The super cut guys tend to be big weight cutters. Obviously that doesn't apply at heavyweight but if you look lower guys who looked a little fleshy like Calzaghe often had better gas tanks than guys ripped in the same weight class.
i think this is exactly right. Guy with massive road work under the belt can go into a fight hopping around with a lot of nervous jabs way out of range, and they just wear themselves down. another example (beside Ruiz) that corroborates this point: a former MMA fighter named Wesley Correira (aka "Cabbage") a calm brawler who was remarkably efficient and also calm and composed even when throwing)
For optimal endurance low body fat and low muscle mass is ideal. In the HW division low muscle mass just isnt possible, so for stamina purposes its better to carry some fat instead of excessive muscle. I brought this up that people are confusing health and athleticism. They are not mutually exclusive. Ruiz is obese and unhealthy. That is a fact, period. No ways around that. Yet hes still a great athlete. Likewise there are some world class marathoners out there who are 5'9" and 120 pounds after a full carb meal. Obviously these guys are incredible athletes. But they're simply underweight and could gain about 20 pounds (mostly muscle mass) for better and optimal health. Shockingly to some people its possible to be unhealthy and athletically in shape at the same time.
Energy level in boxing is as much about staying relaxed and loose in the ring as it is about great conditioning. Fighters like Toney looked like they never did a lick of training at HW, but rarely got tired because they were so super composed. Compare that to guys who look like they whip themselves into wolfhound leanness but gas out through nervous energy and wasted movement. Of course, it's never a good idea to be morbidly obese, or carry gigantic rolls of flab around with you, but there's nothing wrong with coming into the ring a little smooth provided you've put in the physical work and are at ease in the ring. Fighters like Ali, Holmes, and now Fury bear that out.
Yeah agreed. One of my pet hates is when bodybuilders at my gym who only train to become muscular and lean describe themselves as being into “fitness” when none of them do any sort of cardiovascular exercise or training/dieting that is geared towards good health.
If you're cut to the bone then you're lacking body fat, which will affect your energy levels in the ring. If you're muscular and lean that's even worse, since the energy expenditure will be that much greater. The best physique for that combination of strength, speed, and stamina appears to be the lean but smooth-muscled build of fighters like Margarito and Pavlik. At HW the best built guy for actual combat is Fury when he bothers to get down to around 245-250. Plenty of functional strength (though he may not look too muscular), lots of speed and snap to his movements, and ability to perform at a high level for twelve rounds. Course, not everyone is built the same. AA guys like Wilder, Jennings and Cunningham are lean but muscular, and seem to have few stamina problems either, though Wilder's twitchy movements and over-reacting to feints can burn him out. For me Ruiz is far too fat, but makes up for it with natural calmness under fire and a style that doesn't require huge sustained outputs of energy. Joshua is the other side of the spectrum: way too muscular with too little body fat, and it clearly affects him in the ring.
I know I've heard bodybuilders at my gym brag about being in such great shape. Meanwhile their organs are having trouble processing all that excessive protein, red meat and calories. Had a big giant ripped bodybuilder tell me he doesnt eat veggies. Because they do nothing to help you hit your calories and macro goals. Ok......... good luck with that.
On that basis, Fury would toy with him surely? Unless he's significantly upped his game since then.....
I guess boxing needs a very specific kind of fitness - akin to a weightlifter having to jog round a 400m track before doing a bench press. And marathon runners are not asked to do 20 press ups every mile so their body type can be super specific to a single requirement... run. Boxers need the aerobic ability to move their chosen muscle mass around for up to 36 minutes and enough muscle mass to deliver a powerful explosive action - the punch. I tend to agree Joshua is out of balance between the two disparate requirements.
With AJ's distended steroid belly he was probably bigger around the middle than Ruiz. Ruiz seems to carry a lot of weight in his chest and shoulders.
