What boxing ATGs were footballers/basketballers?

[The Hammer]

PS-just curious, why haven't you commented on the Tommy Z posts?

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/sh...ight=Zbikowski

The post saying he's more athletic than Chakhkiev was so silly it wasn't worth replying to.

Zbikowski's opponent Bell in that video was in awfully poor condition, he had a pot belly and had been KOed in his two previous fights. The guy he fought on the PPV I was referring to in that thread was even worse.

People can believe whatever they want.

If it gives people comfort to believe in Mohammed, Jesus, Zeus, or Odin that's okay with me. If it gives you comfort to believe Santa Clause is real, that's okay with me too.

And if it gives you comfort to believe all the men in the NFL and NBA would KO the Klitschkos, and that Joe Louis and every other American who ever held a HW title is better than the Klitschkos, then you are entitled to that belief.

As I said before, these discussions are time-consuming and non-productive. People are going to continue to believe what they want to believe.

[JAB5239]

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/sh...ight=Zbikowski

The post saying he's more athletic than Chakhkiev was so silly it wasn't worth replying to.

Zbikowski's opponent Bell in that video was in awfully poor condition, he had a pot belly and had been KOed in his two previous fights. The guy he fought on the PPV I was referring to in that thread was even worse.

People can believe whatever they want.

If it gives people comfort to believe in Mohammed, Jesus, Zeus, or Odin that's okay with me. If it gives you comfort to believe Santa Clause is real, that's okay with me too.

And if it gives you comfort to believe all the men in the NFL and NBA would KO the Klitschkos, and that Joe Louis and every other American who ever held a HW title is better than the Klitschkos, then you are entitled to that belief.

As I said before, these discussions are time-consuming and non-productive. People are going to continue to believe what they want to believe.

Well I didn't say any of those things. What I did say is it is hard to argue that the vast majority of athletic talent is going to other sports in this country and I presented a valid case. If I had time I would get into the amateur systems from different countries and how the United States program has dwindled compared to what it use to be.

[Rico1965]

Ed "Too Tall" Jones who played for the Dallas Cowboys became a boxer.

[JAB5239]

Ed "Too Tall" Jones who played for the Dallas Cowboys became a boxer.

Not a very good one, and Im a Cowboys fan. You just cant start that late in life

[deansluk]

i no lennox lewis was a very good soccer player , as was sergio martinez ! also alot of the brazillian mma fighters like shogun , aldo , belfort were also very accomplished soccer players , also heard that roy jones considering his lack of height was a very good basketball player

[The Hammer]

Well I didn't say any of those things. What I did say is it is hard to argue that the vast majority of athletic talent is going to other sports in this country and I presented a valid case. If I had time I would get into the amateur systems from different countries and how the United States program has dwindled compared to what it use to be.

Do you believe Americans are innately athletically superior to people born in other countries?

Americans make up about 5% of the worlds population. Do you think a single country can always produce 100% of the very best heavyweights?

But you are entitled to believe whatever we want. If it gives someone comfort to believe Americans are athletically superior to people born in other countries, then that's okay with me.

In Canada, I face the reality that there is not a single elite active boxer born in this country. Some good ones box out of Canada - Pascal, Bute and Ross are better than Americans give them credit for - but we do not have a single active world-class boxer born in Canada.

But I won't make a weak excuse and say "they are all in the NHL"!

[nomadman]

That's cool maybe the Klitschkos were good at other Sports too like the other fighters mentioned they are great athletes too

There aren't any other sports in Eastern Europe. Actually there aren't any other sports than boxing outside the United States, so any success non-Americans get can automatically be attributed to draining of the American talent pool to NFL, NBA, NHL, and Golf.

[Weebler I]

There was nothing misleading at all, I was just stating facts. There are 392 pro heavyweights in the US compared to 17 in Russia.

1) a higher number of kids go into boxing in the US

2) there are still FAR more boxing gyms in the USA than anywhere

3) 392 pro heavyweights out of a population of 311 million in the USA is a much higher percentage than the 17 out of a population of 143 million in Russia. It is also higher than 17 out of 46 million in Ukraine and 32 out of 62 million people in the UK.

Do the math.

The combined population of Russia, UK and UA is 251 million. The combined number of HWs is 66.

66 from 251 million is a much smaller percentage than 392 from 311 milllion.

So a much higher percentage of big men go into boxing in the USA than anywhere else.

I agree most American kids don't go into boxing, most go into other sports. It's always been that way. My own father told me not to take it up because it's a poor man's sport. But a higher percentage of Americans go into boxing than in European countries, where kids are even LESS LIKELY to choose boxing.

So "they are all in the NBA and NFL" is a weak excuse. With it's large population of 311 million and HIGHER PERCENTAGE of big men that go into boxing, the US should still be dominating the heavyweight division.

When I was last in the USA, it seemed a larger percentage of people were obese than when I was there a decade before.

I think Americans need to look at the real reason they have no good heavyweights: lack of fitness. Look at how physically fit Holmes, Holyfield, Ali, Louis and Frazier were compared to the modern American HWs.

I bet there's a few of those 392 American heavyweights that could give a good fight to any of the 17 Ukrainian HWs or any of the 17 Russian HWs, if only they would get in shape.

American boxing fans can b1tch and whine all they want about all the good big athletes going into the NFL, but until they face up to the REAL problem, they'll never be another American heavyweight champion.

That's pretty shameful from a US boxing point of view. Honestly, I think too many of those with talent turn into fat yanks by being too fond of the Happy Meals, Big Macs etc. srs. I'm thinking more Americans should take up Sumo wrestling, they would have such a numbers base they couldn't fail to rule in that sport.

[kendom]

After reading Freedoms post and others I think that Americas dwindling dominance might be as a result of a combination of: poor eating habits and lack of dedication and also the increasing popularity of other sports.

[JAB5239]

Do you believe Americans are innately athletically superior to people born in other countries?

Americans make up about 5% of the worlds population. Do you think a single country can always produce 100% of the very best heavyweights?

But you are entitled to believe whatever we want. If it gives someone comfort to believe Americans are athletically superior to people born in other countries, then that's okay with me.

In Canada, I face the reality that there is not a single elite active boxer born in this country. Some good ones box out of Canada - Pascal, Bute and Ross are better than Americans give them credit for - but we do not have a single active world-class boxer born in Canada.

But I won't make a weak excuse and say "they are all in the NHL"!

I don't think Americans are athletically superior but I do believe we have more quality trainers than all other countries and its only a matter of time before another great heavyweight emerges.