You all know the running excuse/reason of why Americans are no longer a factor in heavyweight boxing. The NFL and NBA looks like a better, safer option than getting into the ring. With the quasi success of Seth Mitchell, do you think he may be the reason why some of these other team sport athletes may try their hand at boxing? Mike Lee, Seth Mitchell, Quantdrine Hill (BUM), Ray Edwards (Minnesota Vikings) and even Tommy Z (Who had a successful amateur career) are footballers who are in the boxing game. Maybe, like Seth, some of these guys who have been injured playing football look at boxing as the next best thing. How 'bout some college power forward who did not make the NBA but is still in the prime of his athletic life? By the way, I don't think it's exclusively the lack of interest of the American athlete. I think it's the true dedication, talent and toughness of the former Eastern Block fighters who have obviously changed the landscape.
Exactly. They actually have a clause in the football contracts saying that once the contract is signed they cannot EVER compete in a boxing match. Something about not being fair to the boxers. It's true. Google it.
I was thinking more on the lines of some players, like Seth Mitchell, who had to leave football due to injury. In fact, not necessarily NFL players, but some collegiate players who may not have a real shot in the NFL and are too proud to do the CFL or arena football; they are also blinded by the riches they believe ALL boxers are destined for.
Unlike Most of these Cats, Tommy Z has Actually Boxed Since CHILDHOOD...He's Boxed for about as Looooooong as he's Played Football... He Brings MORE to the Table than Most of these Other Footballers, in REED's Opinion... REED:hammert:
Contemporary Heavyweight Lovers Get MENSTRUAL @ the Mere Suggestion of the NFL & the NBA Impacting the Prizefighting Talent Pool, but it's TRUE... It's IMPOSSIBLE for these Guys to Adopt Boxing in their Early 20's & Expect to EVER have Elite Level Success...But if a Potential Footballer Started Boxing as a CHILD or even in his EARLY Teen Years, he'd have a Realistic Chance @ Making Some Noise on the World Class Heavyweight Scene... Valuev was a Stiff, Slow, OAF of a Fighter, who Actually WON a Heavyweight Title...Now Imagine an ATHLETIC Guy Valuev's Size???...Hypothetically Speaking, Why COULDN'T Shaquille O'Neal, Andrew Bynuml or Dwight Howard have Valuev Type of Success (@ WORST), if they'd Been Boxing Since Childhood or Early Teens???.... How Old was Valuev when He Started Boxing???... REED:Lok:
Valuev had a very good am background and would be ahead of the world champion until he got tired. Why couldn't the guys you named have the success of Valuev? Probably because they aren't boxers and he is. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking a big, athletic guy could do well at boxing if only... I admit that I have a hard time to keep from doing it, too, but when you look at who has been successful at boxing, I don't know that you can name anyone who could have been a pro athlete (of repute) at any other sport. I mean, it takes about 5 seconds of contemplation and you are already talking about Anthony Mundine. Americans want boxers to be athletes like football players and basketball players and vice versa, but they aren't. That's why guys like Joe Hipp, Tony Tubbs, and Eddie Chambers would beat the shit out of guys like Ray Lewis, Shaquille O'Neil, and Randy Moss.
How Many Ammy Fights did Valuev have???.... If he was Even a MODERATELY "Accomplished" Amateur Fighter, REED Would like to Think the HARDCORE Sect Would've Heard of Valuev MUCH Soooooner... You're MISSING the Point when it Comes to Footballers & NBA'ers... It's NOT even about Ray Lewis, Shaquille O'Neal and Randy Moss SPECIFICALLY...It's about a Guy w/Ray Lewis or Shaquille O'Neal or Andrew Bynum or Dwight Howard or LeBron James' DIMENSIONS & a Comparable Level of ATHLETICISM, Accentuated w/a LEGITIMATE Background in Boxing, Dating to Childhood or Early Teens... REED:mj:
Have you guys heard of "All American Heavyweights" ? Look it up. This guy Michael King is recruiting highly skilled althletes mostly from college sports and bringing them into his gym and turning them into HW boxers. He says he's going to save the HW division. They look for guys over 6' 3" and 230lbs.
Valuev had a skull like a hydrocephalic bullock. O'Neal might be a better athlete, but Valuev was the better martial artist, because Valuev had a Neanderthals Noggin Thats why O'Neal might not succeed. In any event, there is no evidence that Valuev boxed at any major level in his early years and is now in what I believe to be the early stages of some bone-wasting disease, signs of which were visible when he lost to Haye. Try not to confuse athleticism with success. Boxing, especially at the heavyweight level, is as much about taking it as giving it.
Let me check, I assume a lot. It was another Russian that used to beat Valuev... Nikolai Valuev started boxing rather late, at the age of 20. He received his first training in 1993. His first coach, and eventually his manager and promoter, was Oleg Shalaev. On 15 October 1993 Valuev had his first fight in Berlin against American John Morten. The boxer and his coach did not consider this a professional fight, and soon after Valuev made it to the amateur championships of St. Petersburg and Russia, winning silver in both. In 1994 Valuev was admitted to the national team of Russia at the Goodwill Games. But during the Games an international commission recognized Nikolai’s Berlin fight as a professional one and he was therefore disqualified. Thus, Nikolai had to move on from amateur boxing and start a professional career. xxxxxxxxxx He knew he had the talent and with less than 15 amateur fights, Valuev became a professional boxer. (I doubt this is true) xxxxxxxxxxxxx Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Valuev amassed an impressive amateur boxing record of 23-0 and was never knocked down or hurt in the unpaid ranks. (I know he was beaten as an am) xxxxxxxxxxxx Alexei Lezin is the guy I was talking about. As you can see, he was a quality am fighter and Valuev was pretty much even with him. Valuev was a lot thinner back then, though: 1993 competed as a Heavyweight at the World Championships in Tampere, Finland. Lost to Félix Savón in the quarter-final. 1994 won the Military World Championships in Tunis, Tunisia as a Superheavyweight, defeating Vitali Klitschko in the final. 1994 won the Goodwill Games in St Petersburg, Russia, defeating Nikolay Valuev and Lance Whitaker. 1995 won the World Championship in Berlin, Germany, defeating Vitali Klitschko in the final. 1995 2nd place at Military World Championship in Ariccia, Italy. Lost to Vitali Klitschko in the final. 1996 won the European Championship in Vejle, Denmark, defeating Wladimir Klitschko in the final. 1997 competed at World Championship in Budapest, Hungary. Lost to Alexis Rubalcaba in the quarter-final. 1998 won the European Championship in Minsk, Belarus. Defeated Sinan Samil Sam in the Semifinal. 2000 won the European Championship in Tampere, Finland, defeated Paolo Vidoz in the final.
And just found this to back up my point about him being about as good as Lezin: Aleksei Lezin (RUS) dec. Nikolai Valyev (RUS) 8-8 (tiebreaker) [*]Edward Mahone (USA) stopped Leonardo Enrich (CUB) KOH-3 [*]Eric Fuhrmann (GER) and Lance Whitaker (USA) drew byes <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#dedede><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">Semifinals</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Lance Whitaker dec. Eric Fuhrmann, 21-3 Aleksei Lezin dec. Edward Mahone, 17-5 <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#dedede><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">Finals</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Aleksei Lezin dec. Lance Whitaker, 17-0
.....& "Taking It" Is a Trait Best Learned & Formulated During CHILDHOOD or Early Teens...A Guy w/a HISTORY of "Taking It", Early Doors, has a Much HIGHER Chance of Success than a Guy who Pursues Boxing in his Late Teens or Early 20's... MOST of Boxing's Success Stories Features Guys who've Fought Practically ALL of their Lives... REED:shadow:
Yeah I think a big thing is boxers are used to being attacked and punched in the head from very early in life. If you're not used to it (Brock Lesnar) by a certain age then you will never get a hang of it.
