Boxing is the toughest sport

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 03 Aug 2007, 23:56

The Michigan Amateur Boxer just reported that the United States Olympic Committee of Academicians studied 60 sports to determine which sport demanded the most from its athletes who compete in the sport. I looked up the info on the internet and found an article describing the study which was just reported by ESPN.com Page 2. Here is the link to that article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

I always knew that the Sweet Science was a difficult sport. Now I have the study to support my belief.

AAboxing · Post by **AAboxing** » 04 Aug 2007, 00:36

yes gotta love that. Boxing Rules

Do you think UFC people will want to get in on that some.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Aug 2007, 16:55

They will just say they are closer to boxing than anything else. However, martial arts also ranked at #6 and wrestling was #5. So UFC can claim to be similar to any and be proud. I'm just happy that boxing is #1 overall.

yiddo14 · Post by **yiddo14** » 07 Aug 2007, 03:47

Gald that boxing is number one, and I genuinely think it should be.

That list is pretty shit though!!

Rugby and gymnatsics(give the rings a go...see how easy that is!)are rated below the likes of basketball, tennis and baseball?

Madness.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 07 Aug 2007, 10:40

Rugby is very rough and tough. Gymnastics requires a lot of flexibility and the rings do take a lot of strength. However, some sports that don't seem that hard like basketball and tennis can be very difficult, especially if you are on the court with someone who is very skilled. You have to be in great physical shape to run around on those courts. They definitely have different skill sets. I personally think playing a tennis match against a top player would be a lot less painful than playing a rugby match or going up against the rings or pummel horse. OUCH.

kidscoach · Post by **kidscoach** » 07 Aug 2007, 11:11

Thankyou for the info! If you find any more, send a link. We need all the ammo we can gather to get boxing back at the top of the popularity scene. The entire idea of getting someone to try boxing has worked well in our area. We have had College "Fite Nites" (yes, we registered everyone and required them to train for a couple of months before the event to be sure everyone was safe and knew the rules). and the response was wonderful. We planted that love of the sport into all those fellas. And they found out how difficult it was!

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 07 Aug 2007, 13:18

kidscoach wrote:Thankyou for the info! If you find any more, send a link. We need all the ammo we can gather to get boxing back at the top of the popularity scene. The entire idea of getting someone to try boxing has worked well in our area. We have had College "Fite Nites" (yes, we registered everyone and required them to train for a couple of months before the event to be sure everyone was safe and knew the rules). and the response was wonderful. We planted that love of the sport into all those fellas. And they found out how difficult it was!

Don't forget about the ladies. We have had many college co-eds who have boxed. In fact they have helped encourage their male college friends to give boxing a try. Many people who try boxing get hooked and we then get some of their friends and family members to join.

walshb · Post by **walshb** » 09 Aug 2007, 04:52

I can't see how swimming or Nordic skiing was ahead in terms of endurance.
If anything, PRO boxing is the worlds most physically demanding sport and the endurance levels in boxing are a notch above anything. It's that tough.....

Freiheit · Post by **Freiheit** » 09 Aug 2007, 06:01

walshb wrote:I can't see how swimming or Nordic skiing was ahead in terms of endurance.
If anything, PRO boxing is the worlds most physically demanding sport and the endurance levels in boxing are a notch above anything. It's that tough.....

Cant see the swimming part either, but Nordic Skiing is very very hard, and many people from non skiing countries get suprised when they try it. They have long runs, the weather is a huge obstacle and its a real science to get the right equipment for the different kind of snow ect, if you get it wrong it wil be even harder.

I also thibk that Skijumping is rated too low in the nerve section, I wouldnt be scared to do the other sports, but there is no way Im going to make a skijump. Bobsled/luge is also a bit underrated in nerve, its a shame they dont have skeleton on the list, because that would have scored very high also.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 09 Aug 2007, 13:06

Swimming can be exhausting, depending on the distance. For me, I would much rather get into a boxing ring than go off a ski jump. I do know there are many people who would feel differently. Bobsled/skeleton/luge - I would do without hesitation. I love that kind of speed rush. Standing in the batters box with someone throwing a ball 100 mph by my head would be a little nerve racking. So the nerve part is different for many people, but most would rank boxing, ski-jumping and bobsled pretty high. Golf not so high - LOL.

squarering · Post by **squarering** » 12 Aug 2007, 13:37

Boxing is not only the toughest sport, but much of it is done in the toughest places. Ofthen the gyms and the kids in the gyms live in some of most dangeous places and have to deal with situations that most other athletes can't comprehend. Last week a true young warrior named Lorado Williams was shot in the back of his head as he was driving away from an attempted carjacking after picking his brother up from work. He was a very good amateur, a tough guy and real good kid. He competed in many state and regional event , though I don't know if had been to the nationals or exactly what titles he held. He always spoke of wanting to work with young kids in the community. He held a good job and would be considered a role model to anyone that knew him. It is a sad loss to boxing. and the people that knew Lorado from the Maryland, D.C area. You don't see this happen in tennis, vollyball or ski jumping. Sometime how tough a sport is can not be seen from the ouside. May You Rest In Peace Lorado

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 12 Aug 2007, 13:51

I guess the nerve part of the equation should factor in where boxers typically train, etc. I was just looking at the competition aspect of getting into a ring to battle one-on-one with another boxer in front of a crowd (doesn't really matter if it is a crowd of 100 or millions for a TV bout - it takes a lot of guts to do it).

Another loss for boxing - it is always a shame.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 12 Aug 2007, 14:20

squarering wrote:Boxing is not only the toughest sport, but much of it is done in the toughest places. Ofthen the gyms and the kids in the gyms live in some of most dangeous places and have to deal with situations that most other athletes can't comprehend. Last week a true young warrior named Lorado Williams was shot in the back of his head as he was driving away from an attempted carjacking after picking his brother up from work. He was a very good amateur, a tough guy and real good kid. He competed in many state and regional event , though I don't know if had been to the nationals or exactly what titles he held. He always spoke of wanting to work with young kids in the community. He held a good job and would be considered a role model to anyone that knew him. It is a sad loss to boxing. and the people that knew Lorado from the Maryland, D.C area. You don't see this happen in tennis, vollyball or ski jumping. Sometime how tough a sport is can not be seen from the ouside. May You Rest In Peace Lorado

I'm from PG County; where was Lorado from? It just reminds me of all the reasons I left PG. God, it's getting bad.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 12 Aug 2007, 16:54

Kolya - You are definitely in a safer spot now. If I remember correctly, you now live in Montana. Probably a very low crime rate.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 12 Aug 2007, 16:56

Dennis wrote:Kolya - You are definitely in a safer spot now. If I remember correctly, you now live in Montana. Probably a very low crime rate.

Yeah, I live in Bozeman now. Our crime rate comes from the MSU sports teams.

Yeah, it's generally ok, just annoying frat boys. I don't miss having to watch where I go and being aware of my surroundings all the time, that's for sure. I'm going to take a wild guess that Lorado was killed around Capitol Heights.

nordicskier · Post by **nordicskier** » 12 Aug 2007, 18:22

In response to an earlier post when walshb wrote "I can't see how swimming or Nordic skiing was ahead in endurance," I think that real data needs to be considered. A universal method for determining endurance capacity is a V02 max test, which measures maximum oxygen uptake per kg of body mass per minute. Now if you look at the numbers, the V02 records for both males and females are held by nordic skiers. The male world record is 96 milliliters/kg held by Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway. (For comparison, Lance Armstrong tested at 83 milliliters/kg and running legend Steve Prefontaine, with a 1 mile time of 3:54, tested at 84 milliliters/kg.) The entire Norwegion men's nordic ski team last year had an average VO2 max of 88.2 milliliters/kg. Now professional boxers, by comparison, have been shown to max out at 54 to 64 milliliters/kg, with the very best having only 70% of the aerobic capacity of an average elite nordic skier. Considering this data, it would appear that nordic skiing does requier more endurance than boxing...

I am not saying that boxing is not tough, but having your lungs torn out while nordic sking (to the point of passing out) can be as painful as being repeatedly beaten in the face with a boxing glove (also to the point of passing out). I think that all sports are tough in their own right, and should be respected likewise.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 12 Aug 2007, 18:24

nordicskier wrote:In response to an earlier post when walshb wrote "I can't see how swimming or Nordic skiing was ahead in endurance," I think that real data needs to be considered. A universal method for determining endurance capacity is a V02 max test, which measures maximum oxygen uptake per kg of body mass per minute. Now if you look at the numbers, the V02 records for both males and females are held by nordic skiers. The male world record is 96 milliliters/kg held by Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway. (For comparison, Lance Armstrong tested at 83 milliliters/kg and running legend Steve Prefontaine, with a 1 mile time of 3:54, tested at 84 milliliters/kg.) The entire Norwegion men's nordic ski team last year had an average VO2 max of 88.2 milliliters/kg. Now professional boxers, by comparison, have been shown to max out at 54 to 64 milliliters/kg, with the very best having only 70% of the aerobic capacity of an average elite nordic skier. Considering this data, it would appear that nordic skiing does requier more endurance than boxing...

I am not saying that boxing is not tough, but having your lungs torn out while nordic sking (to the point of passing out) can be as painful as being repeatedly beaten in the face with a boxing glove (also to the point of passing out). I think that all sports are tough in their own right, and should be respected likewise.

That's largely because boxing is primarily an anaerobic activity; more comparable to sprinting than to long distance endurance events. However; that sprinting isn't done over the course of a minute or less, but the 36 minutes that a professional title fight will last.

nordicskier · Post by **nordicskier** » 12 Aug 2007, 18:36

An average World Cup Distance race for Nordic Skiing (10-30k) lasts anywhere from 23 to 85 minutes. The other half of the World Cup races are 1k sprints lasting less than 3 minutes.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 12 Aug 2007, 18:39

Ok. And? I was pointing out that though boxers will tend to have a good base endurance level; they are training sport specifically, obviously, and so more focus will be placed on their ability for explosiveness and short, sudden bursts of activity and the ability to recover quickly from the exertion. Not trying to bash any other sport or anything, just pointing it out; even I know boxing isn't the most taxing endurance activity in the world; but I do think it's the most physically demanding sport in the world.

nordicskier · Post by **nordicskier** » 12 Aug 2007, 18:57

And I will respect that opinion. I was simply trying to point out that nordic skiing isn't the sissy sport its made out to be. I have a friend who participates in both varsity football and varsity x.c skiing (an awkward combo!) and he won't hesitate for even a moment to say that nordic skiing is the harder sport of the two.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 12 Aug 2007, 19:09

Shoot, I was never much of a long distance endurance athlete, so I'd probably feel that Nordic Skiing is harder.

I can't ski to save my life, so I'm not bashing it at all; I just think that of the sports boxing requires a very unique combination of traits and abilities; like the study mentioned.

nordicskier · Post by **nordicskier** » 12 Aug 2007, 20:38

And I probably couldn't box to save my life! :D

squarering · Post by **squarering** » 13 Aug 2007, 00:15

Lorado was from Baltimore, But I am not sure what part.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 13 Aug 2007, 14:00

squarering wrote:Lorado was from Baltimore, But I am not sure what part.

What part doesn't really matter; Baltimore is so bad these days it can happen basically anywhere.

squarering · Post by **squarering** » 13 Aug 2007, 14:44

You are right about that. If it were not for boxing, there are some places I would not venture into with an armored tank. Yet I have never, in many years had a major problem.