Most Naturally Athletically Gifted

[j.razor]

Of course, go watch the Anatomy of a: in the olympic channel an you can see why power is a primary asset in many sports.

Asset or attribute sure but athletic? Nah.

[yngwie]

Asset or attribute sure but athletic? Nah.

Sure, generating power is a vital part of sports.

[j.razor]

Floyd plays basketball with groups of people...wtf
Floyd has never been a competitive basketball player, don't get me wrong, he's a great athlete but giving him the edge because "he plays basketball with groups of people" is an awful argument.

I never said he was a competitive basketball player. I said he played wit people and there is footage so it should give a little more aspect to his athleticism. I also said I voted for him cuz people here are trying to s**t on him.

[j.razor]

Sure, generating power is a vital part of sports.

Yeah but when you say athletic it should be how fluent you are in other sports naturally or just good in multiple sports.

[The Old LefHook]

If I hadn't voted for Ali/Clay, I would've voted for Jones. It was very close in my mind.

I considered people like Naseem and Pacquiao, but I believe they are not quite on the same level of natural talent as those I listed. Now Locche I would put on the list. I forgot about him. Very gifted, but not with a punch at all.

Of course we have not seen them play other sports competitively. No big deal. Can't we make an opinion of Jordan's athleticism though we only got to see him try baseball when he was 50% washed up?

For me it is no prolem to envision Jones, Maweather and Leonard as gymnasts. Given a different life trajectory and social climate and what a swimmer or baseball player Robinson could've made. Any guy on my list might've been a tennis player of renown.

It is a bit more difficult and speculative to say so-and-so would've made a great pole vaulter or sprinter. Some sports offer a more general view of atleticism. Boxing is such a sport. I can gain a better understanding of an individual's athleticism by watching him box rather than seeing him pole vault all day.

It is a fairly close contest between all 5 contestants. They are all superlative natural athletes who developed themselves to near perfection.

I agree that Clay's combination of size and speed was the crowning factor in my decision. What a wide receiver, possibly. Imagine him throwing a feint, then cutting the other way. I believe the trickery that was bundled with his talent would've found avenues of outlet in other sports. If the NFL really wanted to see the full extent of his powers and talent, they would put him at quarterbackck calling his own plays. He would inspire other players with his indomitable will, he had the height and strength and speed, his cunningness would reveal itself. I can just see him developing the deceptive handoff feints of the greatest at that particular skill little Eddie Le Baron (sp). With his height, professional basketball would not be out of the question, either.

They've maxed out on

Hand-eye coordination
Speed
Reflexes
Stamina
Flexibile muscle development
Footwork

Robinson and Jones both had tremendous power, as well.

Mayweather should not be blamed that he a deepr medicine bag of traditional defensive skills than the other three (not counting Robinson) who relied more on their natural athleticism and original stylings to evade punches. Robinson's boxer-puncher style was so full of attack that it masked a lot of his defensive maneuvers. He often let or caused punches to touch him in a harmless way. Attackers get touched, that is the way of it. Robinson's record alone proves he was a better defensive fighter than generally given credit for by the younger generations who are used to seeing Mayweather or Leonard seldom touched.

That is just my opinion in a highly speculative subject. My opinion might change. There is no way to prove any of this.

[them_apples]

1 Ali
2 Leonard
3 Jones
4 Mayweather
5 Robinson

Who had the most natural talent of these five black 'uns? No other race is ever even considered in this category.

Black 'uns apparently have the high ratio of fast twitch fibers necessary for the kind of speed we associate with natural raw talent at its most generous.

Whatever white and brown and red fighters have that makes them successful boxers too, it is apparently not an overabundance of natural talent, at least according to present moors. One could almost be led to the bigoted conclusion that non-black 'uns work harder, and so compensate for their lack of talent to compete somewhat evenly against their black opponents.

The bulk of black 'uns, white 'uns, brown 'uns and red 'uns are not super talented athletes, but hard working athletes that raise their natural talents towards perfection. Only a few are known super talents over the eras. They are almost always, if not always, black.

Other than Willie Pep and the young Lomachenko, no other whites seem fast enough and skilled enough to possibly qualify on such a list. Perhaps you know of some.

Is chin a talent?

what about Duran and Pacquiao?

I want to say Roy Jones, but I said SRL because of the competition he faced. he literally fought the best there ever was in the best weight division. so if you are the fastest guy there, you get the nod.

[joeandthebums]

Roy Jones Jr on his training;

“Yup,” he said, staring off. “And every single goddamned day I ran from right here all the way out to that traffic light and back. You seen how my knees give me trouble? Wonder why? And I wasn’t out there running alone when I was a kid. My dad had older kids from the neighborhood out there with me, and if they beat me, then you know I had a good beatin’ waiting for me when I got home.”

“He had you out here running 10 miles every day?”

“And sparring until I drop. Nothing but training. On my way up as a pro, they used to say I was the most gifted or talented athlete ever to fight. Bull****! Most talented or gifted?” he glares at me, eyes burning. “Try hardest worker. No fighter in history ever worked harder to achieve their dream than me. Early days? ****. I worked harder than any fighter in history. Period. End of story.”

[Anthony342]

If only Roy had worked as hard to get better fights after he beat Toney and became a star, like with Benn, McLellan, Darius M, he might have at least cracked the top 10 as a light heavy all time or been ranked higher on that list.

[PRINCEKOOL]

(Muhammad Ali, Roy Jones Junior, Prince Naseem Hamed!).....

Floyd Mayweather in my opinion was not as naturally gifted as those fighters up above! this can be seen in how choreographed is fights and technique was! (Mayweather was not really a unpredictable fighter, and he never had the ability to do things outside of the text book! those fighters up above at times defied the laws of Newtonian physics!)....

[phallus]

what about Duran and Pacquiao?

I want to say Roy Jones, but I said SRL because of the competition he faced. he literally fought the best there ever was in the best weight division. so if you are the fastest guy there, you get the nod.

leonard has one of the greatest resumes of any modern fighter

If only Roy had worked as hard to get better fights after he beat Toney and became a star, like with Benn, McLellan, Darius M, he might have at least cracked the top 10 as a light heavy all time or been ranked higher on that list.

roy would have beaten Darius M and then got robbed by the judges, but considering he eventually lost anyway he should have fought D.M, everybody would have known who really won the fight. i voted for robinson but seeing roy jones in his prime was incredible athleticism