The Andy Ruiz Dilemna, is it really possible to be fat and fit?

not sure there are many cricket fans on here, but the west indies squad for the series against england includes Rahkeem Cornwall, whose build is highly atypical for a pro cricketer.

This content is protected

 

I think it could be more complicated than that.

What you say of course makes perfect sense assuming he doesn’t loose anything else trying to strip down that tire.

I believe some guys‘ fat set-points are just naturally high and that’s where the rest of their machinery runs optimally.

 

Ruiz is clearly overweight though. He's not just some fleshy guy like Holmes or Frazier who's still able to fight his heart out; the weight is a hindrance to him which he's skilled and athletic enough to work against and still compete at world level.

An in shape Ruiz would probably resemble someone like Oscar Bonavena in body type. Not ripped to shreds, but not a jiggling blob either.

 

I think once you've fought at a certain weight for a number of years you become 'settled' at that weight. You know instinctively how your body moves, where your centre of gravity is, how much energy to expend to move yourself around, the inertia you have to work against etc. Dropping a ton of weight can throw you off as much as suddenly gaining it because your body has to learn all those motor patterns again for a different body composition.

For Ruiz I think he probably shouldn't drop any lower than about 240 (if he's serious) simply because it'd necessitate altering his style and possibly making him less effective, and at this stage in his career any serious change would potentially be detrimental to his continued success at world level.

Dunno, maybe I'm talking out my arse with this, but it seems like this theory has some legs to me.

 

Yes, I think the theory holds water.

Also, how good would his chin be at lets say 220?

 

Hard to say. Some fighters seem to lose their punch resistance when they drop the weight, others don't seem to suffer any ill effects. I think it depends on whether your punch resistance at a higher weight is related to whether you rely on the 'cushioning' of a solid neck/upper body to absorb the blows, versus your physical ability to take a shot, if that makes sense.

For instance someone like Chuvalo or Cobb could just take endless punishment whatever their weight because their bone structure or the way their brain responds to shots (kind of throwing ideas out here) doesn't affect them as much as other fighters. On the other hand guys like Foreman or Briggs took better shots as they got thicker and heavier because the shots which might have shaken them up in the past didn't do so to the same extent due to all the extra padding.

Ruiz looks like he might fall somewhere in between. Like he looks like he'd take a great shot regardless, but it also seems like his squat bulk and the way his head just sits inside his torso Shrek-style also cushions the blows. I reckon he'd still have a pretty solid jaw, but he might find himself getting shaken up a bit more once he starts getting below around 240 and his neck starts to emerge from the general blubber of his body.

 

Ruis comes in heavier that he should be will be a tactic btw. Not so much the 2nd joshua fight where he let himself go. But they can get ruiz thin i bet....they just choose not to because it would be a disadvantage to him. Theres a reason most heavyweight guys today are overweight. The ones that are not are usually naturally big guys like wilder, joshua, klitchko. 6 foot 5 inchers.

But looking at it fury beat two of the so called aestetically pleasing guys and ruiz the other. You definetely can be fat and fit. Obviously if your morbidly obese you wont be. But ruiz coming in with a six pack and muscles would be detrimentally to him giving his reach and height etc.

The people in charge of him aren,t idiots and ruiz isnt just a lazy slob....otherwise you,d be ax well havinv someone from eastside training him. They,ll know his optimum fighting weighg by seeing him in training. And that will be what he usually fights at....although he went too far past his optimum in that 2nd joshua fight.

 

No, its not beneficial to be a fat slob. Thats why there has never been a great champ that was a fat pig like Andy.
You saw it for yourself in his last fight. He was noticably slower at 280+ than he was at 260. And the fat blob would be a noticably qucker fighter at 240. And even then he would still be fat but at least he would not be disgracing the sport.

 

Arreola is a good example of just not giving a ****.
After Vitali humilated him, he had a string of fights where he came in quite light. As he was never that muscular, it was still clear that he was still carrying some extra pounds. But that motivation lasted for only so long as he soon put the extra weight back on.

This content is protected

 

The real question is how do some of you think this is the best Heavyweight era when someone like Andy Ruiz is one of the top guys?

 

Arreola use to get lambasted on here for showing up overweight, Ruiz outdone him in that department, and was still more successful. Vitali would have become blob food, trying to fend off that obese specimen

 

Extra body fat serves no purpose other than to prevent you from reaching your full potential. Blows my mind how many people think some people "are just fat". I guarantee you if you took Ruiz ability to eat what he wants for a year he'd lose 50 pounds easily

 

I’ve got a mate who was in the forces so spent a fair bit of time doing long distance runs and orienteering and stuff while he was in there. Not just through his basic training, he took part in marathons and stuff because he was a fitness fanatic. Since he left the forces around ten years ago he’s struggled with his depression and anxiety and is badly out of shape. He’s 5”10 and used to weight around 12 stone, lean but muscular. He’s now around 16 stone, just looks like an obese middle aged bloke. Every now and again he goes through a period where he decides he wants to get in shape....and he can just put on his trainers and do an eight mile run like it’s nothing. It amazes me tbh.

 

There isn't enough laugh emoticons for these iconic blubberish boxing photos