Tommy Burns with modern sports medicine and steroids vs. Jack Johnson

Burns himself said he trained his arse off for Johnson , his daily workouts with Al Kaufmann drew praise from spectators.

Film of the fight shows him in top trim with none of that pudgy look he had in some fights.

Burns was acknowledged as a very good in-fighter but was made to look like a child against a man, trying close quarter work with Johnson.

Jack upper-cutted him at will.

 

Even at a mere 6 foot 1, 192, Johnson dwarfs Burns. It's a man tossing around a child. Such was the age that Johnson was already called the Galveston Giant.

 

You are describing predominatly bare knuckle era training. Boxing training really changed very little over the years since Jeffries......lots of roadwork, lots of sparring, heavy bag, speed bag, skipping rope, sit ups, pull ups,.....etc. Boxers of the past spent lots of time on the road....running, sprinting, rock climbing, leap frogging, shadow boxing while running. If you read Fleischers book...Training for Boxers....most everything remained unchanged for most of the last 100 years. Todays fighters do more weight training but fighters of the past did lots of grappling, lifting logs/rocks, chopping wood. Not the same but similar.

 

Or maybe nutrition's become a bit overrated.
Nutrition is certainly overrated in ordinary bodybuilding circles. And possibly in sports generally.

 

Cruiserweight Evander Holyfield became an all-time great 5-time heavyweight champion. Doesn't happen without PEDs.

Tommy Morrison picked up the WBO heavyweight belt. Doesn't happen without PEDs.

In competition, James Toney became a heavyweight champion. Doesn't happen without PEDs.

Manny Pacquiao became a world icon as a ferocious, late-blooming boxing machine. An old, larger, newly-invigorated Juan Manuel Márquez destroys him. Doesn't happen without PEDs.

Just a few examples of the benefits of PEDs.

They make a hell of a difference. And it is cheating.

 

We arent talking about modern Heavyweight boxing are we?


I think that the old training was head and shoulders above modern training though i admit it could do with some minor improvements.

 

Burns was but 168 pound for the match, and some say ill. Let's ignore Burns low weight and health for the moment.


If Johnson took off the cuffs Burns goes in 6 rds you say?!! Um no. Check the films Johnson hits Burns on a break with a hard shot and floors him in round one! Later in the fight, Johnson unloads on Burns. He was trying to win, and was sometimes dirty while doing it. Good grief, Do you actually watch the fight, or just quote badly researched doc's and books?

 

Burns stated he was in top condition for Johnson,there is zero evidence that he was ill in any way shape or form. Burns scaled only 2 lbs lighter than he did for another title defence.

The reason he was lighter than ususal was because he was fitter than usual.

Burns gave public workouts up to 3 days before the fight, his form was described as excellent.

I've seen him sparring with Kaufman the week of the fight.

Johnson had no trouble with Burns at all, he could have taken him out inside 6 rds had he so wished, ringside reports corroborate this.

I watched the fight, I bought it from the US in 1968 before you were hatched !

I've forgotten more about the Boxing Day Massacre At Rushcutters Bay than you will ever learn, and that is simply because your fixated, insane, hatred of Johnson makes you irrational and biased to the point of lunacy. You need treatment.

 

Johnson fighting someone he has a huge size advantage over. What a shock. :rofl

 

If that person happens to be holding the title at the time what else should he do? The average weight of Johnsons title challengers was in the 200lbs range and it was the heaviest average up to that time , and for some time after. As a challenger for the title Johnson was often the smaller man as against Griiffn, Klondike, McVey.

 

Yes, but the bigger the opponent, generally the shittier they were.

Also, when we count Johnson's greatest victories (in a fistic not symbolic sense) he himself was 192 and under.

 

Damn, cross-trainer is back here ! That´s cool.
Good read this thread, btw.