantage. Size is arguably THE most important athletic trait that an athlete can have, regardless of sport. PfP categories only exist because size is exponentially advantageous. An elite 6'5 250lb man obliterates an elite 6'0 200lb man, who in turn obliterates an elite 5'7 150lbs man.

I don't understand why you'd think size of all things doesn't count.

 

It's not a bad definition, so perhaps You are right - although in sport with weight-classes - I don't think that being 5'10 and 160 is in any way adventerous over being 5'7 and 130 for example, while speed or endurance is something more universally adventerous.

 

Oh I see what you're saying. Even in a PfP context though size is an advantage because weight cutting rules are silly lol. You can still have someone outweighing their opponents by 20lbs which is ridiculous.

That and size being correlated with reach.

 

Right, I think You are right here. If We go by the definition of the word, then all those things - including size - should be included.

...also regarding weight-cutting, I long believed that it's overlooked to what degree "talent" plays a role here. Some fighter are able to cut more weight, because their organism is able to tolerate that stress better than others, which is probably correlated with better function of organs - so We could probably mention it alongside other athlethic gifts here.

 

Indeed! It's not very sexy but your ability to cut water weight is very much an athletic trait, although one which I personally think should have less of a factor in fighting. When you have UFC fighters cutting 35lbs it's like what's even the point of weight classes.

 

You have to be kidding about Spinks. He was very athletic! Slippery as an eel, accurate, powerful. Give him a break on the Tyson loss.

 

TBF all I know is Ali looked a bit less athletic when he returned after the 3 year layoff.

 

Its true, and funny at the same time. At times you couldnt catch him, but he could catch you.

And his first win over Holmes was far from a robbery. In the second, I had Holmes ahead but by a point or two only,

I wanted to see a Qawi rematch but only due to the allegation that Qawi had pneumonia and also because at that time all boxing fights were free for viewing in Puerto Rico and I'd watched Greg Page box Marvis Frazier (no knock on them, just trying to illustrate a point) if it was on.

 

Currently: Fury

Ever: Probably Iran Barkley

 

Good.

Rocky anchored the center line on his high school gridiron squad for 60 minutes a game. He also played catcher in baseball and attempted a professional tryout for the Big Leagues. He felt those two positions, while giving him enormous George Chuvalo type ability to hold position in the ring, was also a contributor to his slowness of foot in the squared circle. But the level of quality he achieved in baseball does required excellent coordination.

His hand speed wrecked Rex Layne, obvious on the footage.

 

I agree that there's a case for Gazo in dethroning the Man on Fire, 3X 154 champ Koichi Wajima (with his legendary Frog Jump uppercut}. Yet somehow, Eddie went into round two with Julian Jackson and round four with Mugabe. Nobody's ever going to confuse him with that other Nicaraguan boxing champion of his age and era (except probably here}.

 

To me, his speed and quickness rather than size is why he won the NSW over Frank Moran. Previously, Moran had gone 20 in Paris against Jack Johnson. But in mid ring at MSG, Moran would start a jab, then Willard's would dart in an out before Frank got his jab halfway. Against the ropes, Willard ducked, blocked, ducked and blocked, then unloaded rapid uppercut counters. Least athletic HW Champion is even questionable. Jess could have run the Boston Marathon with what he did in Cuba, and viewers of the Floyd Johnson footage are surprised at how good he looks. He didn't embarrass himself with Firpo either, as old as he was. Dempsey was completely on another planet in Toledo. In the ABC Superstars Competition, Big Jess definitely beats Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson, Ingo and Jerry Quarry. (Norton is a very different matter. Kenny did very well amongst HW Champions who competed in that, and was an extremely well established all around athlete.}

Willard had stamina, some quickness, speed, immense physical strength, and he could ride competitive rodeo, starring in his own Wild West Rodeo Show while HW Champion. He cannot have been the least athletic HW Champion to have been able to do all that.

Athletically, at HW, I ponder if the weakest athlete might have been Liston or Frazier. Smoke had heavy legs, a bad eye and left arm he could not lock out, arthritis, high blood pressure and other impairments to physical achievements outside boxing. A legitimate 4F for the Vietnam draft. Liston was slower than Willard. I don't recall Sonny getting the better of anybody with superior speed and quickness the way Willard did with Moran.

Jimmy Braddock retired because of arthritis, was previously suspended for having it, and in the Louis film, we can see his arthritic impairment start to hinder him after four rounds, although Braddock made it clear he was definitely never going to win after the first four career best rounds of his career.

 

Andy Ruiz at 283½ pounds, when he defended the belts against AJ (in their second fight).

 

Tyson did EXACTLY what he should have done. Blow out one of the slowest starting power punchers ever the way everybody expected Cooney to do, instead of giving him a chance to warm up. Mike might have crushed the Jinx at any time, but rightly left a deadly counter puncher who came in stone cold no chance to get out the gate. Still, M Spinks has a quality HW resume. No way he goes 30 competitive rounds with the Assassin, then doesn't get his body broken in half by Cooney's hook early, but absorbs that punishment to take Gerry out. Michael Spinks weighed 170 pounds TWO bouts before Holmes I!!! He didn't share brother Leon's raw athleticism maybe, but he did have at least some of it.