LOL
1/ Rugby pays shit is the reason Mundine chose boxing
Dan Carter is the #1 highest paid rugby player in the world: $2 MM pa. LOL
Peanuts compared to other team sports for big & tall men: NBA, NFL
Even a partner in a top law form gets AVERAGE: $3+ MM pa.
Career span is over 15-20 years.
He certainly doesn't need to be #1 best in the world at anything. LMAO
Would Mundine choose boxing if Rugby paid well? Hell No
Top NBA players can get $200 MM over 4 years!
Why the fook would they even consider boxing or MMA? LOL
Choosing boxing or MMA is an IQ test in itself, if you have otrher options
2/ The talk about "A athletes" is really confined to HWTs - not manlets under 220 lbs
Because there are only a few sports available to 220+ lbers, 6 ft 2+..
The highest paying sports for big & tall men are team sports (with NO WEIGHT CLASSES): NBA basketball, NFL...
(soccer favors small, fragile manlets under 5 ft 10, under 170 lb soaking wet so don't bring this soccer as having the "best athletes" shit up.
Kicking a ball doesn't translate into any other sport. Eye-hand coordination (a pre-requisite in nearly every OTHER sport) is not a requisite in soccer. LOL)
Because the theory goes, basically these 2 sports in the main are competing for talent away from boxing & MMA.
So, A athletes discussion is not really about sportsmen under 220 lb or so.
They've got plenty other lucrative sports to choose from.
3/ Mundine's "achievement" has already been surpassed by community college basketball players in HWT boxing
Any weight other than HWT is really a compromise for
manlet weight & size.
After all, a HWT boxer can't be a "champion in 5 weight classes" if he's a legit 250 lb - without losing a leg. LOL
None of this arbitrary weight classes or P4P shit ie prizes for everyone who competes. LOL
Without weight classes, Mundine would be flattened by any HWT
This has already been done on a much bigger stage (HWT boxing) by reject NBA basketball players
Basketball players have had the most success in transitioning to combat sports:
Fight sports requires excellent eye-hand coordination.
Basketball also requires excellent eye-hand coordination. Doh
(eye-hand coordination, stamina etc is not a pre-requisite for NFL lineman so on average lineman won't do as well as basketball players)
Many basketball players (6 ft 8 & under, not the lanklets) have an excellent combination of: height, size, reach, athleticism, stamina, coordination, agility, skills AND most importantly, eye-hand coordination
This is the main reason why ex-basketball players (even college players who didn't reach NBA) have made the best transition to combat sports, from non-combat sports eg
(ie HWT, no weight class compromise or P4p shit)
- Deontay Wilder (boxer): WBC World champion hwt. Late starter. College basketball player
- Michael Grant (boxer) - former world #3 hwt, started boxing age 20. Challenged Lennox Lewis for world title
College basketball player
- Travis Browne (MMA): former top 5. Community college basketball player
Rugby League Player Anthony Mundine
5 or so world titles, unlike NFL players these guys play a sport that promotes fatigue so cardio has to be on point.