Is Boxing the Most Athletic Sport?

[Someone88]

best athletes nba. most difficult boxing. Just look at how stiff valuev,vitali and wlad look. Bron is bigger and far more athletic. Kg at 7ft compared to valuev

Valuev is decent for his size, Wladimir is a great athlete.

[Barry Halls]

ability to take punishment is not athleticism. Some really ridiculous arguments in this thread so far.

[Someone88]

ability to take punishment is not athleticism. Some really ridiculous arguments in this thread so far.

It depends on how people view athleticism, but offcourse elite Boxers are great athletes.

[Barry Halls]

It depends on how people view athleticism, but offcourse elite Boxers are great athletes.

Yes but the argument "a basketball player can't box for 12 rounds" are completely irrelevant for the topic.

Boxing has had some of the greatest athletes of all sport. But is the sport boxing more athletically demanding than lets say Basketball? I'm really not sure.

[Someone88]

Yes but the argument "a basketball player can't box for 12 rounds" are completely irrelevant for the topic.

Boxing has had some of the greatest athletes of all sport. But is the sport boxing more athletically demanding than lets say Basketball? I'm really not sure.

I get you I think it's hard to say which sport is more difficult, we can look at talent pools as well. But still it depends.

[ghns1133]

Anderson and Dos Santos have great Boxing for MMA.

there are a few for sure...

i exagerated...

but i think uget my point.

[croz]

Hey are you on Sherdog as well!? To answer your question Muay Thai and MMA as well.

yah I'm on Sherdog, don't really post on BS much though; hard to post on this place without having to hide some of the sigs from other people in the room

Muay Thai? Maybe, not really sure about the rule set up so I don't know how they deal with knock downs; MMA? I would say the fight would pretty much end there usually since they wouldn't be given time to stand up after; I was mainly refering to how they would have to find a way to get up off the canvas with that kind of injury then continue

In essence I suppose its the same as how MMA fighters aren't expected to continue on their feet AFTER they've been pretty much knocked out; the mental and physical state of a boxer after he's gotten up from any sort of knockdown puts them at a whole different level to MMA fighters

[SixFootGiant]

As far as the physical toll and more demanding it's boxing, but as far as athletic ability it's either basketball or football.

You got guys in the NBA that can jump 40+ inches and go from end to end on a court in 4-5 seconds the raw athleticism and explosion from guys like Andre Iguodala, Lebron James, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, etc is pretty hard to match

[deejd]

You're talking like athleticism and fitness are the same thing. Boxing might be most demanding and exausting but not the most athletic. NFL and NBA are more athletic of the major sports.

Right, because Bryant Reeves was athletic out of this world. I'm not stating every boxer is an athlete, look at Butterbean... but boxing/MMA are the most taxing sports out there that require athleticism and fitness. On top of that, basketball is a physical game but not the way that a combat sport is. Football, you can certainly debate, but keep in mind that punters and kickers aren't absorbing punishment constantly and not every player on the field is finding contact on every play, either. Plus, those are team sports. There are no subs when a boxer gets hurt.

[deejd]

Yes but the argument "a basketball player can't box for 12 rounds" are completely irrelevant for the topic.

Boxing has had some of the greatest athletes of all sport. But is the sport boxing more athletically demanding than lets say Basketball? I'm really not sure.

I would think so boxing is more athletically demanding... only because you still see a lot of basketball players who are playing into their late 30's and although their physical ability has dropped off, they're still able to play at a high level.

In boxing, most fighters into their late 30's may be able to send the signal to their body to do something in the ring but they simply can't pull the trigger or move to spot with as much urgency as they once did. That's the only reason that I think separates boxing from basketball, and most other sports when it comes to being more demanding, athletically.