throughout history we have had fighter who were hot and cold or flat Duran,Walcott,Baer,etc.and some fighters who defied the odds. We know the effects of bad habits but what about food and diet? How much is a boxers diet important and the effects of weight loss,gain,are their better foods for battle? I know there are some nutrition experts that post on ESB but curious of examples and opinions.
I can only assume that it is of the greatest importance! I dabble in the black art of ultra distance running, and if I don’t eat as I should, then I suffer very badly!
It makes a huge difference, and not just physically. Poor eating and nutrition can stunt brain growth, development, and performance. Physical ability is crucial in boxing, but this forum knows better than most that boxing's a thinking fighter's game. Fighters need their brain in prime condition to perform on the fly in a high-stress environment. That's also why I'm against massive weight drainers, but that's another post for another day.
Not to minimalise the relevance of your thread ,but what is infinitely more important is the size of what is hanging below your dick.
Proper nutrition is essential for every aspect of fitness, sports training, and well being. Boxing is not different, weather a fighter is looking to gain weight, lose pounds and or boost energy levels.
I know Duran had a poor diet and drank a lot of soda pop=sugar and empty calories, Duran had spells of lethargy where he was less than par throughout his career and he was a great fighter. Walcott and Braddock early on were undernourished and suffered because of it. James Toney was on the big Mac diet ....Marciano eat a tremendous amount but ran off the carbs
I think if you train hard enough you can get away with a far from perfect diet However your body is like an engine, put in bad fuel and it won't run as great or as long as you'd like it to After a hard work out or practice I'd get Burger King here or there and be fine. But I was in excellent shape already If I was out of shape training to get back into shape it would be harder to get away with a slackened diet A guy like Floyd can eat **** food because he's always in shape and isn't cutting weight so some indulging is ok. But if you ballon between fights and suck down and your eating bad food while working back into shape there is where it is a problem
For some, like Hopkins, it is an ingredient to their greatness. For others, like Duran, it was mostly neglected. Wether those times he relaxed helped Duran unwind and perform better or it actually hurt him and he could have been even better is hard to estimate. As a rule, I believe not taking care of your body is a detriment. It's a physical sport, and what you put in your body you take into the ring with you.
High level athletes have such a high requirement for calories when training that there's plenty of room for them to eat whatever they want. You can look up Michael Phelp's diet if on google if you're curious. There's some science to it, but eating a large amount of something like pizza is okay.
What about fighters from for example Cuba, parts of South America, The Phillipines, Thailand etc? Historically we've always had great fighters and even presently in the case of Cuba and parts of Africa where kids have come up on very basic diets. How do we explain them. Even if you look back at Britain, the States, any country from the past where kids have grown up on basic diets you've got to ask yourself were those basic diets better than what kids grow up on now. I don't pretend to be an expert on modern sports nutrition but is it going back to basics or what? I'm actually on a diet myself, the Paleo also known as the Caveman diet. Is that a modern diet or in reality the oldest diet known to man?
