"The US is not doing as well in boxing because they're all in the NBA & NFL" - agree?

[joe strong]

at heavyweight & as low as light HW the argument could be made about losing fighters to other sports but for the most part boxing is doing well abroad. there are just so many more people in the states then there are in european countries so in my opinion for boxing to really be flourishing you need success in the states. boxing has lost lots of fans in the US & the economy is pretty weak so fight cards are not happening as often so there is no drive to take up the sport.
in europe & places like russia many of these fighters have long amateur careers because they are piss poor but have an opportunity to travel abroad in the amateurs & then if they are decent can make a good living fighting in europe. there is no question boxing is much more attractive to european youth then it is to american youth.

[tredh]

Yall looking at this from the wrong perspective. In a way the answer to the question is yes. Most US olympians are teenagers to early 20's. Most kids in America now a days from when they are very small kids are sent to either basketball or football camps. Kids in America are being groomed to get college scholarships in basketball and football from a very early age. Boxing is not even on most parents radar. When you include single mother households we all know damn well most mothers are not gonna watch they son get hit in the face!

So in other words once pro ball doesn't work out you can't train a 20 something year old man to be a good to great olympian or pro versus guys from other countries whose dream it was to be a great olympian and pro boxer in a matter of 2 years or less.

No they are not all in the NBA or NFL but they are being groomed from childhood to make it to the NFL or the NBA before they would even think about trying to make it in boxing.

[jayjames616]

Other countries can use this excuse also but let's be serious here, I don't see many football aka soccer players or cyclist beating many people up except for Sergio. American football is a different animal and most non Americans wouldn't understand what type of athlete it takes to play the sport since America is the only country that is any good at the sport. To play American football at the highest level there are few sports that can compare physically. Not all football players have the potential to be great boxers but I think A LOT could be, more than other sports played around the world.

[{Pito}]

It's the truth. You only have to look at the numbers, boxing in America declined when the NBA and NFL began becoming the juggernauts they are today. Guys sitting on the bench making the minimum in those sports make as much as a guy like Adrien Broner, more than Yuri Gamboa. It's far easier to make a living.

It's not a coincidence that boxing declined when those sports became popular.

My point is not about the money though my point is about guys who want to fight period. Who are natural fighters. Guys who want to hit and get hit back. Regardless of money. That "fighter" in them.


As in, sure I could make money playing another sport I can be good at but I don't care, I like ****ing people up.


^^ that's what I mean. They just don't have many guys like that anymore

[bojangles1987]

Other countries can use this excuse also but let's be serious here, I don't see many football aka soccer players or cyclist beating many people up except for Sergio. American football is a different animal and most non Americans wouldn't understand what type of athlete it takes to play the sport since America is the only country that is any good at the sport. To play American football at the highest level there are few sports that can compare physically. Not all football players have the potential to be great boxers but I think A LOT could be, more than other sports played around the world.

It's not even football that the best potential American heavyweights are in, it's basketball. Imagine taking a hundred kids that grow up to be 6'4 to 6'8 tall, 220-260 pounds, and have speed and athleticism no other athletes can really compare to.

Just take a hundred kids that end up like that. There's no way the heavyweight division isn't markedly different right now.

[-Lowkey-]

There isn't a country on earth that has the pedigree in this sport that the U.S. has. AT ALL LEVELS OF THE SPORT. From the Am's to the Olympics, to the pro game. No country has produced more gold medalists. No country has produced more world champions, HOF'ers and ATG's. So making a statement like "New Zealand would dominate Heavyweight boxing if it wasn't for Rugby" or "Europe would dominate the lower weight classes if it wasn't for soccer" when the credentials of their nations history in the sport aren't up to snuff to stake such a claim. A similar argument made from that vantage point has no root logical basis whatsoever. None. Which is why nobody is ****** enough to even make that argument.



If European nations dominated WW to SMW for 100 years from the ams to the pros, then suddenly as boxing started to wane in national popularity, while simultaneously soccer hit a drastic ****e in popularity and the sudden quality of your WW's/SMW's hit an all time and uncharacteristic low, that wouldn't raise an eyebrow or two?

That's because boxing was hugely popular in America much more so than in Europe football had been by far the most popular sport in Europe for a long time.

It's more to do with other country's participating in boxing more hence narrowing the gap.

Like I said any nation can use the same excuse sorry it doesn't wash with me. All country's have lost potential boxers to other sports and will carry on doing so.

[jayjames616]

It's not even football that the best potential American heavyweights are in, it's basketball. Imagine taking a hundred kids that grow up to be 6'4 to 6'8 tall, 220-260 pounds, and have speed and athleticism no other athletes can really compare to.

Just take a hundred kids that end up like that. There's no way the heavyweight division isn't markedly different right now.

I agree that the NBA would have some good boxers also but the NBA is world wide and there are only 300 players not all being American. The NFL has about 1500 players and almost all are American. Plus football players have a much different mentality and killer instinct.

[tredh]

My point is not about the money though my point is about guys who want to fight period. Who are natural fighters. Guys who want to hit and get hit back. Regardless of money. That "fighter" in them.


As in, sure I could make money playing another sport I can be good at but I don't care, I like ****ing people up.


^^ that's what I mean. They just don't have many guys like that anymore

Actually they do make those type of guys and most of them play defense in the NFL or some top college program. You can tell me men like Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis, Brian Dawkins, Ed Reed and others don't take the mindset of I'm got knock your ***** loose if you come my way. That is what they love to do and just choose to do it in football instead of boxing.

Also this isn't only about the heavyweight division. If a lot of these dudes boxed from childhood up till now their body make ups would be completely different. Guys like D. Rose and small fast receivers would be fighting between 154-168 or 175. There a lot of guys in both the NBA and NFL who don't weigh 200+ lbs. A lot of them bulk up some to take the pounding that the sport puts on their bodies.

[ArtThouFurious?]

My point is not about the money though my point is about guys who want to fight period. Who are natural fighters. Guys who want to hit and get hit back. Regardless of money. That "fighter" in them.


As in, sure I could make money playing another sport I can be good at but I don't care, I like ****ing people up.


^^ that's what I mean. They just don't have many guys like that anymore

LMAO! You think Wladimir Klitschcko is a natural fighter???

The guy is just an insanely talented athlete who was taught the art of boxing.

Is it just a coincidence that the most dominant fighter in the division is far and away the best athlete in the division?

Or that the past 4 fighter of the decades (Pac, RJJ, SRL & Ali) were boxers who's bread & butter was their freakish athleticism?

More often than not, the best athlete in the division is going to be the #1 fighter in said division.

[-Lowkey-]

It's not even football that the best potential American heavyweights are in, it's basketball. Imagine taking a hundred kids that grow up to be 6'4 to 6'8 tall, 220-260 pounds, and have speed and athleticism no other athletes can really compare to.

Just take a hundred kids that end up like that. There's no way the heavyweight division isn't markedly different right now.

During the golden era of American heavyweight boxing how many of those champions had frames like NBA players?

And yes other athletes from other sports can compare to the speed and athleticism of basketball players.