Someone once said the greatest HWC is in the NFL...

Zhaakal · Oct 19, 2007

The Great Khali lol

Cruiser1 · Oct 19, 2007

FlatNose said:

All those guys you mention are great atheletes, but that doesn't nessecarily guarentee them sucess in boxing.Back in the 70's there was a show called "The Superstars" where athletes from differtent sports would compete against one another.The performances by Joe Frazier and AAron Pryor were pathetic, but these were two of boxings all time greats.Too Tall Jones of the Dallas Cowboys tried boxing and he was as bad in that as Frazier and Pryor were in track and swimming.Throwing , catching and running do little to prepare for boxing, a certain temperment is needed.As soon as a lot of these guys got a broken nose , they'd run for the hills.Thats why, while track and field athletes have gotten bigger and faster and stronger, the skill of boxers has regressed, because there is not as much boxing anymore, and running a fast 100 meters has nothing to do with get punched in the stomach in the ring.
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Those guys were already established athletes in their own sports. If you take a guy and start him boxing early on and develop him it's a different story.

Per Se · Oct 19, 2007

Vernon Davis.

Amsterdam · Oct 19, 2007

nervousxtian said:

..think they were talking about someone like a Ray Lewis.

My question to you is, who outside of boxing, has the build, the speed, the athelticism, the size, the strength that you wish they would of took up boxing so you could see how great they could of been?

Ray Lewis is a great choice, Brian Urlacher, Shawne Merrimen, the list goes on.

Who's your choice?
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The size and athleticism isn't quite everything. Timing, chin, will etc. come into play also and they tend to be genetic or developed traits.

People say this because they are looking for an American heavyweight, but I don't personally have any problems with some of these Cubans that are showcasing the skill we want, the power we want, just coming in FAT.

Not really impressed with Povetkin either, not enough for championship 'the man' level.

We've got so many great divisions though, it doesn't matter. David Haye could potentially be a guy that we all want, who knows, it just has to level out in the coming years. Who's to say that these NFL guys would be any better than a Hasim Rahman level?

A lot of factors come into boxing. I have heard this qoute time and time again also Nervous, I think it's erroneus personally.

Sedona · Oct 19, 2007

Vantage_West said:

does it have to be heavywieghts?

i have always thought that rafeal nedal would of been a great or at least comeptative middlewieght or jnr middle.
6'1 165 pounds on court so he could skin down to 157
athletic, arrogant, has a great forhand which could be composed into a left hook and used to do martial arts when he was young.

your thought please?
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My guess is that Nedal could kick ass within the tennis circles!

Stickandmove · Oct 19, 2007

jsimps said:

Ex-49er: Kenny Norton Jr. I met Sr. at a niner game, good guy, definitely punchy.
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Ken Norton was involved in a bad car accident that broke every bone in his body; that probably contributed to his 'punchy' demeanour. Or maybe it was the fights with Ali, Shavers, Foreman, Holmes etc.

K_Ologist · Oct 19, 2007

Charles Barkley, still tall for a HW with a freakish reach and good athleticism. NFL, I'd say Jason Taylor. Of course, these guys would have had to grow up boxing to really be good.

Decker · Oct 19, 2007

sthomas said:

Even China chinned champs have at least the ability to take some punches to the chops. There are alot great fighters on paper who've been retired early becuase their chins are not even China, more like paper mache'. We have no idea how these great football players, etc. would take a shot.

Regarding the Suparstars show. I felt so bad for Frazier. He lost the weightlifting contest to pole vaulter Bob Seagram. Then in the swim compettion Joe almost drowned. They could have replaced that "Agony of Defeat" ski jumping guy with Joe swimming. It was brutal
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Agree. So you're no kid :yep I remember that Superstars show too - almost as good as you have. Joe took some ribbing from fellow athletes for that "performance". I don't think he ever entered another one of those. IIRC usually the all around athletes won those comps.

nervousxtian · Oct 19, 2007

Amsterdam said:

A lot of factors come into boxing. I have heard this qoute time and time again also Nervous, I think it's erroneus personally.
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I think a lot of people in this thread have missed the point.

I meant if they took up boxing instead of their chosen sport, which most took up because it was the money sport they fit into. You're 6'10' and athletic, you're gonna play basketball and try to make the NBA. You're 6'3" 240 you're probably gonna take up football and try and make the NFL.

If boxing was a big money sport and realistic for people to get into, they would of gotten into it, but the honest truth is that amatuer boxing is so far underground it's not even funny, and there is no school support for it (there's no high school boxing teams) so the chance for most people to try it out is small, unless A - they are pushed into by someone, be it father, uncle, friend, etc... or B - They are ****ed up, down-on-their luck and end up at a gym and start fighting (we hear this story so often in boxing it's beyond cliche).

So the point is these guys don't play football because they'd suck at boxing, they play football because it was accessible and they fit the bill physically to play the game.

So if you took someone of the build, speed, stregth, and conditioning of a Ray Lewis, and put them from when they were 10-12 (the time he probably started playing organized football) and got him into boxing, who knows how good he'd be... that's the what if?

This isn't JUST an American problem, other countries are not producing great heavyweights either, and their best athletes aren't boxing as well. (well outside of the former Soviet states, but I'd have a huge argument that these guys are their best athletes...)

The reason this is relavent to heavyweights is that when you look at the smaller weights, especially 154lb and below, you have people physically too small to play or participate in the highest level of the professional sports that pay anykind of money, thusly you get better athletes in the smaller weight divisions, even moreso the lower in weight you go, as the options for them are so few.

If Pacman wasn't a boxer, there is no other sport he could make the kind of money he does now.

If Ray Lewis wasn't a football player he'd still have options that could pay in the millions if he applied himself from a young age, he could play baseball, hockey, basketball, etc.. he has the size and strength to compete in all those leagues (though who knows if he'd have the skills.. but that's beside the point of this thread, we're talking physical specimen only)

Besides, most NFL players if you talk to former players don't enjoy playing the game anymore, it's physically demanding, it breaks down your body in ways that probably only boxing compares. It's a job.

jaycuban · Oct 19, 2007

Shaquile O'Neil

Illstate · Oct 19, 2007

jaycuban said:

Shaquile O'Neil
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As long as he didn't have to fight Charles Barkley

BigReg · Oct 19, 2007

Shawn Merriman. He's big, strong, fast, and completely out of his mind. He also boxes. Boxing is a big part of his offseason training. You think it's a coincidence he calls himself "Lights Out"? If this guy trained from a young age, he would kick the **** out of any current HW.

Illstate · Oct 19, 2007

I notice alot of people picking Linebackers, but I'm thinking with the size of todays heavyweights you may be better off with defensive ends. Or down linemen.
Some of those guys are pretty quick and athletic now a days.

Punisher33 · Oct 19, 2007

Its tough to say, but if you start a kid off in any sport and constantly practice with him, hes bound to get good at it. Guys like Micheal Grant, Haseem Rahman, both had basketball and football backgrounds. A guy that fought George Foreman in 91 was a former pro football player, Jimmy Ellis.

burger · Oct 19, 2007

Walter Payton as cruiserweight would have been interesting... or maybe if he got down to lightheavy?

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