The next great American heavyweight is...

I don't know if that was my point, but it's a good one.

Also I think that boxing in general has taken such a back seat to everything. It's no longer mainstream, youth in this country don't even have a way to watch fights, so how are they going to get interested? Not to mention, most gyms I used to know of are closed now.

 

And on what basis do you make that assumption?

 

Honestly, I have never really bought into the excuse for why American HWs are in decline, that they are all playing football or basketball. I always got a good laugh out of it. Seems to me that there are enough US HWs as it is to produce some high quality fighters. according to boxrec there are currently 546 active American HWs. Sure that figure could be off by a bit, but its probably pretty close. Then I look at countries like Ukraine and Russia, for example, where the current champs are from. Ukraine has 24 HWs, Russia has 32. Chagaevs country, Uzbekistan has 4. So how can the best heavies be from these countries, when they have much fewer HWs? The US must have more than 20 times the number of HWS tha Ukraine has, but Vlad is better than any American HW. What does that tell me? That right now Vlad is just simply better, thats it. Im sure that sooner or later a great american HW will come along, until then I think American fans should start looking for other reasons, real reasons, as to why their HWs arent the best, istead of using these weak excuses. And if he doesnt come along, it aint the NFLs fault.

 

When we all least expect it, suddenly the next great American heavyweight will appear, and come to dominate the division. Don't give up hope, it's just a matter of time...

 

Size dont mean much,some of the worst fights in sports ive seen was when the big rugby guys here have punch ups,amazing to see so many big men not able to fight properly(though if they connect the size alone would knock the average man over),also how can you tell if the guys chin is any good till he gets hit?,not as if you can do do weight training for your chin now is it hehe.

To be honest though some of these rugby guys,and your american footie guys would defintly make good boxers,they would be fit and fast,and very powerful,a good start for sure.

 

Obviously my statement is purley on opinion, but hear me out.

This is assuming the athlete would be crossing over directly from their respective sport.

A soccer player may have tremendous stamina, they might be quick, and they may have great foot work, but they lack tremendously in upper body strength compared to an NFL DB. Now I understand Boxing is not all about muscles and body builder physique generally will comeback to haunt a fighter, but you have to take into consideration weight classes.

Soccer player’s huge, strong legs would more likely put them in a weight class far superior than what they can compensate for with upper body strength. Whereas the average Cornerback will have a nice lanky frame, with plenty of upper-body power. Much more easily adapted to Boxing. Now if we were talking about kick-boxing, I'd have to go with the Soccer player, but not boxing.

Overall, an NFL DB is generally going to be much stronger, have much more power, and stamina almost on par with a soccer player. How could that not be ideal for Boxing?

 

surely there are some tall, athletic guys in the nfl and nba that would make a good hw boxer but just because someone is big and athletic he necessarily isn't made for boxing. take wlad klitschko for example: he was an athletic kid who took up boxing because his brother practiced it. if he hadn't started boxing he maybe would be a professional basketball or volleyball player.
the reason why so many eastern euro guys no make it, because they see boxing as a possibility to success.
you americans just have to wait: a talent like tyson, lewis or klitschko only emerges once in a decade, maybe even less.

 

Thank you for your assesement. I disagree with you on some points though.

First of all, the modern soccer players not only work out (weights and machines) their legs as it had been in the past but the upper body as well. Of course there not as much emphasis on the upper body as it is in football, so a football player does have a clear advantage here.

Second of all, the footwork of a soccer player which is a very important aspect in boxing is totally superior to a football player.

Finally, I totally disagree with you about the stamina comment. The football type of stamina is totaly unfit for boxing as it is a coninuous activity with almost no breaks which is quite similar to soccer and opposite to football.

 

the next great American Heavy probably has not been born yet

 

America has the most active HW's by far but hey if there were 10,000 more they would be doing better.

 

I don't know a single person that boxes. Not one. I know hundreds of people that play stick and ball sports....