Sports Science Alert (SSA) #020

Bringing you the latest news in sport, science, fitness and nutrition

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Fighters of the Century?

One of the biggest news in sport recently was the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

I'm not a great fan of boxing - I don't find it entertaining to watch a sport where the aim is to hurt the other participant, and for the boxers it usually doesn't end well. Good for them that they earn a lot of money, as it is not easily earned. When the Forbes highest paid athletes list comes out later this month, no doubt these boxers will feature highly. Last year Floyd Mayweather topped the list with earnings of over 100 million dollars. In this recent fight the boxers will be sharing a purse of nearly 300 million.

Although I don't enjoy the sport, I am in awe of their fitness and acknowledge the dedication and effort to get to that level. Boxing ranks first on a list of the most demanding sports. Of all boxers, Muhammad Ali proclaimed himself to be the greatest, and he convinced many people that he was. ESPN held a poll on which boxer was the best athlete, won by Ali, and another online poll declared Ali the greatest athlete of all time.

The fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao was called the "Fight of the Century" by some, though this term usually refers to the famous 1971 match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. This recent bout may not go down in history as the fight of the 21st century, but the fighters themselves may well be the "Fighters" of the Century. Athletic training has come a long way since Ali's time, and modern boxers are fitter than ever, personified by the very athletic contenders last week. One of the most important things is how hard they punch, and the Pacquiao punch is very powerful.

They may be some of the most well-known, fittest, skilful and well paid athletes in the world, but I'm still not likely to watch them.
 

Related Content on Topend Sports

• fitness testing for boxers
• 2014 highest paid athletes
• boxing quotes
• profile of Muhammad Ali

Poll: Who is the Greatest Boxer Ever?

Ali says he was the greatest, but do you agree? Cast your vote on who you think is the greatest boxer ever on our POLL HERE.

That's all for this week, thanks for your continued support of this newsletter and the topend sports website. If you have any feedback or suggestions for the content of future newsletters, please let me know.

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