Quote Originally Posted by greynotsoold View Post
But...Julio Cesar Chavez was a better 'athlete' than...I've seen him up close many times and he was very un-impressive. But he could fight like a tiger. Carl Williams could out run Mike Tyson, dunk on him, beat him at anything except fist-fighting.
Right, and Carl Williams couldn't lift weights with Arnold.

It's a complicated topic with many parts.

There are good all-around athletes, meaning they could pick up most sports and be very competitive without too much training. We all had the guys in high school that were on the baseball, basketball and football teams. For example, blanking on his name, but wasn't the quarterback of the 49ers also a baseball phenom, but decided to go the football route? Remember Bo Jackson? And wasn't there NFL safety, again blanking on his name, that had some boxing fights during the NFL lockout.

On the other hand, sometimes great athletes in one sport are only good at that sport. Their physical attributes combined with the skill set required to be successful in their chosen sport lend to success there, but that combination doesn't translate across the board.

Good all-round athlete doesn't equate to good boxer. Good boxer doesn't equate to good all-around athlete.

There are some innate, natural, if you will, physical attributes that should lead to success as an athlete across the board. For example, quick reflexes has to be a good trait for almost every sport. Speed, whether foot or hand, is helpful for success.