Most athletic fighters ever.

Playing in the minor leagues is still pro baseball. I played semi-pro baseball myself and there is NO comparison in the level of talent between semi-pro baseball and the minor leagues. Semi-pro teams aren't even affiliated with pro baseball in any way. Every one of us wished we would be signed to an actual minor league aka Pro contract because that means a Major League team takes responsibility to develop you into playing in the big leagues. Millions of kids used to play baseball in this country. Out of those millions only low single-digit thousands would ever play pro baseball at any level.
It's still pro baseball but not top professional baseball like the major leagues. MJ played on a Double A team and MiLB (not MLB) has 5 classes with Triple A being the highest class. If a player is doing terribly in MLB then they'll be sent back to the minor leagues. He had a slightly above average and very short stint as a baseball player in the second-highest class of minor league ball. You could say Roy was less proven as a multi-sport athlete than MJ, which is true, but the same would also apply to Pacquiao. MJ didn't live up to the expectations that the media had of him at the time in baseball while Roy wasn't under the microscope to that degree for his secondary sport.
 
Hard to think of one who tops Roy for athleticism, and we all saw what happened when his athleticism deserted him.
Along with putting on that muscle and then losing it - didn't do favours for his chin (ability to absorb shots).
 
Vasyl said that if he hadn't turned to boxing he would have been a professional ice-hockey player and I have no doubt he'd have a been a great one.

As for athletic fighters, Sonny Bill Williams was a pretty decent athlete but proved to be a shit boxer.
Remember last year when Lomachenko was in Thailand and training Muay Thai while he was there on vacation? He went from not really knowing how to kick to speed kicking in 48 hours. He busted out nearly 30 of them in rapid succession on the pads. Jon Jones commented and was impressed and John Wayne Parr was blown away by it. You need good balance, flexibility, and leg dexterity before you can even perform speed kicking drills which is why it was so impressive (along with how quickly & easily he picked it up).

I don't follow Rugby at all but I'll check out some Sonny Bill Williams highlights. I don't think I've ever seen him box, either.
 
Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson are the two most athletic people I've seen.

RJJ in boxing.
 
how could we forget about Ken Norton? Probably the most athletic of his era and most others, one of the greatest physiques in the sports history, but, as I alluded to, the mental side of the sport is what makes it different than other sports. You can't fight well if you're worried about getting killed, which Kenny did with every puncher he fought.
 
Roy and Pac do come to mind. Pac's first win over Barrera is probably the best example of pure physical ability overwhelming skill at the elite level within the last 20 odd years.
 
Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson are the two most athletic people I've seen.

RJJ in boxing.
Bo Jackson brings up another arguement that is just as important as impressive stats: the ability to remain in one piece. He didn't have it. Jim Brown I think, didn't miss much of his career, Payton didn't either, in boxing, not getting cut as well as not having bones break from a hit is not a talent but is an equally important asset. It's not easy, it really isn't, anyone who's trained at any level will see how little it takes to pick up an injury, broken nose, or cut, it's inevitable, especially when dealing with the male energy and intentions that seem to always need corralling by heavyhanded rules.
 
how could we forget about Ken Norton? Probably the most athletic of his era and most others, one of the greatest physiques in the sports history, but, as I alluded to, the mental side of the sport is what makes it different than other sports. You can't fight well if you're worried about getting killed, which Kenny did with every puncher he fought.

Aside from stamina his physical abilities didn't really stand out in a boxing context, but I've heard it said he's the greatest all around high school athlete in Illinois history.
 
Aside from stamina his physical abilities didn't really stand out in a boxing context, but I've heard it said he's the greatest all around high school athlete in Illinois history.
he was a good puncher, but kinda like patterson, just overthought a lot of stuff, which isn't good. Also, he wasn't a mean spirited guy, he admits to walking away when seeing guys in trouble. Kenny was a strange case, a genuinely nice man but he always came across as aloof and arrogant, even to Ali and the asshole Larry holmes who didn't have one kind word to say about him in his book. Kenny did say something that I think bears repeating, he mentioned how the Young fight wasn't tough physically but was very hard mentally, I think many people never think about how difficult a strategic fight can be and why Hagler may have said that Duran was his toughest fight, i'm still trying to remember if he actually said that or if he said Duran was "the best I ever fought", there is a difference.
 
Maybe Mike Tyson?
i don't think he'd strike a cord with this, ever see him dribble a basketball? he says he was once invited to throw a baseball at some game and everybody laughed at him because he threw it funny. He can't dance either, worse than bruce springsteen in the dancing in the dark video. on the other side, he'd probably make a decent bodybuilder.
 
Remember last year when Lomachenko was in Thailand and training Muay Thai while he was there on vacation? He went from not really knowing how to kick to speed kicking in 48 hours. He busted out nearly 30 of them in rapid succession on the pads. Jon Jones commented and was impressed and John Wayne Parr was blown away by it. You need good balance, flexibility, and leg dexterity before you can even perform speed kicking drills which is why it was so impressive (along with how quickly & easily he picked it up).

I don't follow Rugby at all but I'll check out some Sonny Bill Williams highlights. I don't think I've ever seen him box, either.
Yeah I remember watching that vid of him speed kicking and being very impressed. I also remember there being some detractors on the forum complaining about his poor form. I bet they were that good after 48 hours of training lol

Sonny Bill Williams proves that just being athletic doesn't mean you'll be any good at boxing.
 
Yeah I remember watching that vid of him speed kicking and being very impressed. I also remember there being some detractors on the forum complaining about his poor form. I bet they were that good after 48 hours of training lol

Sonny Bill Williams proves that just being athletic doesn't mean you'll be any good at boxing.
There were only a couple detractors here yeah but other than those guys the entire MMA community was impressed including some elite fighters (Jon Jones, Max Holloway, etc) and a legendary Thai fighter & kickboxer in John Wayne Parr.
 
i don't think he'd strike a cord with this, ever see him dribble a basketball? he says he was once invited to throw a baseball at some game and everybody laughed at him because he threw it funny. He can't dance either, worse than bruce springsteen in the dancing in the dark video. on the other side, he'd probably make a decent bodybuilder.
I didn't know that about Mike. Pitching a ball isn't easy unless you've actually played ball before. Dancing is difficult for many fighters, as evidenced by Dancing with the Stars, and they work hard at it. Anything that involves kicking has most boxers looking like fish out of water too or like a basketball player trying to throw a punch. Fighters that are very coordinated and fast learners can pick that stuff up quickly though.
 
I didn't know that about Mike. Pitching a ball isn't easy unless you've actually played ball before. Dancing is difficult for many fighters, as evidenced by Dancing with the Stars, and they work hard at it. Anything that involves kicking has most boxers looking like fish out of water too or like a basketball player trying to throw a punch. Fighters that are very coordinated and fast learners can pick that stuff up quickly though.
i thought it was kinda ironic that he can't throw a baseball, one reason being is that no one maximized their body better for punching power than tyson and also, throwing a straight right or a looping right isn't all that different in bodymechanics from throwing a baseball, in fact, that's how I think some trainers teach throwing a right hand. Dancing is hit and miss with boxers, wilfred sheed wrote that ali couldn't dance a bit and put it down to not having much social time as a youth, sinbad the comedian teased him about how he couldn't dance at his 50th birthday party too. Holyfield could dance pretty damn good, at least for disco type of dancing, i'm don't know how he looked doing the "dancing with the stars" shows. tyson looked retarded when he danced, the only thing tyson seemed to be able to do really well was fight. He spoke fairly well in the early days but not after that, he just started coming across as dumb to a lot of people. One thing though, which I think should be taught, if they can't do anything else but box, they should be taught how to manage their money. yesterday I watched a sad youtube interview with John Mugabi, he can't read, got taken advantage of, was learning what sounded like kindergarten math, sad shit. Marvelous Marvin did one thing right I think, he was paranoid and it worked for him, you never hear about him being broke, but he is still sure paranoid. In the mugabi vid, at some boxing function, the camera was on him and as soon as he saw it he ordered, "no cameras man!". Being a jerk is good sometimes.
 
i thought it was kinda ironic that he can't throw a baseball, one reason being is that no one maximized their body better for punching power than tyson and also, throwing a straight right or a looping right isn't all that different in bodymechanics from throwing a baseball, in fact, that's how I think some trainers teach throwing a right hand. Dancing is hit and miss with boxers, wilfred sheed wrote that ali couldn't dance a bit and put it down to not having much social time as a youth, sinbad the comedian teased him about how he couldn't dance at his 50th birthday party too. Holyfield could dance pretty damn good, at least for disco type of dancing, i'm don't know how he looked doing the "dancing with the stars" shows. tyson looked retarded when he danced, the only thing tyson seemed to be able to do really well was fight. He spoke fairly well in the early days but not after that, he just started coming across as dumb to a lot of people. One thing though, which I think should be taught, if they can't do anything else but box, they should be taught how to manage their money. yesterday I watched a sad youtube interview with John Mugabi, he can't read, got taken advantage of, was learning what sounded like kindergarten math, sad shit. Marvelous Marvin did one thing right I think, he was paranoid and it worked for him, you never hear about him being broke, but he is still sure paranoid. In the mugabi vid, at some boxing function, the camera was on him and as soon as he saw it he ordered, "no cameras man!". Being a jerk is good sometimes.
The mechanics of throwing a baseball are similar to a rear straight/cross (closer to an overhand as you said) but they won't have any concept of ball control initially. I played baseball for many years, made the traveling team each year, and played 4 different positions including pitcher. I grew up with it and playing catch with my dad but I remember when I started I was throwing crazy. I've seen Mike dance but he was only goofing around when I saw him try it. Never seen Holyfield dance. I'd like to see what Mike's ball handling skills look like where he's dribbling a basketball, maybe I'll Google it. I agree about teaching these guys to manage their money and it really should come first in their careers.
 
The mechanics of throwing a baseball are similar to a rear straight/cross (closer to an overhand as you said) but they won't have any concept of ball control initially. I played baseball for many years, made the traveling team each year, and played 4 different positions including pitcher. I grew up with it and playing catch with my dad but I remember when I started I was throwing crazy. I've seen Mike dance but he was only goofing around when I saw him try it. Never seen Holyfield dance. I'd like to see what Mike's ball handling skills look like where he's dribbling a basketball, maybe I'll Google it. I agree about teaching these guys to manage their money and it really should come first in their careers.

they showed a clip of holyfield dancing, on the arsenio hall show, many years ago, i have it on tape somewhere but i don't know if it's on youtube, he was a good dancer, for his style, black style of club dancing, i don't know how he did in that ballroom dancing i saw him advertising, different thing altogether. It's like asking a classical musician to play jazz or vice versa. I think Mike did some dancing in some music video and i've seen other video of him dancing, if you want to see him dribbling a basketball, just watch the spike lee produced pre fight promo, it was either the stewart or the tillman fight, all black and white with don ranting about the evil white man which is a great detractor from the real evil , don,for a young man like tyson.
 
Dont buy it

Same.

I don't think people realize how insanely fast 4.3 is. Only the very fastest handful of players on an NFL team reach that level of speed.

I can believe outlandish MJ stories regarding his jumping ability, but not speed. Even in his youngest years he looks like a regular fast NBA player, not freakishly fast.
 
Same.

I don't think people realize how insanely fast 4.3 is. Only the very fastest handful of players on an NFL team reach that level of speed.

I can believe outlandish MJ stories regarding his jumping ability, but not speed. Even in his youngest years he looks like a regular fast NBA player, not freakishly fast.
MJ was freakish in every basketball way imaginable.
Most explosive and dynamic player in the sport. Had the perfect form and body control. One of the highest jumpers in the world. He litterally invented the terms hang time and AIR.
He was definitely one of the fastest in the NBA and moved like a gazelle.
It's not hard to believe he was faster than some of the fastest NFL players.
We are talking about a guy who still stands head and shoulders above other giant freak athletes to ever play in a league of super humans.
 
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