Is is boxing the toughest sport in the world?

[MulaKO]

"That's the sport that demands the most from the athletes who compete in it. It's harder than football, harder than baseball, harder than basketball, harder than hockey or soccer or cycling or skiing or fishing or billiards or any other of the 60 sports we rated".

What do you guys think? Is boxing really the toughest sport in the world. The most dangerous and risky?

See full list here:

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

I’d put it this way , it ain’t the easiest
It’s a very demanding sport and takes a lot of discipline from a person
Many hours of work that sometimes or most times don’t compliment the payout

[KingOfGlory]

I'd say so. Which makes "the best American heavyweights are in the NFL/NBA" a laughable claim.

How do they measure difficulty though? When I was younger I played hockey and tennis at a fairly high level and found the latter to be harder.

[LoadedWraps]

"That's the sport that demands the most from the athletes who compete in it. It's harder than football, harder than baseball, harder than basketball, harder than hockey or soccer or cycling or skiing or fishing or billiards or any other of the 60 sports we rated".

What do you guys think? Is boxing really the toughest sport in the world. The most dangerous and risky?

See full list here:

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

One of, if not, imo.

I'm also biased, I've been boxing for 15 years and watching it for 20.

I'd put Tennis right up there with it, though. And also gymnastics. It's fair to put MMA up there too, it requires about the same level of conditioning and stamina.

[Cypocryphy]

"That's the sport that demands the most from the athletes who compete in it. It's harder than football, harder than baseball, harder than basketball, harder than hockey or soccer or cycling or skiing or fishing or billiards or any other of the 60 sports we rated".

What do you guys think? Is boxing really the toughest sport in the world. The most dangerous and risky?

See full list here:

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

That's a tough question. No seriously, it really is. I thought about it but was on the fence with MMA. Broken arms, legs in MMA. Broken faces ... damaged organs. But then you have that in boxing, too (minus the arms and legs bit). But then I thought about it, and you had that QB in Tampa Bay that played with a busted spleen, bleeding all over his insides. Taking hits still.

The toughest sport ... as in competitive? Or most difficult? Every single sport is the toughest when you compete at the highest level. All are extremely difficult. I do believe that when all is said and done, the NFL is the toughest. I've seen more guys wrecked after their NFL career than any other sport. It's one thing getting punched. It's a completely different story when you're getting tackled by 280lbs to 380lbs dudes going full force. Trying to break tackles, messing up your back (spinal even), your legs, your knees, your head, your organs. All that gets messed up in the NFL. I met a retired lineman from the Vikings, and he's permanently on opioids and other crap cause he can't even walk without them. He talked in a whisper even though he was about 6' 10" with the girth of a sequoia.

So final answer: the NFL

[Roadblock]

The training is no different than any other elite athlete they all train like animals, its the getting punched in the face with the aim to knock the opponent unconscious, thats the bit that makes boxing so tough.

[thesmokingman]

I'd put boxing up at the top next to cycling and some other sports. They're different sports obviously and imo it's really kind of ****** to say one or the other is the hardest as hardest means different things to different ppl. We can have boxing matches that go 12 rounds and no one really gets hurt or pushed to the edge. And then you have fights where the fighters are going life and death so overall it can be the hardest sport for one hour. And then you have sports where they have the highest incidents CTE, which we cannot deny that Football is a seriously damaging sport on one's life. On the flip side competing in a Grand Tour in Cycling is life and death for 3 weeks straight with a couple of days off. Think about it for a minute, go try riding at a 25mph average for 21 days with Category 1 mountains sprinkled in about half of those 21 days with a couple HC mountains thrown in just to make sure you kill yourself. Btw, HC is a french abbreviation for beyond categorization which is ironic.

[GrandpaBernard]

Boxers take nice hard crushing body shots and fight on like it nothing

What do other athletes endure that as painful as fighting on through a hard blow to the organs

[thesmokingman]

Boxers take nice hard crushing body shots and fight on like it nothing

What do other athletes endure that as painful as fighting on through a hard blow to the organs

WTF? I've seen HS JV games where guys have had their legs broken because of a bad tackle in the air. If hard is by the amount of damage taken, that would be Football no question.

[GrandpaBernard]

WTF? I've seen HS JV games where guys have had their legs broken because of a bad tackle in the air. If hard is by the amount of damage taken, that would be Football no question.

Once their leg broken they don’t have to continue

Boxers fight on with broken noses broken hands punishment to the body that leaves them pissing blood the next day

[Cypocryphy]

Once their leg broken they don’t have to continue

Boxers fight on with broken noses broken hands punishment to the body that leaves them pissing blood the next day

That's not necessarily true. Quarterback Chris Simms played a the Panthers with a ruptured spleen. He had to have it removed afterward in an emergency procedure. I don't know of a boxer whose done that. I'm not saying there hasn't been, but usually they drop to the canvass for a KO.

And football players play with broken hands and noses all the time. They'll tape up their hands and continue on. Basketball players do that, too.

I'm not saying that boxing is not one of the toughest sports there is, but I've seen some horrible injuries in football. Backs broken. All kinds of bad stuff.

Although, I do think more men have died from a boxing match than any other sport. Don't quote me on that, but it could be true. I'm not sure on that one, however.