Usually when we talk about talented fighters we automatically think of physical gift. Zab Judah is one who many think had the physicla tools of a great champion but lacked the mental side, such as toughness, intelligence and heart. Arturo Gatti is a good example of mentally talented guy. He had will to win and courage which enabled him to make a career his physical talent alone wouldn't have. What I am wondering is that why guy with only physical gift gets often ridiculed by people while guys with mental talent are usually respected. After all, mental side of an athlete is as much of a talent as physical. You can't teach a guy to have a heart, or intelligence, or ability to train hard. It is a given attribute, on other words, a talent. Thoughts?
I think a lot of the reason if guys with natural born physical talents can reach great heights in athletics whereas guys with limited physical abilites have to work much harder to achieve success. It's difficult for the average fan to view an athelete with "all the tools" and respect them when they act stupidly and waste a lot of what was given to them.
I can see that, but in my opinion a big factor is that they "waste" their physical tools because they lack the mental talent. The same way Gatti never became a great fighter even though he had all the mental talent in the world. Perhaps it is that it is less easy to feel sympathy for a guy who looks better outside but IMHO there is no real difference between the two
Well i disagree that's there little difference between the two. I do agree that it takes both physical and mental tools to achieve true greatness. You can't really have only one or the other. That being said simple attributes like just a little self discipline is not something i regard as a 'talent' even though the levels people have can obviously make a difference. Hopkins is great example. Most every day people require a certain level of discipline and worth ethic to just maintain a job and survive in the world. I don't think expecting that out of athletes should be any different than the "rest of us".
I don't think Gatti was particularly gifted mentally either, I'd say what lead to achieve what he did is a physical talent, an incredible capacity to absorb punishment and continue fighting through pain. For me a mentally gifted fighter is an intelligent fighter in the ring, pretty much like Hopkins or Mayweather. I think people respect more mental talents than physical because intelligence will almost always lead you to higher heights than physical talents alone in sports. You see that in a lot of sports, very physically gifted athletes that can't become superstars because they lack the intelligence to put it all together and understand the game enough to dominate it. On the other hand, you often see guys that are not particularly gifted physically but dominate a sport because of how well they understand the mechanics of the sport.
I think it is a talent. It takes much more than every day discipline to achieve anything even with great physical skill. Just like most every day people have enough power to break each other's noses with a punch but being a boxer, let alone a good one, takes much more than that
Are you implying Zab Judah gets respected? Outside of his fans, he's ridiculed regularly. There's even a dance named after him.
I agree that Gatti doesn't have mental talent, but he does have mental TOUGHNESS, which is entirely different. Someone mentally talented is someone who just has an excellent grasp of boxing on a cerebral level like a Bernard Hopkins, JM Marquez, etc.......
Well,..I dunno...because, there may be times where fighters,.. can be 'influenced' to be tougher.. like for example.. when a fighter starts blinking and having scary abnormal headaches where they feel like they're going to die,..they may risk continuation in fear of being shamed for the rest of thier short lives for quitting,.. and so sometimes.. ..will.... leave the ring...for the morgue.
