Natural ability

Here's an excerpt from an interview with Froch in the Evening Standard yesterday where he talks of Bruno before moving on to talk about himself as a boxer:

"He (Bruno) was an engineered fighter. He is a good example of somebody who trained hard and was dedicated. Then you've got people like Naseem Hamed and myself who have natural ability."

Now, I like Froch, but I've never thought of him as a boxer blessed with natural ability.

Who's your best example of an 'engineered fighter'?
Who's your best example of a boxer blessed with natural ability?

And how would you classify Froch? (This question may work better as a poll...)

Froch is somewhere inbetween, not particularly gifted but not Bruno either.

The most engineered guy I can think of off the top of my head would be Wlad. Very effective but not a natural fighter at all, also I think Manny Steward said Hearns was like this as well, I don't see it myself but he might know better.

its an interesting thought, good work!

i'd agree with Wlad being engineered but let's face it, he is where he is because of nature - his size, build and genes. however, he's gone from a good fighter into a great fighter by working on his skills with his trainer.

froch seems naturally fit but he is the best example of getting the most out of his talent by pure hard graft. by all accounts he trains hard and keeps records of everything he does so he can improve time after time - plus he lives clean which has allowed him to carry on through his 30s.

id say calzaghe had natural skill - let's face his his dad could't teach him everything.

and there's punching power - some fighers make a career out of the fact they can get themselves out of difficult situations by landing one punch. that's a god given thing.

i guess it's in the genes, being naturally fit, naturally powerful and able to pick up things you are taught fast. the last one was something i always struggled with in sport - learning the drills etc. they just didnt sink in.

Calzaghe is a good one for natural talent, very little of what he did looked like it was from a boxing textbook. He was really blessed with a great chin, stamina, powers of recovery and fast hands, you just can't teach that stuff.

Roy Jones must be a prime example of natural talent... Emphasised all the more by his fall from grace and inability to adapt once those natural talents started to fade.

OasisBFC wrote:

and there's punching power - some fighers make a career out of the fact they can get themselves out of difficult situations by landing one punch. that's a god given thing.

Reminds me of a Cus D'Amato quote when he said:
“There is no such thing as a natural puncher. There is a natural aptitude for punching and that is different."

The likes of Ali, Robinson, Leonard etc surely had a natural talent. Let's not forget Peter Jackson while we're at it. Brits like Laing, Graham and Naz all had a natural ability.

Perhaps it's defined as "something that can't be taught. You either have it or you don't."

Froch may be a natural fighter (like Benn) but he's definitely not in the "naturally gifted" catagory

DAVE667 wrote:

Froch may be a natural fighter (like Benn) but he's definitely not in the "naturally gifted" catagory

I think we could also reverse that statement to say Audley may be "naturally gifted" but he's definitely not in the natural fighter category.

Depends how you define "fighter". Audley is constantly told he'll never make it (he's also regularly told to f*** off but that's another matter) however, he's still inthere plugging away. Surely that's the trait of a fighter...or someone too stupid to know when to call it quits...I forget!

If we're looking for the blindingly obvious examples, then I'd say the perfect definition of a great fighter who was truly 'engineered' would be Marciano.

Short, stocky, not particularly quick with either his hands or feet, lacking in balance and coordination and only 190 lb wet through as a Heavyweight - and yet, nobody ever beat him in the professional ranks. If genius is, indeed, one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then Marcino is a great testament to that.

Not sure about that Chris, it was his natural attributes that made him the fighter he was; strong, tough and powerful, if he lacked just one of the attributes he would have gone from great to relative nobody.

Ah Chris but then Marchigiano always had the "Suzy Q" .You can rely on a rudimentary skill-set when you have that up your sleeve.

He had natural attributes Ghosty, yes, but very little natural ability, which is what I'm getting at. Goldman had to mould him in every sense of the word.