How'd greats who burned the candle at both ends 'n in the middle do so well?

Pure passion.

 

Genetics, youth, doing "just enough" in the gym as McGrain said.

Some fighters can just cope with that kind of lifestyle relatively long term, others fall apart because of it.Boxing being largely a skill and in-ring mentality sport you probably see more get away with it than something the track and field types for instance.

 

Eckhard Dagge did too. Albeit he shouldn´t be named alongside those men.

 

Nah, that was another German, Bubi Scholz. And he didn´t try, he shot her and regretted it the rest of his life. He liked to party too though. But was hard on his conditioning.

 

He blew it by abusing alcohol, pills and women. He was an alcoholic even before he won his world title. Shortened his career quite a bit.

 

I think some people have a strong enough mentality where they won't let these things take away from their performance.


When you think of Ali, you don't think of party animal. But this guy would take in front of an audience the night before his big bouts. Jack Johnson used to fight with no food in his stomach. Some people have such strong minds, that these things don't affect them the way they do to others.

 

Some guys just dont put on weight. They can go idle, drink beer, and not ever think about diet and they still dont put on the pounds.

 

Lew Jenkins could have been a lot better had he trained and lived right. I mean, he could have had longevity, and not lost to some of the men he did.

Willie Pep is something else. I dont know. JG says he never trained serious. And Pep has one of the greatest records, and had great longevity as a top fighter. And he looked amazing going about his business. The answer to "how?" remains a mystery. He was great, that's the best I can come with.

 

Too much alcohol is going to mean you can't train 100% and hit your personal records the next day (usually). I'd bet the better fighters didn't hit the drink too hard

 

Did you have the pleasure of seeing both men train John? I always thought a fighter of Peps skill level should have never lost to Saddler. Maybe drinking and indicipline out of the ring meant he physically couldnt match Saddler. Saddler looked 2 weight classes bigger and I'd bet he was the hard trainer, Pep seemed to look a little fleshy for me

Loche ofcourse is famous for drinking wine between rounds.

The more physical the fighter the faster they will erode, Ricky Hatton's career has derided fast. Coke may help a fighter somewhat, same with ciggies because it helps you make weight