what determines a fighters athleticism?

[Nagabilly]

How about Oscar? He was fast but often looked stiff

[RightJab]

How about Oscar? He was fast but often looked stiff

Pardon me?

[Vasyl’s dad]

hanz, dead like me, vwebb, american, care to chime in?

[Grimgash]

It's basically someone who can use it to their advantage. It's mostly used when someone has incredible speed and reflexes. Roy Jones is the poster boy for this. All boxers are athletic they're pro athletes but, some just have natural gifts beyond that...it's what's meant by athletic in boxing. The word itself is confusing, because it doesn't mean what it says.

[bojangles1987]

Speed, agility, and reflexes.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I see fighters described as having more athleticism than an opponent. How is this determined?

by being more athletic

[BUNGALOWS]

FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS.

Some have it, some dont. HOw can you tell if somebody has fast twitch muscle fibers? How well they move with their feet, and upper body. How fast they can throw combinations. They can avoid punches by disregarding basic fundamentals and get away with it.

Donaire has it.
Floyd has it.
Andre Ward has it.
Pacquiao has it.
Rigondeaux has it.
Joe Calzaghe has it.
Sergio Martinez has it.
Amir Khan has it.
Adrian Broner has it.


Fighters with no Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers:

K Bros
Mares
Margarito
Canelo
Juan Manuel Marquez
Danny Garcia
Carl Froch
Antonio Demarco


Historically, Pernell and Ali lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, George Foreman not so much.


hope that explains it.

Gonna have to disagree with you on Canelo. I think Canelo's very explosive in spurts. Foot speed wise, no. But in sudden bursts, I think he's very explosive.

[New England]

FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS.

Some have it, some dont. HOw can you tell if somebody has fast twitch muscle fibers? How well they move with their feet, and upper body. How fast they can throw combinations. They can avoid punches by disregarding basic fundamentals and get away with it.

Donaire has it.
Floyd has it.
Andre Ward has it.
Pacquiao has it.
Rigondeaux has it.
Joe Calzaghe has it.
Sergio Martinez has it.
Amir Khan has it.
Adrian Broner has it.


Fighters with no Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers:

K Bros
Mares
Margarito
Canelo
Juan Manuel Marquez
Danny Garcia
Carl Froch
Antonio Demarco


Historically, Pernell and Ali lots of fast twitch muscle fibers, George Foreman not so much.


hope that explains it.

i'm not at all convinced that you even know what fast twitch muscle fibers are, how they contrast with "slow twitching" fibers, and what athletes with more of one or the other look like.

[Banderivets]

Here we go with the fast twitch nonsense...


"1.
physically active and strong; good at athletics or sports: an athletic child.
2.
of, like, or befitting an athlete.
3.
of or pertaining to athletes; involving the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina: athletic sports; athletic training. "


Olympic weightlifting requires an abundance of fast twitch fibers, hell any weightlifting requires fast twitch muscle fibers as the sport has little to nothing to do with slow Type I fibers. Besides, contemporary research is further proving that fiber types are not as important as previously thought to be...hence Type I or II there is a difference but in terms of raw performance the difference is not as significant as it's believed to be.

However, would you ever call Hossein Rezazadeh athletic? No...but why? He clearly is.

I've been following the topic of "athleticism" for a while now and it really boils down to how one looks when performing an athletic activity...

And it appears to boil down to culture...

So in athletic vs non-athletic it in the view of the US sports media it comes down to FLAMBOYANCE. Yes, I said it...it's the guy who looks loose and fluid that is automatically the "athletic one"...

A man might have a faster sprint, a higher vertical, is substantially stronger yet he is not athletic because he might look like a brick when doing it.

And bringing it back to culture...

Somebody posted a list where all the Mexican fighters were in the non athletic category...Really???? JMM not athletic? Why? Because he is not "slick"? The way Mexican fighters fight is down to culture, it is not macho to bounce around and fight like Proska or RJJ, Mexicans fight rough and their style is just not perceived as "athletic..."

Wlad is not athletic? The man is physical beast, very agile, but he comes from a Soviet school were he would get smacked by his coaches the moment he would try loosen up and do anything other than textbook straight punches and strict form.

Vitaliy had top reflexes...but sorry he just didnt look spectacular when he dodged punches, his movement was subtle and not "dashing"...getting back to the whole flamboyance thing..

Yet someone like Broner would be called more athletic...

It's like they say how Johny Football is so athletic? Why? Because of his loose unpredictable style?


People just took the word "athletic" and changed the definition to ATHLETIC=SPEED and FLAMBOYANCE...sorry but only one of those words actually applies to what the dictionary has to say.

[BUNGALOWS]

And Danny Garcia and JMM are incredibly explosive punchers when in certain situations.