Why are there no decent American Heavyweights?

[Spray_resistant]

That really is how many of the professional athletes think when they are young how when they become professionals how much money they will have and most of these kids come from the ****** and use their sport as a vehicle to get out of the ******.

Kids aren't going to be involved in some sport when they would rather do something different because it might make more money as if they would even realize which sports make more money. They do what they think is fun and stay with what they are good at without any consideration for money.

[gingeralbino]

Kids aren't going to be involved in some sport when they would rather do something different because it might make more money as if they would even realize which sports make more money. They do what they think is fun and stay with what they are good at without any consideration for money.

thats what im thinking.

i played sports that
a) my school played
b) I thought were fun
c) that i saw on tv

Maybe if u get to a really high level in 2 or 3 sports u can pick one that will make u the richest, but i doubt the first time u play a sport you are thinking of the mansions and the women

[Spray_resistant]

thats what im thinking.

i played sports that
a) my school played
b) I thought were fun
c) that i saw on tv

Maybe if u get to a really high level in 2 or 3 sports u can pick one that will make u the richest, but i doubt the first time u play a sport you are thinking of the mansions and the women

By the time you care about whether it is financially lucrative or not you would be most likely too old to develop the skills to thrive at an elite level in any sport, most of the best in every sport started very young and stuck with it.

[paulf]

All of the best American heavyweights have been destroyed by Eastern Europeans.

Ppfffftttt don't flatter yourself. Boxing is no longer part of the social fabric of America sports. It's not in the sports sections of papers and it's almost invisible on ESPN. It's an after-thought. The vast majority of people don't know about it or talk about any more than they talk about lacrosse or horse racing.

It's lack of both popularity and meager earnings have eliminated almost all incentive for American athletes to get into boxing. I went to an all black high school; historically a breeding ground for American boxers, and there was not one serious boxer at my school.

The kids with the greatest athleticism are being recruited by the NFL and NBA. Even Tennis stars are more popular.

I was at a Golden Gloves regionals a few months ago and one of the guys had won the Nationals a few years earlier. I talked to him for a little bit, and he said he had got into boxing when he was 19 because he was fat and needed to lose weight.

I got plenty of respect for Wlad and Vital; they're special athletes. As for many of the others, though; they're just filling the void left now that boxing has shifted out of favor in America, as well as other places.

[Steelhammer2011]

All of the best American heavyweights have been destroyed by Eastern Europeans. The same thing is happening in other weight classes too.

Soviets weren't allowed to turn pro until the 1990s because of the cold war.

Now Soviets are allowed to turn pro and we're already taking over boxing.

This is just the beginning of the Eastern European domination.

The NFL/NBA excuse is weak.

There are tons of potential Eastern European Heavyweight Boxers who are doing Combat Sambo, MMA, Kickboxing, Hockey, Olympic Wrestling, Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Worlds Strongest Man Competitions, etc.

America isn't the only country on the planet that has other sports.

Emanuel Steward: "The Soviet Union fighters are hungrier than the American fighters"

[Davros?]

All of the best American heavyweights have been destroyed by Eastern Europeans. The same thing is happening in other weight classes too.

Soviets weren't allowed to turn pro until the 1990s because of the cold war.

Now Soviets are allowed to turn pro and we're already taking over boxing.

This is just the beginning of the Eastern European domination.

The NFL/NBA excuse is weak.

There are tons of potential Eastern European Heavyweight Boxers who are doing Combat Sambo, MMA, Kickboxing, Hockey, Olympic Wrestling, Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Worlds Strongest Man Competitions, etc.

America isn't the only country on the planet that has other sports.

I am not American but if you would do a bit of research you would find that while Soviet fighters did not take part in the pro ranks they often fought American fighters in the Olympics. Fighters like Patterson, Ali, Foreman, Spinks, Holyfield, Bowe all won Olympic medals. The logic that Eastern Euro fighters would have dominated in the 60s and 70s is flawed because the American fighters had often beaten the Eastern Euro fighters who where more experienced at the Olympics.
I am not trying to be biased but it’s clear that boxing has lost most of its popularity in America. It’s a strange one in a way there seems to have been a drastic decline in the uptake of boxing it started before any of the eastern euro fighters joined the pro ranks there is a drastic reduction in the number of boxing gyms in America, I don’t believe that the next American is necessarily in the NFL or anything but its obvious that there is a drastic reduction in the uptake of boxing in America, Thankfully country’s like the UK and in Eastern Europe there has been an increase in boxing otherwise are sport would be in an even worse shape.

[DET. IRONSIDE]

Another thing you gotta take into account is that boxing isn't a college sport in the USA. It never has been. In Eastern Europe its a college sport like NFL and NBA.

Still I'm pretty sure its just a poor nutrition that is hurting the heavyweght division. NFL isn't a stamina sport like boxing so it does not compare, in my opinion, to boxing.

[The Hammer]

Righ now, there are more heavyweights listed by BoxRec from the US than from anywhere else.

But there are more GOOD, promising young HWs from the UK: Price, Chisora, etc.

There's still more HW prospects from the US, but now there's GOOD prospects from Ukraine and Russia too: Glazkov, Boytsov, etc..

I believe it has more to do with young American men eating too much fast food from McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken than anything else.

[Pin Galarga]

Teddy Atlas talks about this a lot.

The answer is that the next American heavyweight champ is in the NFL or NBA right now.

American athletes have shifted away from boxing towards careers in sports that are much more lucrative and less physically damaging.

Think about it; Pretty much only the guys in the top 10-15 of each weight class are making millions right? I mean consistently, not one million dollar check thats mostly gone before they get it.

How many guys are in the NFL? The NBA? Not to mention even Baseball. Theyre all making good livings, and thyre set up for multiple years each time their contracts are renewed. Boxers never know when their next meal is.

Sad but true.

BINGO! I concurr

[Cutthroat]

They're all in other sports. Boxing isn't as popular as it used to be, my little brother is 13 years old at 6'4 (no shoes) and 250lbs. I tried to get him into boxing but he didn't like it, he plays basketball. Just like all of the other genetic freaks out there, guys in the NFL and the NBA are just as big or BIGGER than both Klitschkos. When you grow up in America the main sports kids play are basketball, football, and soccer. Basketball and Football have a crap load of fans.

Tell me, just how many American heavy weights have you ever seen that 6'6 and 260lbs of muscle? This is COMMON in both Basketball and Football.

Here are just a FEW NBA/NFL players that are either bigger or just as big as Wlad:


Ben Wallace 6'9, 240lbs




Brandon Jacobs, 6'4 264lbs

[IMG]http://i57.***********.com/albums/g217/manofgod316/BRANDONJACOBS.jpg[/IMG]



Dwight Howard, 6'11 265lbs




Julius Peppers, 6'7, 283lbs





Need I go on? I can find THOUSANDS of guys that are huge and fast just like them, these guys are athletic freaks and can excel at just about any sport.

Out of my ENTIRE high school, I've only met around 4 people that liked to watch boxing and 2 of them that were into in boxing. All the biggest kids are playing football and basketball.