why do non black fighters almost never get called athletic?

[jamamb]

just wondering, is it some type of psychological bias? seems almost exclusively used for black fighters.

a guy like lomachenko has excellent speed, agility, timing, etc. yet i hear athletic far more to describe a guy like wilder, who tbf id say fits that bill

manny pac in his prime was ultra quick and explosive and could put together ridiculous rapid fire combos. could bounce around swiftly too.

and then guys like george groves and saunders are fast and snappy, with there punches and movements, and seem to have sharp reflexes. yet a guy like eubank was considered the athletic one.

linares too.....fast and agile


yet 'very althetic' 'natural athlete' 'athleticism' seem like qualities that are almost exclusively assigned to black fighters, as if only they have them

[KiwiRider]

Come on Jammy, you know these type of topics degrade by about the 4th or 5th post

[TheGingerBomber]

I know what you mean, for instance Josh Kelly I would say is very athletic (maybe I'm the only one)....but I bet he's quick across the track and he's extremely agile and flexible.

Just one of those things, beast is another word used to describe a black boxer or a big black centre forward, it's sort of a racist word but in no way do I think it should be seen as offensive!

[jamamb]

ya, kelly came to mind too

kiwi,....i know ppl can descend into chaos with race stuff, but i am genuinely curious about this and if other ppl notice it

it just seems like no matter how fast, agile, etc, if a boxers not black they dont get considered as particularly athletically gifted

it might be more of an american phenomenon

[SAPFO]

Never heard Whyte or Chisora being discribed as either.

[KiwiRider]

Never heard Whyte or Chisora being discribed as either.

But Miller does

[jamamb]

neither really possess the physical attributes that ppl seem to consider atletic

the issues more that certain fighters do fit the bill for those attributes , but if there hispanic, white, asian etc they dont get the same natural athlete/athletiscm treatment that seems demographically reserved

[jamamb]

Never heard Whyte or Chisora being discribed as either.

But Miller does

funny thing is ive actually seen him described as such more then ppl like loma

as i said before, maybe its an american thing, to look at the top in the nba etc and just associate the brothers with athleticsm

[KiwiRider]

Never heard Whyte or Chisora being discribed as either.

But Miller does

funny thing is ive actually seen him described as such more then ppl like loma

as i said before, maybe its an american thing, to look at the top in the nba etc and just associate the brothers with athleticsm

Maybe. It is an odd phenomena.
Muscle definition shows better on darker skin too, that's why all those white body builders are orange.

[keirw]

In the cases of Wilder and Eubank, i would say that neither has a particularly well developed boxing brain and rely heavily on natural attributes to win fights.

So their respective athleticism is their most notable quality.

Cleverly is an example of a non black boxer known more for his athleticism than his boxing skill.

[dookus]

Thing is, "athletic" is such a wide term. In a very real sense someone like Froch, for example, was definitely an athletic fighter - his extraordinary fitness and strength won him many fights his skills couldn't.

Khan is another one - that speed of his can only be described as athletic.

[Coco]

Why are non Ghanian fighter never called teak tough?

[world ranked]

Thing is, "athletic" is such a wide term. In a very real sense someone like Froch, for example, was definitely an athletic fighter - his extraordinary fitness and strength won him many fights his skills couldn't.

Khan is another one - that speed of his can only be described as athletic.

Froch and athletic not sure about that. It a lot of his fights he seemed clunky. If you watch Froch vs Dirrell or Pascal the froch wasn't in the same category as an athlete.

[samwbr]

Thing is, "athletic" is such a wide term. In a very real sense someone like Froch, for example, was definitely an athletic fighter - his extraordinary fitness and strength won him many fights his skills couldn't.

Khan is another one - that speed of his can only be described as athletic.

Froch and athletic not sure about that. It a lot of his fights he seemed clunky. If you watch Froch vs Dirrell or Pascal the froch wasn't in the same category as an athlete.

Frochs engine was the pretty much the definition of athleticism. One of the fittest fighters of recent times and a big part of his success.

[keirw]

Why are non Ghanian fighter never called teak tough?

Simmons was refered to as teak tough the other night.
Just before getting stopped early with a single shot.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Thing is, "athletic" is such a wide term. In a very real sense someone like Froch, for example, was definitely an athletic fighter - his extraordinary fitness and strength won him many fights his skills couldn't.

Khan is another one - that speed of his can only be described as athletic.

Athletic is about as meaningless as the word 'nice.'

[jamesmcdonnell]

Thing is, "athletic" is such a wide term. In a very real sense someone like Froch, for example, was definitely an athletic fighter - his extraordinary fitness and strength won him many fights his skills couldn't.

Khan is another one - that speed of his can only be described as athletic.

Froch and athletic not sure about that. It a lot of his fights he seemed clunky. If you watch Froch vs Dirrell or Pascal the froch wasn't in the same category as an athlete.

Depends what you mean by athletic. It seems you take Athletic to mean agile, which is not what it means.

[Deleted_Scenes]

I'm sure I heard darts players referred to as 'athletes' once...

[lillywhite14]

Why are non Ghanian fighter never called teak tough?

Expected better from a man of your experience Coco.

Or maybe you’ve never watched a fight where one of the fighters was from Argentina? Those boys are teak tough...well, actually, maybe just tough, wild, durable? Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even heard an Argie fighter described as teak tough! Damn

[lillywhite14]

Thing is, "athletic" is such a wide term. In a very real sense someone like Froch, for example, was definitely an athletic fighter - his extraordinary fitness and strength won him many fights his skills couldn't.

Khan is another one - that speed of his can only be described as athletic.

Froch and athletic not sure about that. It a lot of his fights he seemed clunky. If you watch Froch vs Dirrell or Pascal the froch wasn't in the same category as an athlete.

Depends what you mean by athletic. It seems you take Athletic to mean agile, which is not what it means.

Yep. Another misconception.

I read a newspaper article where a coach from the GB Olympic squad followed Eddie Hall around for a day, watched him train and eat etc

Afterwards he said he was one of the most incredibly gifted athletes he’d ever seen. To be fair, pound for pound Eddie Hall is probably incredibly agile! Still, from a glance you’d forgive people for chuckling if they heard Eddie Hall being described as athletic.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Froch and athletic not sure about that. It a lot of his fights he seemed clunky. If you watch Froch vs Dirrell or Pascal the froch wasn't in the same category as an athlete.

Depends what you mean by athletic. It seems you take Athletic to mean agile, which is not what it means.

Yep. Another misconception.

I read a newspaper article where a coach from the GB Olympic squad followed Eddie Hall around for a day, watched him train and eat etc

Afterwards he said he was one of the most incredibly gifted athletes he’d ever seen. To be fair, pound for pound Eddie Hall is probably incredibly agile! Still, from a glance you’d forgive people for chuckling if they heard Eddie Hall being described as athletic.

Eddie Hall was a national schoolboy champion swimmer wasn't he? He obviously was naturally athletic to begin with, but then I'd say that's going to be the case with all of those strongmen. Terry Hollands is another, he was a professional rugby player before turning to Strongman.

[skanksta]

Why are non Ghanian fighter never called teak tough?

Simmons was refered to as teak tough the other night.
Just before getting stopped early with a single shot.

Proof that it can only be applied to Ghanains !

[ElJefe]

I noted a few other stereotypes that our commentators love to use in a thread a couple of years ago, this one definitely falls into that category.

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f ... it=cliches

[jamamb]

[Stuarty]

Because blacks are the superior race remember! Just ask big humble hole AJ