Which sport has the best all-around athletes?
That question has been asked, debated, and fought over by sports fans for decades. Yet despite the attention this subject has received, no concrete consensus has been reached.
This athleticism debate is most intense inside the United States borders. Sports fans around the globe usually give their football the top spot in this discussion.
I can't argue.
From what I know and have read, I can easily narrow the discussion down to two sports; boxing and soccer.
Boxing
American sports fans are usually quick to name boxing as the most physically demanding sport in the world. There is usually months between matches for professional boxers like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, or Manny Pacquiao. During this period there is intense training tuned specifically to the boxer's next opponent.
Boxing at the highest level requires a plethora of physical and mental abilities. Not only must a boxer be in absolute top physical condition, they must also be extremely sharp mentally.
A boxer is required to have superb coordination, foot speed, strength, power, quickness, and endurance in order to have even the least bit of success.
When "boxing" comes to mind, the normal fan will not think of cardiac endurance as a critical element for boxers. In reality, anaerobic endurance, or the ability to conduct an activity without oxygen, is used many times in the ring when throwing combinations at your opponent.
Training for this sport of quick, powerful thrusts usually involves intense interval running.
The one word I would use to define boxing would be "intense." Intense training is required months before the actual match, and intense bursts during the 12-round fight.
Soccer
There is no doubt that soccer players are in top physical shape. The average mid-fielder runs seven to nine miles in a single match. Training for this kind of aerobic activity is certainly strenuous.
Most people will dismiss soccer from this athleticism debate because they think that upper body use is slim to none.
This couldn't be farther from the truth.
I have no experience with this sport, but I do know that it is very common in soccer to head the ball, hold off a defender with your arms, and catch line-drive kicks as a goalie.
Besides endurance, many other things are required of soccer players. Feet coordination is needed when running, twisting, and wedging between defenders.
Strength and power are needed in the legs to kick the ball with enough velocity to score. Strength and power are needed in the upper body in order to hold off defenders.
Quickness and acceleration are also key aspects of a player's game.
Honorable mention: Professional dancing
If you thought of stage dancing as soon as you read the above title, you probably laughed out loud. I am not talking about stage dancing, but about professional dancers.
I do not consider dancing a sport, but do think all dancers are very athletic. They are required to have excellent coordination, strength, footwork, foot speed, quickness, endurance, and balance.
In addition to the physical abilities needed, there are plenty of mental requirements for dancers. Spacial awareness, timing, and vision are all needed.
As boxing fans say, boxers are the best athletes "pound for pound." They are not allowed to have any excess body fat, and must train harder than any athlete from any sport.
So much blood, sweat, and tears go into their training and hard work that professional boxers only have around two twelve-round matches a year.
Boxers are the best all-around athletes in the world, but there is plenty of athleticism in sports. After all, why else would we watch so consistently?
comments (22) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
A classic example of piece from one of the network's finest writers..Hockey..Baseball might deserve a mention.
from 3 months ago
Thanks for the flattery, Salaar! I agree with you about hockey, it does require athleticism. About baseball, however, I will have to respectively disagree. I think that baseball is one of the sports that requires the least athleticism. Just look up a picture of David Wells. :D
from 3 months ago
Basketball wasn't mentioned??? What are you smoking? You think that it requires more athleticism to play soccer, or punch people senselessly? OR TO DANCE??? You are no longer in my favorite writers!
from 3 months ago
I haven't boxed, played soccer, or danced. I bet you haven't either.
Basketball requires less endurance than soccer, but more coordination with both arms and legs. There are great athletes who play basketball.
I would rank college basketball ahead of professional basketball in the athleticism department. Thanks for the feedback, Brandon. (Hope I earn your respect again soon.)
from 3 months ago
Brandon..are you kidding me..undoubtedly one of the best writers in the BR Network...Just because Basket Ball wasn't mentioned all the respect disappears???
Andrew's claim on Basketball is justified,I feel..
3 months ago
Andrew I completely agree with Salaar. Just a really solid, great read.
3 months ago
much better than mine. nice one.
3 months ago
Good article, but I would have included Hockey...
3 months ago
I would add bicycle racing to your well written article Andrew, despite it's recent problems with performance enhancing drugs and blood doping.
The physical exertion a rider makes is akin to a boxing match, and in grand tours the effort must be repeated daily for up to three weeks.
from 3 months ago
Bicycle racing requires a lot of leg strength, upper body strength, and endurance, but doesn't require much of the fine-motor skills such as coordination, timing, or vision.
That same argument could be made of boxing as well, however. A lot of people view the sport of boxing as just throwing powerful punches in the air and hoping it connects with the opponents face.
Thanks so much for the comment, Stove!
3 months ago
Don't forget about MMA. The physical exertion required for a MMA match is extreme to say the least. The rounds are 5 minutes long and the punishment a body takes in one of these matches is remarkable. Many MMA stars are former boxers and wrestlers, who have had to learn multiple fighting styles and create a hybrid one for their specific strengths. The training and adaptation never seem to end with this sport.
3 months ago
It seems like you are putting the ability to run at the top of your athletic list. I have played several sports against guys who can run for way longer distances than I could and won. There are more aspects to being an athlete than how far you can run. This is a question that honestly can't be answered...unless you want to bring up decathletes. They have 10 events they are expected to excell at, and the athletic abilities of decathletes is great. When you look at sports over others it is apples to oranges. Some require more of one than another. You really can't compare it was a good discussion piece though.
from 3 months ago
Thanks for the feedback, Jason. I have running as a top ability when I listed soccer, but boxing doesn't require much running.
I agree with you, however. Decathletes are extremely athletic, and should be near the top of any list.
from 3 months ago
But running is an important part of the training as far as boxing goes, and the reference you made to the intense interval running just stuck at the end of reading. I believe that all professional athletes are in top shape, I did disregaurd baseball...until I saw that Prince Fielder hit an inside the park homerun today...That was a joke I had to point that out. All sports have great athletes, and I really don't see how anyone can pick...I respect your opinion and you have a right to think that I just gave mine I am not saying you are wrong, but maybe one aspect for you is stamina for another it could be agility or strength that is why I was saying no one can ever say for sure, but I did enjoy the article and look forward to reading more of your work.
from 3 months ago
I respect your opinion as well, and I thank you for sharing it!
from 3 months ago
It just really burns me when people respond all irrational to an opinion, I did it in the Lakers-Celtics series, but I am a fan and it is a rivalry and after it was over my enemy author and I made a truce til next basketball season. I was just trying to clarify that I didn't mean it like that.
3 months ago
I thought this whole open mic discussion was pretty useless from the start, because Ive always thought it was pretty clear that NFL players were the best athletes in all of sports. I think the best way to look at it is if athletes from all different sports trained to fight each other, who would win?
I think its pretty easy to say that would be the best football players.
from 3 months ago
I look at it this way:
Boxers could play football, but not all football players could box.
3 months ago
not the best way to look at it. considering the majority of the top boxers in the world are not heavyweights, how would that be possible?
Manny Pacquaio, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, and even Oscar De La Hoya are all way too small to play football. The best fighters are in the lower weight classes so thats not a good point.
My point is that if you were to measure the strength, speed, and sheer size of the best football players, I can't really think of another sport that compares. And my point about fighting is if you took all the top athletes from the NBA, MLB, NFL, MLS, and trained them to fight I think the NFL players would win the majority of the time because they are the biggest, strongest, fastest, athletes and that has to translate to some degree.
I think the structure of sports in america is based more on WHO chooses to play WHAT in terms of athletes.
from 3 months ago
You have some good points, Bryan. Thanks for the feedback.
2 months ago
nice work, these two are definitly the hardest sports. I'd have to give it to boxing though, just from experience. Out of all the sports I have ever played this was the most, as you explained perfectly, "intense". Soccor is a very close second.
about 1 month ago
You forget swimmers where every inch of muscle is used, balance (it's not easy to go stroke for stroke), power, speed, strength. Look at Michael Phelps.
write a new comment