my best mate was really into boxing a few years ago so he joined a boxing gym and trained for a bit. he said it was the hardest thing he ever did gym wise. and that was only the cardio workouts.
The Greatest Athlete Ever.
- Thread starter Rooney24
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my best mate was really into boxing a few years ago so he joined a boxing gym and trained for a bit. he said it was the hardest thing he ever did gym wise. and that was only the cardio workouts.
Yeah, I can imagine.
Actually a very small percentage would be classified as "chubby." Most MLBers are quite fit.
But Tyson was never really challenged until Buster took him into the latter rounds. Then you could see that if Tyson didn't get his knock out punches on target he didn't know how to win with rib jabs and other shots. Same thing when he fought Holyfield the first time.
Jim Thorpe
Michael Jordan
Oh feck that, you must be a Boston fan. Cobb was a great hitter no doubt, has a great movie about him as well. Williams is probably in the top 5-10 all time, but I rate Gehrig 2nd and well there is no way I rate anyone higher than the Babe, and I wont budge on those 1-2 ratings. He revolutionized the game, and made it America's game.
Fact remains that baseball is a sport you can play at the very highest level whilst being overweight.
Funny thing is Americans coming on a UK football site and even talking about baseball. 
You can play any sport being overweight not like anyone will remember Feilder Jrs name in a 100 years, point taken, but people have brought in team sport athletes most of which, pretty much all are inferior to individual athletes, save His Airness
Alexander Karelin deserves to be in the discussion. He went undefeated for 13 years and didn't give up a single point to anyone in the last 6 years of that streak, until Gardner got that 1 point and beat him in Sydney.
Well i was wrong but i would like to know what exactly he tested positive for and if so with this evidence why does he still have his medals?
Several athletes have had to return their medals with this type of evidence.
TBH this is disturbing to me because i always thought he was clean. one must wonder if he decided to dope because of what happened in Korea 88.
I believe he should be considered. I of course believe NBA players are the most athletic but the ability to hit a baseball and do it at level that dwarfed the rest of the league (ala Gretzky) needs to be considered. And he didnt get fat until later in his career. Dont believe the films made showing the Babe as a obese man. He was 6'2 215 and solid. Later in his career the beer and fornicating caught up with him but he was an ATHLETE.
Here in the states he is revered but in all honesty i think he is underated because when we have our lists here MJ tends to win. MJ was a great basketball player but having played both sports I believe all in all Ruth was greater within the confines of his game. If this is the case then logically he should be considered when discussing the greatest athlete of any sport.
Ruth was the natural and the iron horse was a brilliant player as well. If i were to rate the top 5 i think he would be just out of it.
1. Ruth
2. Aaron
3. Mays
4. Mantle
5. Musial (ok im a cardinals fan)
As far as the baseball bashing on this forum i find it funny that those who have never played the sport or because its a Yank sport they negate the athletic ability it takes to play it.
FFS if someone say Tiger Woods they get a pass and baseball and golf are miles apart in athletic ability.
Sports wise the most ATHLETIC are
NBA
NFL
Until the great game has players 6'5 or larger running world class times and jumping 40 inches there are no comparisons to these two sports.
Maybe Aussie Rules, Maybe
I was talking about him in the gym. Regardless, at his peak he was an awesome fighter. You'll probably know his full history to appreciate the problems he went through. Totally surrounded by leaches. And he was well past his best when he fought Holyfield. I'm sure things would've been different had Cus D'Amato been around.
By the way, Holyfield took steroids.
Take your fecking baseball and American bias to a place where people give a feck. Seriously, think about WTF you are posting. I post on a couple of US sports sites because I live in the US but if I tried to justify soccer on those sites it would be a feeding frenzy.
I have played rounders, and baseball, in fact I have watched about 120 games this season so far. NFL players have zero stamina, they just rely of bursts of strength. NBA players are pretty fit but with all the TO and stoppages even those guys don't need to keep it up all game.
The average football player in the EPL is far fitter than anyone in the NFL or NBA. Rugby players are pretty fit as well.
Williams would own nearly every career hitting record had he not lost 5 years of his prime to two wars (WWII and Korean). One of only two players to reach the triple crown twice. He was a tremendous hitter and had he been a Yankee instead of Joe D, he'd have earned all those accolades that Joe D got until his death (greatest living ballplayer crap - Ted was a better player non stop).
Putting Musial in a top 5 ahead of Williams is quite stupid.
The Yanks covered it up. . . can't have hollier than thou testing positive can we?
In 2003, Dr. Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to Sports Illustrated which revealed that some 100 American athletes who failed drug tests and should have been prevented from competing in the Olympics were nevertheless cleared to compete. Among those athletes was Carl Lewis.
It was revealed that Lewis tested positive three times before the 1988 Olympics for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine, banned stimulants and bronchiodilators also found in cold medication, and had been banned from the Seoul Olympics and from competition for six months. The USOC accepted his claim of inadvertent use and overturned the decision. Fellow Santa Monica Track Club teammates Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard were also found to have the same banned stimulants in their systems, and were cleared to compete for the same reason.[69][70]
Chuckle.
Former athletes and officials came out against the USOC cover-up. "For so many years I lived it. I knew this was going on, but there's absolutely nothing you can do as an athlete. You have to believe governing bodies are doing what they are supposed to do. And it is obvious they did not", said former American sprint queen and 1984 Olympic champion, Evelyn Ashford.[71]
Not a Holyfield fan by any means. He's a big hypocrite going around preaching about God yet he has like 8 kids from 5 women or somewhat.
I'm aware of Tyson's youth and I often wonder what if Cus hadn't passed away so early in Tyson's career. Once King got his tentacles wrapped around Tyson his career was as good as done. Tyson's biggest strength early on was he had his opponent intimidated before they stepped into the ring. He just had that look like a man you don't want to mess with.
what? you have been here for like 2 seconds and dont even know anything about me or any of my biases. The debate isnt about stamina if that was the case none of these sports would be at the top. There is a difference in arobic stamina and an arobic stamina. No football player (EPL) can exert the force of an NFL Player in those short explosive bursts. NBA Players are similar to soccer players but at their size and even more explosive abilities put them above the worlds game.
I love United and the world game but this is a game played by average to small frame athletes. I am constantly amazed at what these guys can do and sometimes they emulate the highest of athletic ability but they dont compare to Elite Basketball Players.
this isnt american sports bias its the truth.
Well yes. I used to fear for his opponents. Once he lost his ability to swizzle(?) his upper-body he became a punch bag. But at his best, he was agile and had a brilliant 1-2 punch combo, uppercut and hook. Could knock anyone out with a single punch.
And neither basketball or gridiron or footballers can compare to athletes that compete in Iron Man competitions and decathlons.
i finally read that so i see what your talking about. there are other reports that have cleared him and thats why he still has the medals
evidence yes but this pales in comparison to what ben johnson or marion jones wouldnt you agree?
Im not a sprinter so i dont know what advantage those otc drugs would do for him
Could you enlighten me?
Typically biased American drivel. There are dozens of sports all over the world that have many great athletes. Without stamina you can't be a true athletes IMO, so many, if not all, NFL and Baseball players are out of the equation straight away.
Now if you want to talk about the athletic ability of NFL, MLB and NBA players maybe you should hop onto a site where people actually give a feck.
if your basis for judgement is based on stamina and determination you are absolutely correct.
they are amazing
If we're talking about athletes who have excelled in more than one sport, then Fred Perry. We all know how good he was at tennis, and he was also world singles champion at table tennis.
No, not at all. It was hushed up by the USOC. Brad posted an article on Lewis, I'll try to find it. He actually tries to defend steroid taking yet at the same time condemns people who have used it. The man's a fecking cnut.
Just make makes chuckle that you're trying to defend a drugs cheat, one who tested positive three times before 88.
I might also add that not many "athletes" could endure what Navy SEALs, USAF Combat Control and ParaRescue, SAS, and other elite special forces trainees go through.
You have the right to your opinion and i wont attack you for it but your second paragraph shows how nearsighted your vision is. Many on this forum and billions around the world follow the NBA. In fact it is clearly the second most watched team sport in the world.
Hey i watch all sports and marvel at what they can do. I gave my opinion on someone who should be considered because of his dominance in his game. This forum is like the Tele if you dont like what you see just turn it off.
which to my knowledge wasnt revealed until 15 years after. Look i never heard anything about it until now. No defense is possible if he knowingly cheated.
one wonders how clean the EPL is?
BTW, I was always in awe of Bo Jackson's ability on the field at baseball or football. If he had stuck to football only he'd have been the best RB ever, IMO. He had it all - speed, power, agility. He was a beast. He was a good baseball player as well but strictly a homerun or strikeout hitter. But he was a threat on the base paths and could track down any flyball in the outfield.
Bradman is statistically the best
I can't accept a system that ranks a golfer anywhere near the greatest athlete tag.