Most Nonathletic Overachieving Boxers in History

nastyleft said:
In light of the athletic boxers thread I figured I'd make this one.
This thread I'm referring to guys that didnt have an overwhelming attribute that helped them win yet they achieved exceptional levels of success with the average at best physically athletic attributes other than some power and a good chin and an approach to figuring out and winning big fights. Guys that reached HOF level careers or damn close to it. Here's my list to start, interested to see what you guys come up with".

Rocky Marciano - Pure Grit, Heart, Power and a legendary granite chin but not much more than that but on all ATG lists.

Jake Lamotta - Amazing this guy lasted as long and did as well as he did. Pure chin, pure grit and determination.

Juan Manuel Marquez - Not very fast, average footwork, but super intelligent in the ring and could finish when the opportunity presented itself. I rank him as the 3rd smartest RIQ of this modern era behind B-Hop and Floyd. First ballot HOF'er

Bernard Hopkins - Borderline savant in the ring with ridiculous conditioning and a legendary streak as MW Champion defenses, but ask him to walk in a straight line and look cool doing it, would be a challenge.
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I don't know if it's possible to have nothing and achieve greatness, I really don't, Marciano had a great punch, superb endurance, strength and great intangibles.
Lamotta was more skilled than people remember, gil Clancy was still calling him underrated in the 80's.
Hopkins? I don't know, great fundamentals in an era where not many have that, very smart, not the best competition around for him to fight.
 
Dr. Will said:
Carlos Monzon - watch his fights and what will strike you is just how oddly underwhelming he looked at that surface level. He had a good chin, though.
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he did, I didn't watch much, never was interested beyond what I saw, some people rank him as greater than hagler, maybe he was but he didn't look as great doing it.
 
JayE said:
Spinks was very athletically gifted. Ugly style, though.
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ya, very ugly style, larry holmes said something like "went left when he was supposed to go right" and quawi said something about "I never saw someone run away sideways" but the shit worked, frustrating to watch though, not as bad as ruiz.
 
nastyleft said:
I see Marquez as so textbook boxing taught, that it left no room for any creativity in his movements. Not sure if he was THAT rigid in his discipline, or if he couldn't do much other than that anyways. We're talking being athletic, not boxing foot placement. His feet were always in the right place to be, whether it be advancing, retreating, turning defending, slipping etc. But he wasn't athletic enough to keep himself from falling on his ass cause a glancing counter would hit him while he's punching. Athletes have balance... when he got knocked off balance he never righted himself before touching the canvas.
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Like Finito, I think weight distribution is one place that Marquez lacked. He just wanted to kick your ass too much to keep himself centered. I don’t think think that was a foot thing as much as an upper body thing.
 
Carlos Baldomir won the welterweight lineal title and there’s nothing about him I’d call athletic. He beat a very athletic guy to get it, too.
 
wonjongkam wasn't particularly athletic, and I wouldn't say Ward stood out as hugely athletic (definitely not unathletic, but not the kind of guy that makes your eyes pop).
 
Froch had a very unappealing style for purists but he was fun to watch.
 
mozfonky said:
I don't know if it's possible to have nothing and achieve greatness, I really don't, Marciano had a great punch, superb endurance, strength and great intangibles.
Lamotta was more skilled than people remember, gil Clancy was still calling him underrated in the 80's.
Hopkins? I don't know, great fundamentals in an era where not many have that, very smart, not the best competition around for him to fight.
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Great punch, endurance, intangibles, skilled, fundamentals, and smart....I already addressed those attributes you mentioned in my OP as NOT being an aspect of pure athleticism that helped win at a high level, and that is the premise of the thread.
 
Shoemaker said:
Like Finito, I think weight distribution is one place that Marquez lacked. He just wanted to kick your ass too much to keep himself centered. I don’t think think that was a foot thing as much as an upper body thing.
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My point is, if he was an athlete, he would've been able to regain his balance rather than taking a full gainer to the canvas, every time. How many other athletic guys you see get tossed off balance or feet get tied up or whatever and they end up dancing away re-posturing up and getting their feet set? I love Marquez tho...
 
Johnny Tapia. Looked like nothing physically but incredibly motivated and passionate and that got him places.
 
nastyleft said:
My point is, if he was an athlete, he would've been able to regain his balance rather than taking a full gainer to the canvas, every time. How many other athletic guys you see get tossed off balance or feet get tied up or whatever and they end up dancing away re-posturing up and getting their feet set? I love Marquez tho...
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Sergio Martinez immediately comes to mind.

edit: I agree that Marquez really isn’t athletic. But I disagree that’s the primary factor for why he saw the canvas so often.
 
George Foreman. Telegraphed, amateurish hooks and movement like a zoombie. No footwork. No head movement.

But got the punch.
 
proncley said:
He was a great athlete because he had a left hook? Lol, you dipshit.
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No, you lil fkstick. I said he had an explosive left hook. You can't have an explosive left hook without some modicum of athleticism.
Ergo he's not un athletic. Which doesn't mean I said he's a great athlete.

Fking assholes with their limited comprehension fking up the boards.

<{clintugh}>
 
4daLuLZ said:
No, you lil fkstick. I said he had an explosive left hook. You can't have an explosive left hook without some modicum of athleticism.
Ergo he's not un athletic. Which doesn't mean I said he's a great athlete.

Fking assholes with their limited comprehension fking up the boards.
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I think Seano was pretty spot on by dropping Gerry Cooney here.

You're a pedantic shithead.
 
spacetime said:
George Foreman. Telegraphed, amateurish hooks and movement like a zoombie. No footwork. No head movement.

But got the punch.
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Foreman had very good footwork and an excellent jab.
 
Lets not confuse good boxing footwork to deliver a punch, block parry and slip with a guy that is athletic. The former can be trained (i.e. Brandon Rios, Robert Guerrero etc.).
 
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