Training regimes from around 1900 inside

I have found some gen on John L Sullivans preparations for the Killrain fight.

His sparring included not only boxing but also wrestling with William Muldoon.

Sullivan did two hours roadwork in the morning and two hours in the evening. He tossed the medcine ball, skipped rope for 20 minutes and did calisthenics with dumbells.

 

not true. by all accounts, he was stronger than either man, lifting 500 lb bales of hay over his head. and i suspect neither lewis nor vit could have performed in the havana heat as well as and for as long as willard.

 

And you believe he lifted 500lb bales over his head? Because no man in the world could lift a 500lb bale overhead. The world record for clean and jerk on a straight bar is 580lbs for a single rep. Now a bale is far harder to lift than a straight bar, so no one is history's clocked 500lbs on such a lift

Just another example of embelishment in training stories

 

Yeah, I would need one very, very credible source to believe that one.

 

I agree.

 

And Ali used to run in Army boots.

I agree with you. But at the same time, I think of the weightlifters belt - the guys who get hurt are the ones who wear the belt.

Maybe we have this perspective because we wouldn't dream of doing once what these guys claimed to have done every day?

 

Well said. Common sense. This is an important point for your essay IMO, Bokaj.

 

And one of the common threads also is massage. I couldn't run for years until I discovered the benefits of massage in breaking up scar tissue and keeping muscles free.

I love this thread!

 

I think the other thing that is forgotten often by people is the liberal clinching rule whichmeant that in the earlier years, fighters would have their endurance drained much more by the greater wrestling tactics. The cutting out of wrestling from modern fights means that fighters can now get away with less endurance training. This and the lesser rounds, bigger gloves etc is the main reason for an emphasis on weight lifting.

 

I think the running dustances are exgerated. I find it hard to beleve that someone could run 20 miles (6.2 short of a marathon) on a daily basis and still have time, strength and enegery to train for boxing. I think that the clamed distancets were part braging and partly to phyic out opoents and to make them over extend themselves in their training.

 

There are too many primary sources quoting these figures to be dismised.

Look at any newpaper report from the training camp of any world class fighter from this period.

They all say the same thing.

Ten miles of roadwork a day was prety normal for this period at least at some stage of the training cycle.

 

The first were skin tight leather gloves of 2 oz.

Bob Fitzsimmons used 4 oz horsehair gloves for most fights but somtimes used 8 oz gloves.

Jack Dempsey used 5 oz gloves.

Joe Louis used 6 oz gloves.

Rocky Marciano used 8 oz gloves as did Liston and Ali.

10 oz gloves came in later and are used today.

16 oz gloves have always been used for sparring.