What is special about Bradley?

[marbleheadmaui]

How are Holyfield, Hopkins, Marciano, Lamotta, Frazier, or anyone else for that matter special?

Special fighters are the guys who have enough talent, and immense dedication and determination for the sport.

Bradley is special because he works as hard as anyone in the gym, and he makes as much with what he has as he can.

There is always somebody who faster, stronger, etc. That isn't why guys like Mayweather, Martinez, Pacquiao and Donaire are at the top. They are there because they can do everything else better than guys who are specifically better at one thing. I used to look for one quality that defines the greatness of a fighter, and there isn't one. It's a mixture of things coming together for a determined individual that makes a great fighter.

Holyfield is special because he is probably the finest cruiser ever to lace'm up. BHOP is special because he is succeeding a decade after 99.99999% of all great fighters have retired. Marciano was special because he cleaned out the heavyweight division in his time. Jake Lamotta was special because he was the first man to beat Robinson, was undisputed middle champ, was a legendary bodypuncher and had one of the sports supreme jaws. Joe Frazier was special because he beat Muhammad Ali in one of the sports most spectacular fights and because he showed such nerve getting up again and again against Foreman and because of the nerve he showed in Manila.

Bradley hasn't done or displayed any or those things.

I disagree on the bold. For 99.9999% of all fighters, even great ones there IS a single advantage they employ that makes them who they are, isn't there? That doesn't mean everything else stinks, in fact, for great fighters, usually everything else is at least decent enough not to be exploited, but there really is a single, essential element that drives things.

For men like Louis, Foreman, Langford, Arguello, Tito, Chavez, Saad Muhammad, Foster, Hearns, Duran, McLarnin, Qawi, Mike Spinks, Jimmy Wilde etc. it was punching power.

For men like Canzoneri, Locche, Jones, Britton, Conn, Ambers it was reflexes

For men like Dempsey, Chocolate, Meldrick, Floyd, Manny etc it is handspeed

For men like McGovern, Harada, Villa, Perez, Hagler, Basilio, Armstrong it is ferocity.

For men like Ali, LaBarba, Pep, Burley, Giardello and Whittaker it is magic feet.

For men like Loughran, Gibbons, Harold Johnson, Monzon, Jack Johnson, Ross, Tunney, JMM it is an uncommon understanding of what is actually happening in the ring.

For men like Marciano, Walker, Chacon, LaMotta, Jeffries, Holyfield it is an almost preternatural toughness.

Now are there men who truly have such a highly developed toolbox that they really can fight at the top of the sport as chameleons without losing effectiveness? Yup. Robinson, both Leonard's, Eder Jofre, Joe Gans, Ezzard Charles, Finito and already I am running out of names.