what determines a fighters athleticism?

It's mostly genetics. - stamina - hand speed/explosiveness - power - chin

Very few boxers list on top of as many of the 'athletic' attributes as a prime Roy Jones Jr.

I see fighters described as having more athleticism than an opponent. How is this determined? Some athletic attributes are: 1. Cardiovascular / respiratory endurance – The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen. 2. Stamina – The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy. 3. Strength – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force. 4. Flexibility – The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint. 5. Power – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time. 6. Speed – The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement. 7. Coordination – The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. 8. Agility – The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another. 9. Balance – The ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation to its support base. 10. Accuracy – The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. Also reflexes / reactions: the speed at which one responds to an external stimuli appropriately (responding to a jab thrown with a parry).

I think it's a rather random appellation generally applied to fighters who use a lot of movement in their fighting style and are most often quick both on their feet and with their hands - think RJJ or Maravilla. There's no particular way of saying they're fitter or otherwise more athletic than other fighters but tend to employ a fighting style which appears to consume a lot of energy (with the obvious caveat that they're able to maintain it over the full 12 rounds of a championship fight).

I see fighters described as having more athleticism than an opponent. How is this determined? By their grappling power. Andre Ward.

FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS. Some have it, some dont. HOw can you tell if somebody has fast twitch muscle fibers? How well they move with their feet, and upper body. How fast they can throw combinations. They can avoid punches by disregarding basic fundamentals and get away with it. Donaire has it. Floyd has it. Andre Ward has it. Pacquiao has it. Rigondeaux has it. Joe Calzaghe has it. Sergio Martinez has it. Amir Khan has it. Adrian Broner has it. Fighters with no Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers: K Bros Mares Margarito Canelo Juan Manuel Marquez Danny Garcia Carl Froch Antonio Demarco Historically, Pernell and Ali lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, George Foreman not so much. hope that explains it. i guess you never saw JMM fight in his 20s, when nobody wanted to fight him.

hanz, dead like me, vwebb, american, care to chime in? Lol wtf does this have to do with me

And Danny Garcia and JMM are incredibly explosive punchers when in certain situations.

Here we go with the fast twitch nonsense... "1. physically active and strong; good at athletics or sports: an athletic child. 2. of, like, or befitting an athlete. 3. of or pertaining to athletes; involving the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina: athletic sports; athletic training. " Olympic weightlifting requires an abundance of fast twitch fibers, hell any weightlifting requires fast twitch muscle fibers as the sport has little to nothing to do with slow Type I fibers. Besides, contemporary research is further proving that fiber types are not as important as previously thought to be...hence Type I or II there is a difference but in terms of raw performance the difference is not as significant as it's believed to be. However, would you ever call Hossein Rezazadeh athletic? No...but why? He clearly is. I've been following the topic of "athleticism" for a while now and it really boils down to how one looks when performing an athletic activity... And it appears to boil down to culture... So in athletic vs non-athletic it in the view of the US sports media it comes down to FLAMBOYANCE. Yes, I said it...it's the guy who looks loose and fluid that is automatically the "athletic one"... A man might have a faster sprint, a higher vertical, is substantially stronger yet he is not athletic because he might look like a brick when doing it. And bringing it back to culture... Somebody posted a list where all the Mexican fighters were in the non athletic category...Really???? JMM not athletic? Why? Because he is not "slick"? The way Mexican fighters fight is down to culture, it is not macho to bounce around and fight like Proska or RJJ, Mexicans fight rough and their style is just not perceived as "athletic..." Wlad is not athletic? The man is physical beast, very agile, but he comes from a Soviet school were he would get smacked by his coaches the moment he would try loosen up and do anything other than textbook straight punches and strict form. Vitaliy had top reflexes...but sorry he just didnt look spectacular when he dodged punches, his movement was subtle and not "dashing"...getting back to the whole flamboyance thing.. Yet someone like Broner would be called more athletic... It's like they say how Johny Football is so athletic? Why? Because of his loose unpredictable style? People just took the word "athletic" and changed the definition to ATHLETIC=SPEED and FLAMBOYANCE...sorry but only one of those words actually applies to what the dictionary has to say.

FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS. Some have it, some dont. HOw can you tell if somebody has fast twitch muscle fibers? How well they move with their feet, and upper body. How fast they can throw combinations. They can avoid punches by disregarding basic fundamentals and get away with it. Donaire has it. Floyd has it. Andre Ward has it. Pacquiao has it. Rigondeaux has it. Joe Calzaghe has it. Sergio Martinez has it. Amir Khan has it. Adrian Broner has it. Fighters with no Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers: K Bros Mares Margarito Canelo Juan Manuel Marquez Danny Garcia Carl Froch Antonio Demarco Historically, Pernell and Ali lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, George Foreman not so much. hope that explains it. i'm not at all convinced that you even know what fast twitch muscle fibers are, how they contrast with "slow twitching" fibers, and what athletes with more of one or the other look like.

FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS. Some have it, some dont. HOw can you tell if somebody has fast twitch muscle fibers? How well they move with their feet, and upper body. How fast they can throw combinations. They can avoid punches by disregarding basic fundamentals and get away with it. Donaire has it. Floyd has it. Andre Ward has it. Pacquiao has it. Rigondeaux has it. Joe Calzaghe has it. Sergio Martinez has it. Amir Khan has it. Adrian Broner has it. Fighters with no Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers: K Bros Mares Margarito Canelo Juan Manuel Marquez Danny Garcia Carl Froch Antonio Demarco Historically, Pernell and Ali lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, George Foreman not so much. hope that explains it. Gonna have to disagree with you on Canelo. I think Canelo's very explosive in spurts. Foot speed wise, no. But in sudden bursts, I think he's very explosive.

I see fighters described as having more athleticism than an opponent. How is this determined? by being more athletic

Speed, agility, and reflexes.

It's basically someone who can use it to their advantage. It's mostly used when someone has incredible speed and reflexes. Roy Jones is the poster boy for this. All boxers are athletic they're pro athletes but, some just have natural gifts beyond that...it's what's meant by athletic in boxing. The word itself is confusing, because it doesn't mean what it says.

hanz, dead like me, vwebb, american, care to chime in?

How about Oscar? He was fast but often looked stiff

I see fighters described as having more athleticism than an opponent. How is this determined? Fast twitch muscles, but I have seen fighters with great athleticism get their butt kicked by non athletic guys due to determination and power for example Chavez Sr koing Roger twice or koing beating Meldrick Taylor to a pulp

yes they are very athletic. if you're a professional fighter you are athletic. You can still be very athletic and not have fast twitch muscle fibers. Kbros are athletic but they are devoid of fast twitch muscle fibers. Compare them to Mike Tyson and you see the difference. Oscar is another athletic specimen who IMO doesnt have fast twitch muscle fibers. He's an athletic stiff what i might call. Both Klitschko brothers are incredibly athletic. They have fast twitch muscle but they are not as fast as smaller fighters. Once you hit a certain size, athleticism plummets. Guys like Lennox, Vlad, vitali are extremely athletic for big men. You want to see fast twitch fibers? look at vlad right hand, he explodes with it and pulls it back with the best of them, same with the jab. Yes just about all boxers are "athletic". THey are athletes in reality but calling someone in boxing "athletic", we are talking about those with athleticism much above the average found in boxing

Wladimir is rather athletic for a huge man. yes they are very athletic. if you're a professional fighter you are athletic. You can still be very athletic and not have fast twitch muscle fibers. Kbros are athletic but they are devoid of fast twitch muscle fibers. Compare them to Mike Tyson and you see the difference. Oscar is another athletic specimen who IMO doesnt have fast twitch muscle fibers. He's an athletic stiff what i might call.

I see fighters described as having more athleticism than an opponent. How is this determined? FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS. Some have it, some dont. HOw can you tell if somebody has fast twitch muscle fibers? How well they move with their feet, and upper body. How fast they can throw combinations. They can avoid punches by disregarding basic fundamentals and get away with it. Donaire has it. Floyd has it. Andre Ward has it. Pacquiao has it. Rigondeaux has it. Joe Calzaghe has it. Sergio Martinez has it. Amir Khan has it. Adrian Broner has it. Fighters with no Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers: K Bros Mares Margarito Canelo Juan Manuel Marquez Danny Garcia Carl Froch Antonio Demarco Historically, Pernell and Ali lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, George Foreman not so much. hope that explains it.