[TimmyC]

As we all know, speed is a crucial aspect of boxing.

I was looking up the fastest times in the 100 meter dash and started to realize that African Americans(AA) dominate all speed sports/positions. The 10 fastest men ever (100 meter dash) were/are black. In fact, NO caucasian Male has ever broken the 100 meter in 10 seconds. The closest was a Scotsman, Allan Wells, who did it in 10.25 seconds. The world Record is like 9.96 by Justin Catlin.

In 1994 the top 20 fastest men on earth were black. In the Nfl all speed positions (reciever, running and corner backs) are black(except one). The NBA has been dominated by AA(although that is changing now w/ the influx of European Basketball players), Boxing has been dominated too(although that is changing too) by AA.

My point is this: If the AA male is the fastest running, HE must be fastest w/ his hands AND reflexes. This is just logical deductive reasoning. My point is that, in boxing, all other races are at a SLIGHT disadvantage, in some cases(not every AA male is faster..but on avg, they are). It is a good thing SPEED is one a PART of boxing and that boxing also involves: power, chin, endurance, heart, skill, etc.

The Gap of other athletes seem to be closing in on the AA male..except in sprints and NFL football(speed positions). If we were to get 100 random caucasian men age 21 and 100 random AA men age 21 and had them race, the AA men would surely have the slightly greater AVG time. Faster legs mean faster hands.

Peace. Think b/f you reply. Mods, we should be able to discuss facts about this intelligently and like adults or we here at the boxing forum are no better than the guys over at MMA.

Here is one of many articles: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459790&pageNo=1

[King Kabuki]

Believe it or not there is a biological explanation for this:

Genetics...Pee Wee:

The ACTN3 paragraph pertains to what you're talking about. That's the funny thing about Sports. People always want to say "but we need to have a level playing field." There's no such thing.

[TimmyC]

If you look at the article posted above. The authors have both their P.hD and Master's Degree, and, researched this topic thoroughly! They researched and used 39 other Authors, Doctors, Anthropologists, Bone doctors, etc.

The above 39 references(authors, physicians) were published and were printed in Medical journals and magazines like 'TIME magazine', 'American Journal of Physical Anthropology', etc.

To Dummy up the summary: African or African American men seem to have: slightly more faster twitch muscles, narrower hips, longer arms and legs, shorter torsos, slightly more testosterone, higher bone density, etc. These factors, along w/ the shape of their bodies, gives them a slight advantage in sprints and speed. Key word "slight"

OJ said it best..."We are built a little differently, built for speed?skinny calves, long legs, high asses are all characteristics of blacks. That's why blacks wear long socks. We have skinny calves, and short socks won't stay up. I'll argue with any doctor that physically we're geared to speed, and most sports have something to do with speed."

Not all men were created equal; we all have our own unique qualities and advantages and disadvantages in life. Let's not squabble over the hand God has delt us. Let's fight on! Every race and creed has 'slight' differences among them, no biggie!

[TimmyC]

Wow, King another great read, filled w/ interesting facts.

It is funny how some white guys will get upset about this. They really shouldn't. Like I said, we all have our advantages and disadvantages...we just have to work hard and give our best effort. Caucasians are greatly closing the gap in boxing and basketball. I doubt they ever will in the 100 yard dash.

Asians seem to be a highest disadvantage in the speed(sprinting) category. They may have other physical advantages over AA and whites though. Oh well, what can you do? Never give up, you know.

[lukeviacoolhand]

Originally Posted by TimmyC

Wow, King another great read, filled w/ interesting facts.

It is funny how some white guys will get upset about this. They really shouldn't. Like I said, we all have our advantages and disadvantages...we just have to work hard and give our best effort. Caucasians are greatly closing the gap in boxing and basketball. I doubt they ever will in the 100 yard dash.

Asians seem to be a highest disadvantage in the speed(sprinting) category. They may have other physical advantages over AA and whites though. Oh well, what can you do? Never give up, you know.

I can run like the wind.

[Diomedes]

Interesting stuff.

I've always wondered if any research like this has been done on genetic pre-disposition to strength sports (strength sports, not body building). Olympic lifting, power lifting, strongman, etc. I'll admit I'm completely clueless on the subject of genetics but reading the studies here has me interested, so go easy, but casual observation would seem to imply that less competitors with african genetics are successful in these sports.

True, the old argument of "they're all in the NFL" could be made, but most strength sports have competitions on an international level. Its not isolated to the USA. Powerlifting you see the Russians, Ukranians, Swedes usually doing well. You see the upper echelons of strongman being dominated by northern and eastern european competitors, and notable olympic lifters come from a great variety of places. Rezazadeh from Iran comes to mind, Dimas from Greece, Turkey usually has a good team, and China has been successful lately. A sort of north-eastern euro/slavic/Persian/Turkic congolmerate seems to always monopolize the top ends of these sports

Basically the question would be does the advantage in speed come at a price, ie. the limitation of maximum high end strength potential? Or is it just that they're all in the US, in the NFL?

[Diomedes]

Another slightly random question that I'm curious about is the comparison of African-Americans and Africans from Africa. Do they share the traits laid out in the studies above or is there a difference between the two groups?

[TimmyC]

I think Europeans have a 'slight' genetic advantage in strength. More slower twitch muscles I believe. So, yes maybe AA sprinting speed comes w/ a price.

As far as I know, all of the different countries in Africa have different peoples w/ different average: height, weights, skin color, strengths, etc. They have many different customs and religions and ways, just like the many various European countries. Each are unique and different, yet in many ways, similiar, like Europe.

A whole other can of worms is...in a nutshell(but much more complex than this) the African American Blacks. Many of them were unfortunately brought here against their will. Many slave traders brought the biggest and strongest slaves from Africa which they enslaved...also many of the weaker slaves died on the slave boats(horrible conditions(read up on slave boats..heinous)). I would think many US African American are slightly bigger stronger faster than many Africans from Africa.

Btw Many countries enslaved their their own people. Whites enslaved whites, Arabs - Jews, Jews Arabs, Germans - Poles, Europeans - Amer Indians, Indians even enslaved other Indians, Ottomans(arabs/africans) - Europeans, Moors(turks,Africans) enslaved European, etc. Every race was enslaved at some point and sometimes by their OWN people.

[GlassJaw]

No seriously, I'm posting this again.


awesome read.

[ChickenLegs]

The actual World Record time for the 100m sprint is 9.74, which is just insane considering no caucasian male has even broken beyond the 10s territory. A difference of almost .30 may not seem that wide a margin, but at the most elite level, it's a staggering figure.