ESPN ranks Boxing as the #1 toughest sport

I wonder if by martial arts they meant mixed martial arts? MMA should be right up there with boxing No it shouldn't.

when u read the comments from the "boxing fans" you get the feeling its super easy.... by no means is it easy but you got all these guys that abuse their bodies and constantly disrespect the sport and can still succeed and get close to and/or reach the top. Fighting I think is ONE of the most basic human instincts but, can be sharpened in to whatever style one trains in.

lol @ Basketball

F1 and futebol I think are tougher. There are boxers that are out of shape and can still reach the pinnacle of the sport whereas most F1 drivers are pictures of fitness and athleticism and futebol goes without saying.

I wonder if by martial arts they meant mixed martial arts? MMA should be right up there with boxing I agree. I find Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to be as tough as boxing in terms of training. Nothing else comes even close to combat sports in terms of toughness, IMO.

Obviously boxing fans for the most part would agree with this, whether you are looking at the sport from a physical or mental standpoint. Physically, I'd put hockey second. Mentally, I know people might laugh but apparently golf would be.

Top ten toughest sports 1. Boxing 2. American Football 3. Lacrosse 4. Strongest man competition 5. Soccer 6. Baseball 7. Basketball 8. Wrestling 9. Pool 100. MMA Inb4 angry mma fan :fing26:

rugby is tougher then hockey

I wonder if by martial arts they meant mixed martial arts? MMA should be right up there with boxing

Martial arts is too broad...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills 1)Boxing 2)Ice Hockey 3)Football 4)Basketball 5)Wrestling 6)Martial Arts Basically they have 10 criteria for each sport and they are scored from 1-10 and the average is calculated at the end using the scores of the criteria. The score for boxing using the criteria out of /10 is as follows: 1)Endurance:8.63 2)Strength:8.13 3)Power:8.63 4)Speed:6.38 5)Agility:6.25 6)Flexibility:4.38 7)Nerve:8.88 8)Durability:8.50 9)Eye-Hand Co-ordination:7.0 10)Analytic Aptitude: 5.63 Total:72.375/100 I know this is a boxing forum and everyone's going to most likely agree on boxing, but curious to see your thoughts on the rest of the list? even though i agree boxing should be #1 i cant take their list seriously given the fact they dont have a clue what boxing is about. all the things that are most important in boxing like speed, flexibility, agility and analytic aptitude are ranked low. while far less important attributes like strenghts and power are ranked high. not saying you dont need strenght and power but they should be ranked the lowest out of these attributes not at the top. and how is nerve and durability not a 9 or 10? what sport requires more nerve than boxing? these fools are clueless, as is often the case with espn.

And they SERIOUSLY undersold it. The Analytical portion only got a 5.63? By their definition that category means 'ability to adapt strategy to situation'. Is that not insanely integral to boxing? Speed...only 6.38? Agility...only 6.25? Hand-Eye Coordination...only 7? Boxing is the toughest BY FAR.

this is about 3 years old.

Is this a new one? I remember they did this awhile back and boxing was on top

I agree.....