The NFL/Boxing Theory have some real weight behind it.

[The Gambler1981]

It all boils down to money and opportunity.

There are only so many large athletic men, even in a large country like the US. In the past boxing was a very good way to earn money compared to other sports like football and basketball, now the situation is flipped you can still make great money boxing but getting to that pot of gold is exceedingly difficult, while it is not easy to become a pro basketball or football player the number of guys who really make it every year in those sports is more that make it in a decade of boxing. Even if a guys doesn't make it in those sports the path to the pros leaves them educated if they take that seriously, where as if you don't make it in boxing you are essentially assed out.

Plus a team sport is not as hard because you have people to cover for you, in boxing it is all on that one person and that is very stressful although it might appeal to some people.

It is true that other countries deal with it also because there is basically an unlimited need for large athletic guys.

The positive side of it is in boxing all a country needs to do is come up with one or two guys and they can be dominating boxing for a decade~

[1sballotHOF]

You guys are also forgetting the times we're living in. Kids growing up are soft as ****, and have too many distractions like iphones, etc. to truly have that mind state like an Ali/Frazier/Foreman/Norton/Louis/Holyfield. Kids now a days are soft as ****. I'd rather not watch "Friday night's sissy fights".

[Dr Rumack]

Originally Posted by 1sballotHOF

You guys are also forgetting the times we're living in. Kids growing up are soft as ****, and have too many distractions like iphones, etc. to truly have that mind state like an Ali/Frazier/Foreman/Norton/Louis/Holyfield. Kids now a days are soft as ****. I'd rather not watch "Friday night' sissy fights".

Yeah, yeah...those lousy kids etc etc.

What's the grassroots ecosystem like in the US as far as boxing goes? How much money gets fed back into local gyms from the big bucks generated at the highest level? My guess is precious little.

[The Gambler1981]

Originally Posted by Dr Rumack

Yeah, yeah...those lousy kids etc etc.

What's the grassroots ecosystem like in the US as far as boxing goes? How much money gets fed back into local gyms from the big bucks generated at the highest level? My guess is precious little.

Like none, and if you don't live in certain areas you may never come across a boxing gym in your life.

[mathed]

It's because football is so lucrative and popular. You make 800K a year to play on the practice squad and you have the chance to be on national TV. In boxing, only the elite of the elite make upwards of 800K a year and you get punched in the face.

The guys in the NFL on average are in tremendously better shape than some of these bum heavies that are trying to make a name for themselves. You start scalping NFL talent and you are going to see a major difference in the HW scene....I don't care what anyone says.

[Cutthroat]

Originally Posted by New England

you wouldn't even think lebron james was real. 6'9". 270. runs like a dear. moves like a welterweight. built like somebody carved him out of wood...

I don't think a lot of guys have seen people like LBJ actually play, they know they're tall but they don't know just how agile they are. These people see us posting about 7ft guys and IMMEDIATLEY think of some slow plodding guy like Valuev, Ustinov etc. but they don't realize how athletically gifted these guys are, how insanely fast and quick their reflexes are etc. These guys are huge yet move like MW's.


The guy in my avatar, Kawhi Leonard is 20 years old, 6'7 230lbs and he doesn't even lift weights! He's extremely thin, all he benches is around 200lbs yet Wlad barely outweighs this guy by 15lbs. He could easily put on 30lbs if he wanted to.

Kawhi's reach is 87 inches compared to Wlad's 81 inches and Vitali's 79 inch reach.

[1sballotHOF]

Originally Posted by mathed

It's because football is so lucrative and popular. You make 800K a year to play on the practice squad and you have the chance to be on national TV. In boxing, only the elite of the elite make upwards of 800K a year and you get punched in the face.

The guys in the NFL on average are in tremendously better shape than some of these bum heavies that are trying to make a name for themselves. You start scalping NFL talent and you are going to see a major difference in the HW scene....I don't care what anyone says.

They still won't ever live up to guys like Ali and Tyson. I don't care what anyone says. As long as we got to witness the best HW champs of all time, it's whatever.

[cixthree]

Originally Posted by The Nephilim

The NFL was around and very popular in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, etc. So why didn't it impinge on US boxing in those eras as well?

The reason American HWs are not where they used to be is the fall of the Soviet Union and the freeing up of Eastern Europeans to fight professionally.

Had the Soviet Union not existed, the history of the HW division would likely be very different.

It did, look at what we have now. It was a subtle process

[1sballotHOF]

Originally Posted by Cutthroat

I don't think a lot of guys have seen people like LBJ actually play, they know they're tall but they don't know just how agile they are. These people see us posting about 7ft guys and IMMEDIATLEY think of some slow plodding guy like Valuev, Ustinov etc. but they don't realize how athletically gifted these guys are, how insanely fast and quick their reflexes are etc. These guys are huge yet move like MW's.


The guy in my avatar, Kawhi Leonard is 20 years old, 6'7 230lbs and he doesn't even lift weights! He's extremely thin, all he benches is around 200lbs yet Wlad barely outweighs this guy by 15lbs. He could easily put on 30lbs if he wanted to.

Kawhi's reach is 87 inches compared to Wlad's 81 inches and Vitali's 79 inch reach.

You can't teach a power puncher, or quick punching. Plus mental fortitude. Look at Lebron the year before last. Imagine him choking in a HW title fight. He'd probably quit boxing for life.

Like I said before, kids now a days aren't built to die in the ring. We'd end up getting athletic guys that give up after getting hit a few times.

[Dr Rumack]

Originally Posted by mathed

It's because football is so lucrative and popular. You make 800K a year to play on the practice squad and you have the chance to be on national TV. In boxing, only the elite of the elite make upwards of 800K a year and you get punched in the face.

The guys in the NFL on average are in tremendously better shape than some of these bum heavies that are trying to make a name for themselves. You start scalping NFL talent and you are going to see a major difference in the HW scene....I don't care what anyone says.

The reason it's so much more lucrative is because (1) they perform so much more often, and (2) the audience is so much bigger. So you've got a larger group of people paying to see the sport far more often.

Audience size is a product of promotion and the cultivation of the sport in the communities that the audience lives in. And I suppose the question you have to ask is whether or not boxing actually has a presence in most people's day to day lives.

Is there a local boxing club? Did they box in school as they were growing up like they played football, basketball, or soccer? Is there a boxer from their town that gets national press attention? These are the things that create a mass audience of fans for a sport on a sustainable basis.

Sure, a megastar will come along every now and then who will pull in huge numbers, but that's not something that repairs structural problems in the sport for the most part. 3 million ppv buys on a Saturday night isn't much good if local gyms can't pay their electricity bill come Monday morning.