The least athletically gifted champion ever?

At what level?

Out of the best pound for pound: Barney Ross
Out of the best to hold a lineal title: Hell if i know. Hugo Corro looks slow as ****.

 

What does "athletic" mean or is like pornography in that you know it when you see it?

Seeing as Ross stands at least as one of the greatest 50 fighters the athletic endeavor of boxing has ever seen, one can surmise he was fantastically athletic... by definition.

 

Barney Ross was surely a born fighter. Almost every decent champion got there by hard work.

 

I'm assuming it means the most primitive definition. Speed, power, size(among heavies), stamina. I'm not accounting for things like boxing brains, proprioception, coordination, vision, etc when I say Ross, who had the intangibles in spades. And of course a disgusting skillset.

And i said among the best pound for pound. I meant best. Ross is my #15 of all time, or something like that.


A better shout might be Tommy Loughran, actually.

 

Loughran was fast as a whip, had great legs, durability and stamina. Lacked power but he is one of the last I would choose.

 

Ross is more athletic than Monzon. Someone like Marciano isn't too quick/explosive but has great stamina. Chavez, Castillo and Ortiz weren't that athletic either and all competed well with more athletic boxers.

 

To me, Willie Pep had minimal strength and little power for an elite top champion, so he sure needed a lot of skill, ring generalship, and conditioning to win as many fights as he did. Had solid speed, but I wouldn't say he was lightning fast either. He put it all together beautifully though - footwork, timing, activity, head movement, knew when to throw, when to duck or move. But I don't think anyone would look at him and think this was some sort of physical specimen of talent.

 

This "athletic" label seems highly subjective at best. Chavez, for instance, had excellent speed up until welterweight, great stamina, excellent power and great timing (is this a component of this mythical "atheticism"?).

Monzon was freakishly strong for his weight class and possessed great reflexes and excellent power (particularly pre-shooting).

These guys are not all time greats by chance. There were substantial inborn gifts that allowed this.

 

diosbelys hurtado. strange style. not a puncher, didnt box alot and easy to hit but just seemed to be able to catch people all he time. dropping pernell and tszyu 4 times in total.

 

Joe Frazier had no business being as great as he was with the pudgy physique he had. The noble exception was the Fight of the Century: he was glimmering then and never looked better.

Tony Tubbs was off the scales as well, but a pretty good fighter.

 

Speed and coordination were his strengths. That being said I dont see him as powerful or explosive, functionally very strong, etc. As for stamina, yes, but it's less impressive IMO in that regard for a fencer type to maintain stamina than say, a Battling Nelson/Greb type blasting off fusillades of punches for round after round.

also we should all remember that physique is never an ultimate indicator of athletic ability, only a general indicator of fitness