Rocky Marciano vs Lennox Lewis

There is an article from 76 that describes him running with weights in his hands and ankles for miles.

So not technically lifting weights in this instance but that is intense resistance training with weights that will grow muscles.

He was also a huge proponent of soloflex which also is technically not weight lifting but is bodybuilding with resistance.


Just saying, nobody in their late 20s just magically gains 20 pounds of muscle, Mandingo or not. Something changed.

 

He definitely trained weights.maybe low weight And high repetitionS

 

Size did not enhance his footwork. Manny Steward improved his footwork. So yes his footwork was better and it was not his size that made his footwork better. Improving his footwork and gaining weight were not connected although both happened around the sa m e time.

Now answer my question, why was it if the klits and Lennox got better with age as they put weight on, why didn't size advantage improve Jefferies, Louis and Liston in their comebacks?

you don't think weight was not used to better advantage by Lewis and the Klit brothers compared to Mitch Green and Carl Williams?

yes Baer and Carnera were exceptions the rule during an era where giants were usually at a disadvantage. Ultimately they lost to smaller men that outnumbered them within the ranks.

So big men look better when they get bigger which they inarguably have?

Big men have got bigger. This is both a fact and a deliberate trend. So yes I agree with this part.

Look better, well this is a matter of opinion. Are we talking about the whole division of Superheavyweight or just the greatest SHW champions?

Yes today they are harder to beat when they get bigger but there are conditions to this. The advantage has to work for rather than against them. And there is more in place than ever before to allow this. In this day and age size works for them. This did not used to be the case.

You have pointed out Lewis and Klit got better as they got bigger but this coincides with the overall growth of the rest of the division and the natural slowing of pace. It coincides with their experience beginning to tell against for the most part less experienced equally slow challengers. They became better at maintaining an advantage. They were clever to dictate pace so that they could maintain distance.

It appears today You can give away age if you can compensate with a size advantage. James Toney proved You can give away size if you have experience. Fury got the better of Wlad because he was not giving away size and he had enough 12 round experience so really he could match size and experience.

But getting back to previous eras old champions could not compete with the next generation like Foreman, Holmes and Vitali did.

In comebacks banking on size and experience Louis and Liston did not make the grade even though they worked through the ranks again like Foreman and Holmes did.

Clearly something changed.

 

In this day of the Large heavyweights Lewis has many advantages but Marciano would bring late power and enough power to chin break Lewis

 

Marciano was NOT a proponent of SOLOFLEX. SOLOFLEX was a resistance exercise bench that used rubber bands rather than weights. SOLOFLEX is a relatively recent invention (80's as a guesstimate).

Marciano practiced "dynamic tension" which was a regime developed by Charles Atlas. Dynamic tension involved using ones own body to produce resistance and also a series of calisthenics. As an example you would press down upon your wrist with one hand while performing a curling motion for bicep work. Etc.

 

Vital without roids having to train for 15 round fights would not weigh 250 pounds. Most all hwts today fighting in the 50s without roids having to train for 15 rounds would not look like they look today. The difference between fighting 12 vs 15 rounds can be significant. Not having performance enhancing substances means the fighter can't train as heavily and requires more time to recuperate in between workouts. Vitali, Wlad or most any of today's hwts would be much more "lanky" than today's versions.

 

Exactly.:good

 

This is true. Charles Atlas is an interesting character. He developed this system because he saw lions stretching out at the zoo, and thought that they were developing their muscles.

 

I admire your passion. I truly do. We both respect history but you have more faith in the future than I do. I wish I did.

Things have changed. I wish I could see something good come from the evolution of Superheavyweight boxing. But I don't think it is progress. I thought true historic fans would rather boxing was decided on the art of boxing itself rather than size advantge. But I still believe the future of heavyweight boxing is in good hands with those like yourself that embrace all that is modern about it more than I do.

 

Charles Atlas was a good guy. Somebody into bodybuilding told me that Everything he stood for still actually stands up. Apparently his system worked.

 

Did boxers really start training differently as championship fights moved from 12 rounds to 15?

 

I would go one step further and say a boxer like Johnson or anyone else going way past 15 rounds, would fight considerably different in terms of throwing combo's or anything else requiring a lot of energy, relative to those training for 12 rounds. It's almost not the same sport.

 

Sorry to join this conversation so late, but here is my two cents:
On Norton lifting weights. Of course he did. He played football in college and he was a Marine. Take a look at the roundness of his biceps, etc. On Marciano: Rocky was a freak in the positive sense of the word. He only weighed about 190 but was as strong as a man 215. It has to do with something called muscle recruitment. We all vary in the percentage of muscle fibers are neuro system can active to do a given task. Some men can only active 20% of their muscle fibers while other luckier ones can activate 80%. This explains why two men the same age, height, and weight, both in good shape can vary in strength so much. Rocky was genetic standout in that he could activate a very high percentage of his muscle fibers, thus his amazing strength for a man his size. If Rocky were around today, with weight training and legal supplements such as protein powder, he would weigh a very hard 208 or so. And he would be as strong as a man 230. This of course would not increase his reach, etc. but anyone Rock hits goes down. I honestly don't thank that there is any evidence that the bigger a man gets, the better he takes a punch. Chuvalo was 6' and Wlad is about 6'5" and George takes a much better punch. That is my two cents.

 

Thats a different topic (fighting tactics v. training camp preparation) and I still only partly agree. I don't buy that guys only lunged, fell in behind single punches, and grappled instead of throwing crisp combinations and double jabs, etc. just to conserve energy.