According to that logic the pinnacle of talent and sports are found in snooker, table tennis and tennis.
Absolutely
Soccer too. Nobody has ever played for the first time ever at 19 and been a top pro
What you are saying here is not true. There are late bloomers in any sport you care to mention and I don't know a single example of a guy who took up boxing as an adult and became a world champion without years of hard work and dedication, working his way up through the levels. Fabio Wardley is rightly revered for his freakishly fast progress after taking up boxing at age 21, but even he took 10 years to become a world champion after first lacing on the gloves. On average, even elite amateurs take around 5 years to become elite level pros after turning over, which is probably about the same amount of time it takes a gifted footballer to go from Sunday League to international level.
But nobody could start tennis at 21, put in 10 years of hardwork and start competing with Nadal
:lol1:
in boxing you can because it takes less talent to get to the top.
It's just as possible for 2 kids to go to the same boxing coach and end up on different levels. It happens all the time.
Indeed..
but the point is one of those kids could go onto be world champ and then end up losing to guys that had never put on gloves until they were an adult
That could never happen in pretty much any other sport because the talent required to get to the top is simply unattainable for someone picking it up as an adult
I'm not saying boxing requires NO talent to be a topguy, just much less than many other sports
He's getting old. His feet are slowing.
Some fighters have a steady decline, some have a quick decline. Usyk is closer to the latter.
He may well beat the slightly overrated (but still good) Kabayel but he needs to be looking for the exit soon.
It is what it is. Eras end. Usyk, Fury, AJ are all varying stages of decline and none of them will be an active fighter in two years time, and if they are, they'll all be cannon fodder for younger fighters. That's the way it goes.
That's sport, everyone has a limited shelf life.
Typical deathofabum thread
People confuse ‘you can start late’ with ‘it doesn’t require talent’
Boxing actually relies heavily on innate traits you can’t teach ie chin, punching power, speed, reflexes, timing, composure under pressure, killer instinct.
You can improve technique and conditioning, but you can’t manufacture those attributes. That’s why two fighters can train the same way and end up on completely different levels.
Tennis requires all those things except punching power and chin. That's why two kids can go to the same tennis coach and be completely different levels. I.e Andy Murray and his brother.
That's a real apples to oranges comparison. Tennis, unlike boxing, is a non-contact sport. I reckon I would have a decent chance of beating Federer if the rules of tennis allowed me to jump over the net and tackle him to the ground or punch him in the mouth when he was getting ready to serve.
So we can both agree that contact sports take way less talent to compete at the top than contact sports
Proves my point
Rico is certainly NOT an elite boxer.
At 37, he's also not young, he's slow, has lots of wear & tear, and has no experience in a boxing ring.
Yet he outboxed Usyk for 9 rounds. (before the bogus stoppage)
So this where does that put Usyk?
It's one thing if you get caught by a lucky haymaker.
but completely outboxed?
Overrated is the best description I can find. Usyk is overrated.
if Usyk is overrated, then its fair to say the whole division is.
But yeah, as you say, losing by KO is one thing, that could happen to anyone from a freak shot
Getting outboxed by a kickboxer is bad when you're known for your great boxing ability. Fair enough if he outboxed Wilder or Wardley who are just looking for one punch all night but he's just outboxed Usyk and screwed by the ref lol
There have been players in various sports that have made the major leagues that started as late as these boxers did. The rare NFL player was a guy who started in their early 20's and blossomed late into a football player. A few centers started in college or late in high school and made the NBA. I think if you play certain positions in these leagues you have a higher chance of making it to the league because the skill factor is lower and there is lesser competition due to size requirements.
But I bet they played Football before their 20s. Maybe not pro but in school or with friends growing up. I doubt they'd never touched a football
In boxing you get people walking into the gym for the first time and adult and winning world titles lol. It's bad
Obviously it just couldn't happen, whereas in the heavyweights you can find a freak of nature that has attributes that can test a seasoned champion boxer.
I mean, Rico is pretty much how you'd build a heavyweight if you could. He got taken lightly and he still got beaten.
This is kind of why boxing is so great. Someone can have a great night or a puncher's chance... but the cream still rises to the top. Usyk has beaten all of the people who could have taken their chance in a sport that rewards taking a chance. That's truly great.
You don't get to knock Novak out of a tournament with a couple of great shots.
Which kind of proves my point that sports like Tennis require a higher level of ability to be at the top.
Doesn't matter how athletic you are, now much of freak of nature you are, you're never getting to beat Federer unless you're a highly gifted player.
There is a difference how a ball and shuttle react to physical forces. There is not a difference how an arm wrapped in a glove gets delivered to an opponent.
Too much coping here.
People can adapt to boxing way quicker than any other major sport because it requires less talent to be top level.
Im not saying boxing requires NO talent. But the threshold to reach the highest levels is way lower than other sports. Any rational and objective person can see it
Yeah its not a great look tbh. Its one thing to say "okay Usyk (or Fury) would lose in kickboxing or MMA, but in boxing they cant be beat", but its something else when kickboxers and MMA guys are fighting them in straight up boxing and giving them hell.
FWIW I do think the lack of power in both Usyk and Fury is a big part of it. There are guys that have lost to them who stylistically could probably handle Rico or Ngannou quicker because they can bäng.
Its frustrating because these ****** crossover fights have no reason to happen in the first place.
That's a fair point.
AJ vs Ngannou was only going one way because AJ had a fight to study after Ngannou v Fury and they could find a way to land a big shot.
If you want to be kind of Fury and Usyk, you could say they essentially went in blind with absolutely no idea what to prepare for with these guys acting as boxers
.
Still no excuse though, as I said, Federer could roll out of bed without training for a year and not have any problem against a Badminton or table tennis player. So it's kind of pathetic that supposed elite guys like Fury and Usyk are going life and death with fighters who aren't boxers. Lets just be honest about it.
It's not a great look for boxing
The boxing equivalent of that is never put on a glove and deliver a punch which Rico has clearly done since being a kid.
But a badminton player would never come close to beating Federer.
True. How many games would a non tennis player win against Novak Djokovic in a tennis match?
Exactly. Or imagine never picking up a tennis racquet until age 19 and winning Wimbledon. That's the equivalent of what some boxers are doing by starting so late and winninh world titles.
Rico vs Usyk is like a badminton player taking Djokovic to a 5th set tie break :lol1:
It's just never happening in other sports. boxing simply requires less brilliance to make it to the top.
Give me 3 years of daily training and I'll still never win a service game against Djokovic, let alone take a set or come near to winning.
Either that or Rico is built different unlike any other fighter.
It's not about Rico, this was just solidifying my point.
It's about others not ever boxing until nearly age 20 and still becoming a world champ
You reckon you can never hit a tennis ball until 20 and with a grandslam? Or never shoot a basketball until adulthood and make it to the NBA?
No chance.
Boxing requires less talent to make it to the top.
Let's be real. The Fury from the second Wilder fight would beat any version of Usyk. I know we can say Wilder isn't Usyk but I'm talking about Fury's skills and physical ability. That was the last time his legs worked and his punches were quick and sharp.
but credit to Usyk because he's older but lived the athlete life. Fury never, his legs are shot and he is half the fighter he was.
Usyk doesnt get near a prime Fury.
He'll get beaten by a heavyweight who takes him seriously and now has 12 rounds of tape on him, just like Ngannou did..
Usyk just had his Ngannou v Fury moment. Came in 10lbs heavier than usual because he thought it was a money grab and forgot these guys are still fighters by trade.
Rico is ok though. Showed he can stick to a game plan and good stamina. Physical strong too. You can do fairly well into today's HW division with those attributes. I thought Usyk looked the more tired of the two, which never happens.
Fury vs Nganou
Aj vs Jake Paul ( KO barely saved face)
Usyk vs Rico
Just plain embarrassing for boxing, been watching less and less ever since. The talent is abysmal still the best sport in the world but damn is the talent sad as hell
https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/boxing-forums/non-stop-boxing/32492020-boxing-requires-very-little-sporting-talent
Check my thread from last year.
He schooled wilder in both fights until both stoppages or did you just watch the highlights
Many have outboxed Wilder at times. He got flattened twice by him through.
if he was as good as advertised, he wouldn't have been stopped twice.
like I said, a lot of Cubans seem to get way overhyped based on many from that country winning medals in tip tap amateur boxing. Very few of them have had the minerals to survive top level pro boxing.
What is it with Cubans and professional fighters too much party ?
A lot of them just overrated from the start. People see Cuban and automatically think they're great because they won a load of gold medals playing touch butt for points over 3 rounds with head guards in the past.
Professional boxing is wildly different.
I used to say it about Luis Ortiz when he was the supposed boogie man in the division. At the time before he fought Wilder I said take Ortiz's exact resume and skill set and change the name to Jack Smith from New Jersey and nobody would rate him. Change the name to Ortiz and put a Cuban flag and suddenly he was going to be some world beater despite proving nothing.
Usually when a guy takes huge shots he gets to a point where you know he can't win and someone pulls them out. Or they get stopped because they're not returning fire.
Neither of those will ever apply to Wardley. He carries power late and he throws when he's hurt. For anyone to step in and save him, the punishment he's taken has to be so, so bad. And with his lack of pedigree, he's going to take a lot of punishment if he keeps on going.
Incredible fight, incredible bravery, but I thought it got very uncomfortable watching Wardley be so badly damaged for our entertainment. He went through the kind of punishment that no man should take.
I know corners have a hard job but knowing they have a rematch in the bag, just pull him and save him for that. That may not satisfy people as a fight ender but it's the right thing.
He may have power to change a fight but he literally couldn't walk without wobbling all over, even after a minutes rest, so surely his corner must understand he's not going to generate any power anyway.
Really bad corner work, just a complete lack of common sense. And I think Ben Davison is usually pretty good at pulling fighters at the right time but they've had a shocker there.
But the reality is that the brutality of the last few rounds and Fabio's toughness made the fight more memorable and probably makes the rematch bigger, but the rematch clause is there anyway, so it didn't need to come to that point.
Junto loops his punches too much
Inoue will hit him often with fast, hard and accurate straight shots.
Junto will have his moments but Inoue is a league above.
What I will say is Inoue is 33, historically that's pretty quite old for fighters around bantamweight. They usually start becoming washed by mid 30s. Wouldn't surprise me to start seeing a noticeable decline in the near future.
That was no robbery. Close competitive fight and the decision was fine.
Anyway, Josh Kelly has always been talented. The result isn't that shocking.
People read way too much into Kelly's only defeat but those in the know, they know he had a whole heap of issues outside of the ring.
He certainly isn't good enough to be the superstar they used to say he was going to be, but he's a good talented fighter that'll give most world level fighters a good fight and arguably beat many of them who come with a basic style.
Murtazaliev is only good at creeping in close using his jab and then work. Take his jab away and he's not left with much else. Kelly took his jab away for most rounds and he was useless.