I never contended this. Nice attempt at the straw man. No reports I have ever read contend he was quick of hand or foot, quite the opposite. Please quote the reports that state he was highly athletic, moreso than say, Willard, who was phenomenally strong.
Is Kevin Smith a reliable enough source for you? or do you prefer someone who lived through the era? In fact I'll go further, you find me a source that states Willard is more athletic than Harry Wills. I didn't realize 37 year old Farmboys coming off 3 year layoffs were considered "athletic". Willard has to be one of the least uncoordinated un-athletic heavyweights of all time.
I recently read an old newspaper article about Willard, talking about how big and athletic he was and how a normal sized fighter would never again hold the world title while the modern skilled superheavyweight (from memory that was the actual term used). It sounded quite familiar and i was amazed at the type of awe that Willard was held at the time. I am not sure how far into the layoff this was though. Sorry, but unless i have previously posted a link on this forum (i may have) i have no idea where such an article could be found, although Google Newspapers or one of the other free archives on line would find it.
1) Muhammed Ali 2) Joe Louis 3) Lennox Lewis 4) Rocky Marciano 5) Larry Holmes 6) George Foreman 7) Mike Tyson 8) Joe Frazier 9) Sonny Liston 10) Evander Holyfield
Please quote the source. I find your intuition of the term "athletic" severely lacking. What do mean by it? Was he fast? Not according to accounts I have read. Was he as strong as circus strongman Willard? Did he really have more endurance that Willard exhibited going 26 rounds in the Cuban sun? Don't just name drop. Give me a quote and please let me know how it relates to this amorphous "athletic" label you assigned to Wills.
I'd have Foreman and Frazier higher but you can basically pick apart any list in comparison to your own liking. Where do you rank Tyson by the way?
I consider someone athletic who can excel at more than one sport. They usually have natural talent, reflexes, movement, and advanced Hand Eye coordination, that allows them to compete at a high level in more than one sport. My definition of athletes are Bo Jackson, Jim Thorpe, Deion Sanders, etc you get the point? Honestly, no offense seamus, but if you think Willard is an "Athlete"..I question if you have ever competed in high level sports in your life. I have. Willard is no athlete. He is a big farm boy with a pitchfork. He is strong. So is any big guy who works on the farms all day. But he lacks skill/natural talent, he is very uncoordinated, he is slow, and he is ponderous. He had no idea how to punch with leverage. I could not picture Willard doing any other sport.
Yeah, like Ali is more athletic than Louis, Wills is more athletic than Willard. What we got here is a failure to communicate. Different definitions of athletic is all.
McGrain, I think it's pretty darn god hilarious Willard was referred to as an "Athlete". LOL He was a farmer with a pitchfork.
He would still beat Keene Simmons though. Simmons would swarm all over Willard without throwing punches