We prob all believe Boxers are the fittest but..

[TJ77]

Are there any stats to prove this no matter how much I protest sighting punch resistance the training involved movement req etc my pal is having none of it he is adamant f1 drivers are fitter and i have looked on line no yet found no difinative evidence is there any ?
Pacman against Hamilton mayweather or alonso no contest for me help proving the point would be appreciated .He keeps banging G Force's

[paul12342]

no chance f1 drivers are fitter!!! i just cant see it !

[Deserter]

The biggest problem is that there is no 'catch-all' definition of fitness as it covers so many facets.
I actually think gymnasts are probably right up there as they tick most of the critical 'boxes':
Strength
Stamina
Speed
Flexibility
Agility

The others who are clearly something special are decathletes - look at Bryan Clay for example. This is an excerpt from his wikipedia:
"Clay won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in the decathlon. His victory margin of 240 points in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the largest since 1972.The Olympic decathlon champion is referred to as the "World's Greatest Athlete" and prior to the Olympics, Clay was tested by SPARQ to establish his SPARQ Rating across a number of different sports. The test is meant to measure sport-specific athleticism and in the football test Clay recorded a score of 130.40, the highest ever recorded. By comparison, Reggie Bush scored a 93.38 on the popular test."

A lot of boxers are clearly extremely fit as well, but so are wrestlers and MMA fighters (there's a nice ongoing test at the moment in Fighting Fit, with different combat sport participants competing and a wrestler leads at the moment).

However, you can rest easy that they're by and large most definitely ahead of F1 drivers

[CiganoBoxer]

IMO i would rate mma fighters fitter than boxers...i train mma and can tell you some of guys i roll with are pro fighters are in terrific condition

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Rugby League players are supremely fit. Are they fitter than boxers, I would say so - formula one drivers - thats funny!!

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Rugby League players are supremely fit. Are they fitter than boxers, I would say so - formula one drivers - thats funny!!

You see Wigan against the Saints earlier? Absolute class that Sam Tomkins.

I did - he was superb. Wigan had that extra yard of pace that made all the difference and got them out of trouble against Warrington in the quarter finals. It was fantastic to watch and young Tomkins is a beast!

[states]

Professional Cyclists have to be up there in terms of fitness, if not necessarily strength.

[stujones]

Professional Cyclists have to be up there in terms of fitness, if not necessarily strength.

x 2 - their VO2 Max is off the chart compared to most sports, Cross Country Skiers also.

[paul12342]

Professional Cyclists have to be up there in terms of fitness, if not necessarily strength.

iv read this somewhere before aswell

[jonp]

I think everyone is fit in there sport. Iv had professional footballers at the gym and they cant keep up. But then sent the lads for a run with them and they couldnt keep up.
I think one thing where fighters or combat sports may lack is continues fitness a man trains for a fight and then rest and maybe even gets out of shape or takes it easy because fights are intense but with long gaps inbetween. Where asa man who does a sport with a weekly league for 7 or 8 months might have to train more dilligently over a longer period.

[Deserter]

Professional Cyclists have to be up there in terms of fitness, if not necessarily strength.

But this is exactly what I mean States - fitness is not solely endurance. People frequently confuse that. In terms of overall fitness, cyclists are hugely imbalanced... phenomenal CV, but zero strength, flexibility etc. The likes of decathletes and gymnasts have far better all-round fitness than cyclists.
That isn't to diminish their phenomenal engines, it's just that is only one aspect of fitness...

[kamicazze]

There is 'Sport specific fitness' A boxer will not be as equipped physically for F1 as a driver but the same is true on the other hand. A footballer will not be fit for rugby but neither will a rugby player for fitness. Anyone reading them fighting fit magazines will see their testing of each combat sport in the fitness and athletic attributes department. Maybe one should be done for all sports

[Deserter]

This should help everyone - you should be thinking about which sportsmen you rate but then think about them again in the context of this framework:

Basic fitness can be classified in four main components: strength, speed, stamina and flexibility. However, exercise scientists have identified nine components that comprise the definition of fitness (Tancred 1995) [1]:
•Strength - the extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting against resistance (e.g. holding or restraining an object or person)
•Power - the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed. (e.g. jumping or a sprint start)
•Agility - the ability to perform a series of explosive power movements in rapid succession in opposing directions (e.g. ZigZag running or cutting movements)
•Balance - the ability to control the body's position, either stationary (e.g. a handstand) or while moving (e.g. a gymnastics stunt)
•Flexibility - the ability to achieve an extended range of motion without being impeded by excess tissue, i.e. fat or muscle (e.g. executing a leg split)
•Local Muscle Endurance - a single muscle's ability to perform sustained work (e.g. rowing or cycling)
•Cardiovascular Endurance - the heart's ability to deliver blood to working muscles and their ability to use it (e.g. running long distances)
•Strength Endurance - a muscle's ability to perform a maximum contraction time after time (e.g. continuous explosive rebounding through an entire basketball game)
•Co-ordination- the ability to integrate the above listed components so that effective movements are achieved.

Taken from http://www.brianmac.co.uk/conditon.htm

[GazMan85]

I would say that it is difficult to compare all the different sports.

Boxing is up there, but may not be the fittest in my opinion.

F1 drivers are supremely fit. Their training regimes are exceptional. You can prob find these online somewhere.

I know someone who has just completed an ironman triathalon. That consists of 2.4 mile swim in open water, followed immediately by 112 miles cycling, followed immediately by a full 26.2 mile marathan. He completed a this in just over 10 hours. Which is absolutely unbelievable. The guys who compete at the top end of this sport, in my eyes are fitter than the pro-boxers I know, and are prob fitter than mst pro-boxers. There will always be exceptions to the rule though.

[states]

Professional Cyclists have to be up there in terms of fitness, if not necessarily strength.

But this is exactly what I mean States - fitness is not solely endurance. People frequently confuse that. In terms of overall fitness, cyclists are hugely imbalanced... phenomenal CV, but zero strength, flexibility etc. The likes of decathletes and gymnasts have far better all-round fitness than cyclists.
That isn't to diminish their phenomenal engines, it's just that is only one aspect of fitness...

Oh I agree. I just wanted to get a shout for cycling into the thread.

[Deserter]

I know someone who has just completed an ironman triathalon. That consists of 2.4 mile swim in open water, followed immediately by 112 miles cycling, followed immediately by a full 26.2 mile marathan. He completed a this in just over 10 hours. Which is absolutely unbelievable. The guys who compete at the top end of this sport, in my eyes are fitter than the pro-boxers I know, and are prob fitter than mst pro-boxers. There will always be exceptions to the rule though.

I'll say it once again - don't make the mistake of thinking endurance = fitness. Hugely impressive engines, but out of the criteria for fitness, how many do Ironman triathletes score well on? Probably three of the nine.

[GazMan85]

I know someone who has just completed an ironman triathalon. That consists of 2.4 mile swim in open water, followed immediately by 112 miles cycling, followed immediately by a full 26.2 mile marathan. He completed a this in just over 10 hours. Which is absolutely unbelievable. The guys who compete at the top end of this sport, in my eyes are fitter than the pro-boxers I know, and are prob fitter than mst pro-boxers. There will always be exceptions to the rule though.

I'll say it once again - don't make the mistake of thinking endurance = fitness. Hugely impressive engines, but out of the criteria for fitness, how many do Ironman triathletes score well on? Probably three of the nine.

I agree. Just my opinion.

[black panther]

Guys ESPN did scientific tests of all assets of sports and boxing came out top! Check it!:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

[Deserter]

I know someone who has just completed an ironman triathalon. That consists of 2.4 mile swim in open water, followed immediately by 112 miles cycling, followed immediately by a full 26.2 mile marathan. He completed a this in just over 10 hours. Which is absolutely unbelievable. The guys who compete at the top end of this sport, in my eyes are fitter than the pro-boxers I know, and are prob fitter than mst pro-boxers. There will always be exceptions to the rule though.

I'll say it once again - don't make the mistake of thinking endurance = fitness. Hugely impressive engines, but out of the criteria for fitness, how many do Ironman triathletes score well on? Probably three of the nine.

I agree. Just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, as with cyclists, I'm in awe of what the top competitors can do in terms of that sustained output. I do think endurance athletes are incredibly impressive mentally as well - the will to push through the pain barrier over a consistent period of time is something to behold.

[Coco]

It's fit for what though?
Most men wouldn't be able to hold their head up due to the g force after a couple of laps

[Deserter]

Guys ESPN did scientific tests of all assets of sports and boxing came out top! Check it!:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

Interesting... though I'm sceptical of any survey of this kind that has skateboarders above sprinters
Also surprised to see ice hockey so high up - I remember reading an interview with GSP's coach who said some pro players had come in to do some general strength and conditioning work with him and they were blown away.
Actually, looking into it in more detail, some of the findings are a joke - a perfect example is scoring boxing 8.13 on strength and gymnastics only 6.13 - gymnasts have the best strength to weight ratio of any athlete and can perform phenomenal feats of strength.
It also gives boxers and gymnasts pretty much the same score on agility, behind the likes of hockey, tennis and football players

[REAL_DEAL]

good question hard to say, whoever completes The Namibia 24 hour ultra marathon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmEQFBIYmFs needs a shout out

[Andypittcov]

It's an interesting topic, I've no idea who the fittest athletes are but I would have thought boxers are right up there. Rowers and swimmers are also incredibly fit.

[Jeff Thomas]

Ha ha love how the major point is missed and missed again come on fellas

[Asterix]

Here's a link you can use as evidence: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

It doesn't have F1, specifically, it has auto-racing, but it shows that boxing is up near the top as far as fitness is concerned.