How has the training of elite boxers changed over time?

This.

 

I am willing to listen to this argument, but it all seems to be so much guesswork. NO one ever seems to put up the training patterns of modern fighters and what we have on older fighters is usually sketchy.

It is common to hear comments about advances in training and nutrition but you never hear about what they actually are, other than steroids.

When i see modern heavys (not including the klitchskos on this list because they have proven greats by staying in shape), it seems that every single fighter balloons in weight between fights, rarely fights and then has to work hard to lose excess weight. How can this be something which improves their training. It isnt uncommon for modern fighters to be be 50lbsd overweight. Often even when they come into the ring. I could be wrong, but my hunch is that easy access to a poor diet is the main reason for this.

I am interested though, what would a modern training camp look like for say Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Russian Chagaev, Derek Chisora or Alex Leapai. Actually, it would also be interesting to compare these training sessions to that of say Hopkins, GGG, Mayweather, Pac, Froch etc.

iF guessing now, i would say the biggest differences would be:
Portion of Foods - Old timers would not have ate as much.
Running - OLd timers did a lot more but probably did more distance training than interval sprints (although both were done)
Type of foods eaten - There is more uniformity nowadays. Some old diets were very good (i heard La motta was an example of a great one) but some were not so good and doing harm (example draining water). Nowadays we know what works and the disciplined fighters all improve from their diet. in the real old days, a good diet could have actually been an advantage over an opponent.

Weight lifting - Newer fighters spend more time on this. I also think they do more actual weights than pushups etc. Still, it is interesting that Seamus suggests a change in thinking and that tehy are returning to the old ways.

Regular fighting - No matter what you do, (even sparring) there is no substitute for learning through real fights. If you look at most old time records on boxrec, you will see that a fighter goes through stages where they lose to ordinary fighters for some time, before slowly improving, hitting their straps and then eventually declining. Jack Johnson for example in earlier fights lost to or struggled with the likes of Choynski, Hart, Griffin etc yet he went on to become arguably the greatest fighter ever. It wasnt that Griffin and Co were greats, it was because Johnson improved with experience. I firmly believe we have also seen this with Klitchsko. Purity, Sanders, and Brewster were nothing overly special and their wins were not flukes, but Wlad has improved because of regular fighting and training.

I think that these are the main differences. Unlike most other sports the actual professionalism and time spent training is the same now as it was 100 years ago. In other sports it is different, because 100 years ago they simply did not train as hard as today in their sports. In fact, it is quite likely that Jeffries and Corbett trained as hard or harder than the actual olympic gold medal winners in the 100m sprint or longer. Boxers would regularly enter and win swimming races or rowing races or other similar events.

 

All of this alternative sports medicine, so called advanced training methods, and the sports nutrition experts these guy's hire, along with the peds, is all a bunch of Malarkey, and BS, especially when a lot of guy's today are gassed out, by the 7th or 8th round , and a lot of them only fight once or twice a year:-(..

The guy's from the 70's on down didn't use any of that ****, and didn't hire any nutrition experts because they ate a balanced diet, did a lot of roadwork, sparring, skipping rope etc, why lift weight's your a fighter not a bodybuilder:nut..

Fighting is either in your DNA, or it isn't? steroids are just poison for your body, and peds who the f#ck needs that ****?? Carlos Monzon smoked and drank during training and still went 15 rounds no problem, Wilfred Benitez sometimes only trained a week for a big fight, Marciano trained on steak and eggs, and pasta and put in a lot of time in the gym, those guy's didn't use or need any of that ****...

Guy's today are wimps compared to the old timers they wanna use all of that ****, and STILL can't perform at the level of the guy's in the past who fought way more often, fought harder, and fought much longer fights, WITHOUT having to rely on modern chemistry..

 

Guys were doing planks in the 1940's. I've seen many variations of push-ups done by boxers going back to the same era, also plyometric push-ups (clap push-ups), one armed, diamond and forward posture.

None of this stuff is new.

The weight lifting thing is being awfully overstated here. Guys like Golovkin and Hopkins do none. Wlad does some pre camp and early camp and that's it. It's just not a major part of anyone's routine... at least anyone who has been really successful.

 

how did Sugar Ray Robinson train....or Archie Moore...or Joe Louis and all the the other ATG's for that matter? How were they able to accomplish what they did using outdated training methods? It doesn't make sense. How could Marciano throw punches non stop for 15 rounds without benefiting from a strength and conditioning coach as well as a nutritionist? How did Harry Greb fight 300 professional fights beating 18 former/future world champions without a carefully planned weight training program? How did fighters fight 20 rds or more without a Mackie Shilstone type of conditioning guru to get them in shape? Could it be that all of these ATG's just busted their behinds on the basics as well as gaining knowledge and experience from fighting more than once or twice a year against cherry picked opposition? it might sound ridiculous to some but it is food for thought don't you think?

 

:good

 

Source? I honestly have not found any of this in old school boxers routines like Dempsey, Marciano, Robinson, or Louis.

 

, EXACTLY the point i made in my post..

 

What you don't see today, or recent times, is emphasis on legs.

When was the last time you said to yourself that someone did some impressive jump rope work there. You know, a fight where you think the guy worked on his legs to win a fight.

Everything is geared to the shoulders up. Very little side to side at the hips even. About all you see is a guy bending at the knees early in a fight and then they stand up straighter as the fight goes on. But something like throwing nice good correct punches while moving their feet.

 

They've got lazier......

 

Nah, if anything it is the trainers that are resistant to change. And the older they are the more they resent it.

 

I heard Steve Bunce talk of a dietitian being invited to join a training camp and all of a sudden he's taking a champion on the pads.

Sometimes new ideas will make the difference. There are obvious benefits out there that were not there before. Perhaps it used to be harder to achieve certain levels than before with anything other than an already remarkable physical specimen. Work ethic is important and so is rest. Emphasis will increase on certain things for certain individuals or a programme will be tailored to suit the individual. Either way in most cases if something works it is kept. Nothing suits all people.

But being a technically good fighter should always be the first priority.

 

You are clueless.