Wladimir Klitschko, Sergey Kovalev, GGG, Lomachenko

All part of the elite in 2015 and all WHITE (yeah....I went there). What's more they are all Eastern European. You can also add Viktor Postol and Grigory Drozd to the list.

What happened to the African American domination of boxing?

If this were a black Judah Ben Hur I would hear him say:

"You may conquer the divisions. You may capture the belts. But that is not the end. We will rise again."

But the White man will respond:

"You live on dead dreams. You live on the myths of the past. The glory of Sugar Ray Leonard is gone! Do you think it will return? Tyson will not rise again to save you nor Jones! There is only one reality in the world today! Look to the East, Judah! Don't be a fool, look to Europe!"

 

Ukraine and Russia has been churnin em out lately. A lot of talent coming out of there. But Eastern Europe period, seems to have a high level of instruction as far as boxing goes.

 

Looks like one of those old test questions "Which one is not like the rest?"

You got three entertaining fighters, and one eye cancer.

 

Black guys tend to have more talent to boxing. What has changed are a couple of things

1) The young guys from former Soviet countries train like hell these days. Ever since they are 14 or so, they train for 25 hours every week. Only the best survive that, plus the ones who have talent in addition to that, are going to be very good.

For example Finland got an Olympic medal every time between 1952-84, after 1992 only one guy has even made it to the games. This is because in here they still train juniors in the way that was enough in 1970s.

2) Black guys have more talent to all kinds of sports. We see them more and more in soccer, hockey etc too, although those sports are still dominated by Europeans and/or South Americans

3 The society has changed. Even though more black people live in comparatively worse conditions than whites in US, boxing is not the only way out anymore. In Eastern Europe, it often is

 

Talent is overrated. Did Detroit & Philidelphia churn out so many good black fighters back in the day because black kids are 'talented' or because loads of black kids went to the gym, trained very hard and there were good trainers? I bet if you went in those gyms the majority of kids would have been black.

Even in football, look at the preponderance of English players who've traditionally come out of Liverpool and Newcastle. It wasn't because Scousers and Geordies have superior genes.

 

Michael Nunn was from the mean streets of Iowa.

 

You have a good point and this way of thinking/reasoning is becoming more prevalent nowadays.

I think certain sports require more natural talent than others (Sprinting for example)...and other sports are more about preparation and dedication from a young age. I don't think it's a rule across the board.

 

I read a book about talent hotbeds a long time ago. It's nothing genetic but a couple of factors that join together to facilitate a successful system of trial and error. My guess is that eastern europe still got 3 of them:

1) Highly skilled trainers. Especially trainers who understand the trial and error learning mechanics of the sport.

2) Access to training facilities for anyone.

3) Highly populated areas with low income individuals. Necessary to understand how individuals look for a way out, in this case boxing.

 

This is key for fighters. Sure there have been a few great fighters that came from upper middle class backgrounds but that is exceedingly rare. Not too many kids who are well off are going to consider career as a boxer. The few who do will change their mind quite quickly once they go to the gym and get their ass kicked. For people whose daily life is a struggle that won't be as much of a deterrent.

 

Still there are some thing's you can't train:

Speed, chin, power, reflexes.

You have those in abundance or you don't.

 

Indeed

 

It's ignorant to say talent is overrated. Talent will ALWAYS be the most important thing in pro sports. This is an especially ignorant statement considering you're a Duran groupie, Hut. What you think Duran was special because he just trained harder and wanted it more than other guys? NO! He was ABSURDLY naturally talented, and without that natural talent he's not "THE Duran".

 

You think all durans talent would've mattered if he grew up in a palace in Qatar instead of the sugar cane fields ?

 

No. But he would have had free electricity his whole life.

 

Speaking of white champions, what about the WBO lightweight champ, Terry Flanagan. He's looked good his last two fights.

He wears Hatton's old trunks but his style is quite different than his fellow Man City supporter.

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