Would a Marciano born in the 80s or 90s have been trained as a HW?

Yes, there is that as well.

 

In the ring .. those were his weigh on weights .. no clue if he dried out or went up ... can't imagine him making 175 but who knows ?

 

You inspired me to look up his childhood situation and study it in more detail. After doing so, I realize I probably underestimated the size he may have reached if born in 1990 or so.

One example of what I learned about him:
https://www.notablebiographies.com/Lo-Ma/Marciano-Rocky.html

"His younger years
Rocky Marciano was born Rocco Francis Marchegiano on September 1, 1923, in Brockton, Massachusetts. His father, Pierino, worked at a shoe factory. His mother's name was Pasqualena. Rocky would spend much of his life making sure she would not live in the poverty he had known growing up. He worked many different jobs to help his family, including as a dishwasher, in a candy factory, as a gardener, and in a shoe factory."

I doubt if he enjoyed 1990's style nourishment as a youngster, school meals and such.

 

Nowadays heavyweights are nowhere near fighting trim, so if Marciano were to be developed in the last 10-15 years he would most likely fight at 200-210 like he did in the army where he was still knocking guys out. Caggiano his original trainer-manager in the Golden Gloves and later Goldman, who were old timers made Marciano get into full fighting trim, but trainers don't push fighters that hard anymore. If most old time heavyweights weren't in full fighting trim they would've easily been 15-20 pounds heavier.

 

Yes! And imagine if, born in 1990 or so, he became 2 to 4 inches taller than he was (born in 1923). He obviously grew up in poverty with no programs to help, such as school meals, etc. To say he grew up undernourished is probably an understatement.

 

If Marciano was born in 1993 it would really depend on who he was involved with, because one of 2 things would happen.
One, they would get him to cutting weight and look to gain an advantage with the rehydration.
Two, they would figure the money is in the heavyweights and try to bulk him up.
Neither of these would be in the best interest of the fighter but they would both be justified in the minds of the people making the decision for the same reason; his punching power.

 

The science just does not back you up.
Evidence is overwhelming, & it is beyond improbable that all those who have improved in so many sports after adding strength explosiveness & size from lifting systematically got better for other reasons-because this is the one common denominator.

Blood goes all over the body-it is not like it pools in the wrong places then it cannot be used!
However it is true that if you develop too much muscle, at least in areas where it is not needed, it can be useless or harmful.
Like the story about Lance Pharmstrong (sic): without being tall & of course very low body fat he was 180-cancer actually helped him because he lost 20 lbs. of muscle where he did not need it-the upper body.
Usually it would benefit athletes, but not in an extreme endurance sport where big muscles (up to a point) are needed for the lower body, & the extra bulk needs oxygenation-he went from merely World Class to the GOAT.

So this is an example of an "unbalance" like you refer to that is absolutely useful in this sport.
Likewise other sports may require disproportionate grip strength such as rock climbing...

There absolutely is time to do weight training.
What athlete needs to train nearly every waking hour?
And lifting properly does not need to take hours a day!

As for the proposed weight of Marciano I agree-& even 200 lbs. MIGHT be disadvantageous re: endurance & speed with his frame.
230 or 240?!? At his height & bone structure?
Even Tua, very similar in height with a much more robust bone structure, was not at his best north of around 226 (vs. Ike).

 

I can't imagine him going to CW today if he was the same weight as in the 50's. He'd be the only one I've seen under 190 lbs since the division got 200 as a limit.

 

Yes I have heard that about him.
But we need to know if he was seriously short of calories & macronutrients as a kid.
He may well have been-but some who are poor at least east well.

 

Yes, but that argument hasn't been made. If we're talking the lowest possible for Marciano the discussion would between MW and SMW.

LHW isn't defiintely not the lowest possible for Marciano (if being the size he was in the 50's), only the most logical.

 

Yeah blood goes all through the body but when you train a group of muscles more goes there. When you are boxing you are using the muscles you need and are growing more muscles and blood vessels and larger blood vessels where they need to be, so the muscles can get more blood and energy in the blood to build up.

If you are working with weights that even are specialized it won’t be as exact as actual boxing and boxing training. More blood will go where it does not need to be. Creating more blood vessels where they don’t need to be and the heart has to work harder to get blood to more areas. Plus there will be additional weight that would be better off in another area of the body more specific to boxing.

Also if your training is more specific you get better in that specific way. It’s because the body can feed the demand better.

weights are good I lift weights now for health reasons. I tried all different types of training and diets when I was younger. Weights are good for sports but it’s better to just train movement in the sport imo.

Like I said before and you agree with I would train Marciano up to about 200 pounds. With boxing training and road work just less road work and maybe increase his diet I think he did restrict calories somewhat, I can’t remember.

 

It depends how much & what muscles & areas are developed!
The general large muscle strength weights tend to most effectively developed are so valuable for many.
Now it can be overdone-even in an unlimited category, say a strong chest is valuable, but beyond a certain overall & particular place like pecs it will be redundant muscle, so any small benefit is outweighed by the aerobic.endurance & speed burdens & limitations.

Holyfield is a great example.
He was likely a little better pound for pound 205-208 lbs.
But in absolute terms against all comers-& at least against large-behemoth men who are naturally larger than him like Bowe...
It was worth it to sacrafice some agility & work rate to be able to hold his own physically, defensively & offensively...
Especially necessary against the naturally stronger & more muscular Tyson-when a good deal of grappling was allowed.

There is no question that whatever I & most all trainers recommend here is not mutually exclusive with the crucial boxing-specific training & manuevers!

 

I would imagine that there would be a number of unknowable factors, such as how well he would have coped with it.

The point should be made that the bigger light heavies were always in the high 180s in heavyweight fights, or catchweight fights.

 

Holyfield may have believed the weights helped him fight better, Which is very powerful. If someone believes in their training that is very key. But Holyfield s performance at just over 200 pounds was great even against prime Bowe.

Marciano I would not train with weights to get him to 200 pounds. Like I said before I would just limit his road work and increase his calories and that would likely be enough imo. Also recreation is important to have fun to keep from getting bored or stale other games or small hobbies.

Neck exercises for taking punches better weights are good for or body weight. So weights have a place in that aspect.