Quantifying Greatness
Posted: 22 Jul 2010, 09:34
How would you attempt to quantify greatness?
If you were to compile some kind of scorecard what would it look like? There are zillions of ways to assess boxers and they all have some credibility. I’ve tried to come up with some basic framework here and I’m interested to read what others think.
At the very top level would be the 3 strands…
1) The Boxer himself
2) What he achieved
3) How long he did it for
So…
1) the Boxer himself
Here I would attempt to quantify everything the boxer was in the ring. This would be broken down into
a) Physical (hand speed, stamina, chin, power, etc…)
b) Mental (heart, rung intelligence, mental resilience, ability to adapt, ability to follow a fight plan, etc…)
c) Skill (defence, technique, footwork, inside fighting, jab, punch placement, etc…)
2) What he achieved
a) Who did he fight?
b) Who did he beat?
c) The circumstances of the win (15 rounds? 4 rounds? 45 rounds?)
d) The stage of his career in which he won/lost?
e) His optimal weight and how far away he fought from it?
f) Championships won
3) How long he did it for
a) Was he able to fight way past his best?
b) Was he bright for a short time?
c) Comebacks
Obviously you need to look at this in terms of era. Boxers jump up and down in weights because there are technologies that weren’t previously available. So it would all need to be tweaked to try and even things out.
Interested in what other people think is necessary to quantify greatness…
If you were to compile some kind of scorecard what would it look like? There are zillions of ways to assess boxers and they all have some credibility. I’ve tried to come up with some basic framework here and I’m interested to read what others think.
At the very top level would be the 3 strands…
1) The Boxer himself
2) What he achieved
3) How long he did it for
So…
1) the Boxer himself
Here I would attempt to quantify everything the boxer was in the ring. This would be broken down into
a) Physical (hand speed, stamina, chin, power, etc…)
b) Mental (heart, rung intelligence, mental resilience, ability to adapt, ability to follow a fight plan, etc…)
c) Skill (defence, technique, footwork, inside fighting, jab, punch placement, etc…)
2) What he achieved
a) Who did he fight?
b) Who did he beat?
c) The circumstances of the win (15 rounds? 4 rounds? 45 rounds?)
d) The stage of his career in which he won/lost?
e) His optimal weight and how far away he fought from it?
f) Championships won
3) How long he did it for
a) Was he able to fight way past his best?
b) Was he bright for a short time?
c) Comebacks
Obviously you need to look at this in terms of era. Boxers jump up and down in weights because there are technologies that weren’t previously available. So it would all need to be tweaked to try and even things out.
Interested in what other people think is necessary to quantify greatness…