In a broad, athletic sense, Ken Norton who started relatively late in boxing was somewhat of a genetic freak. He could’ve jumped into a number of other sports as a pro and still would’ve likely been outstanding at whatever he chose.
Yep, I always thought looking back that Norton looked like he was carved out of granite. Wasnt Jim Jeffries a boiler make or some such physical worker, hence his general core strength from lugging stuff about?
Jimmy Wilde. How on earth did he KO nearly 100 opponents, with arms like matchsticks, plus legend has it he could and would, knock down full blown BW, and FWs in sparring. stay safe guys.
Foreman, the largest 225 pounder I ever saw , freakish strength ... I feel if he fought today with the methods, the suppliments, the equipment he'd be a present day Francis Ngannou ... he was an adonis ...
He was so good, they named a college athletics rule after him! In one track and field meet, he was entered in eight events and won seven; astounding https://www.sj-r.com/story/sports/2013/09/19/jacksonville-native-ken-norton-stood/42456169007/
Nice article. Thanks Steve. Interesting that Norton did and was able to keep his true YOB being 1943 (vs 1945) under wraps during his career. Also, I can’t help but contrast Ken with Ali in so far as Ali himself being a literal boxing savant - Ali starting at just age 12 and doing nothing else but boxing. Henry Cooper commented on Ali’s singular involvement in boxing - Cooper adding that even he (Henry) indulged in some other sports - one being golf which Cooper was apparently very good at, achieving a very low handicap. If Ali had even thought about it, I’d think it would’ve ****ed him off to think that a multi applied athlete like Ken picked boxing out of several pro options and went on to give Ali, a true savant in the sport of boxing, absolute hell over 3 fights. If Ali was empowered to do so, he might’ve created another Rule - forbidding Ken to participate in the sport of boxing, period.
Yes, he did work as a boilermaker which became his nickname. Labouring jobs such as that would’ve contributed to developing his strength though Jeffries was somewhat genetically blessed from the get go - very big for his day with a very good physique that was uncommon for the times. This article covers his early life including his physical endeavours - according to Jeff himself. https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw3586.htm
Tyson: at 55, he could still get down to the weight he fought at during his prime with almost the same muscular clarity of his 20s after coming down from 290 pounds of fat. Amazing.
Excellent shout Mike. We don't have to rely on legend and/or sparing stories either, the 105lbs Wilde dropped the 125lbs FW contender Joe Conn, who had won 18 of his previous 19 fights, 13 times on the way to stopping him. In modern terms, that's a Minimumweight vs a FW, I.e. 6 x weight divisions apart. Quite rightly, a fight with such a weight difference would never be sanctioned today. Wilde vs Conn is one of the most astounding performances in boxing history.
I have never seen fast twitch muscle that fast and he didn't telegraph, his herky jerky movement just enhanced his speed and power