Alexander Karelin vs Craig Pittman

He was carrying that bloke like he was a child! Crazy stuff!

How big is Karelin?

 

Close to 300lbs. Guy was huge.

 

How tall?

 

6ft 4. Apparently he had a bf of around 7%. Debateable... I reckon he was on hormones.....

 

So a bit like Lesnar, as much as some of you would probably cringe at me saying, except better? Did he dominate due to his size coupled with good athleticism for a guy his size?

Would have been interesting to see him compete in MMA.

 

He was wayyyyyyyyyyyy better than Lesnar. :nono The guy has the best wrestling credentials ever. Iv never known anyone to win that many Gold medals as he did. He had a rare blend of size unsual strength and athleticism. i think Karelin was set apart because he trained like no other. That guy lived and breathed his sport.

 

Fair enough! I thought the Lesnar comment might be disliked by many.

I might have to have a look at this fella. Although wrestling isn't my thing. I prefer striking combat sports/arts.

 

I don't think Karelin had a point scored on him for like a 6 year period. That's just unheard of dominance at the world level. Sadly the loss to Rulon Gardner brought more attention to Karelin than any of his wins at least in the US. Granted Greco-Roman is not nearly as popular as freestyle wrestling. Although both these sports get some press during the Olympics.

As far as Lesnar he never would have made the US team there were at least 2 guys who were better in Freestyle wrestling. Stephen Neal who beat Lesnar in collegiate wrestling and Kerry McCoy who beat Neal out for Olympic team. The best American heavy weight was Bruce Baumgartner. He won 2 golds medals, one silver and a bronze in 4 Olympics.

 

Alexander Karelin 'The Ciberian Bear'

The Greatest Greco-Roman Wrestler

Height: 6' 3 1/2"
Reach: 87"

Alexander wasnt just strong like mule he was very flexible for such a huge man, with very slim body fat weighing around 300 lbs

Boxing Career:

Wrestled at Superheavyweight division up to 130 kg

Olympic Gold Medal Winner:
1988 Seoul
1992 Barcelona
1996 Atlanta

World Championship Gold medal Winner:
1989 Martigny
1990 Ostia
1991 Varna
1993 Stockholm
1994 Tampete
1995 Prague
1997 Wroclaw
1998 Gävle
1999 Athens

European Championship Gold medal Winner:
-12 Times Gold Medal winner :yikes

He was Phemomenal Sportsman!

He is one of the Greatest Sportsman ever lived...

 

i read before that he could clean and press over 200kg

 

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Jesus christ, that guy was big. I reckon he must have been close to the size of an xbox.

 

people say that he was on roids, in an interview he said that he trained practically everyday to be as good as he was

 

Clearly he had great genetics. He weighed 15 lbs when he was born. Seriously, I just looked it up. The man was a freak of nature.

 

Even if he was on hormones he still genetically blessed. No amount of hormones will make any diffrence to a person with poor genetics and a **** work ethic. Karelin was truly a VERY big man. Pittman im sure went around 240. Karelin just dwarfed him.

 

Im a former Wrestler myself and I heard it live from one of Karelin's victims saying that when Karelin grabbed to your wrist he pressed so hard that very soon your hands get totally numbed because streaming of your blood to your hands slowed dramatically down. And it was because he had those hugely long, strong hands and large fists what made it...
-The Wrestler who said this is former World class wrestler himself.

I can believe that myself. For Wrestlers hand and especially pressing power of your fingers is VERY important.


I have some vids of Karelin training. That big guy made multiple half somersault in the air and could stand with his shoulds leaning to his head and raise his WHOLE body to stand up just for his head with his neck muscles...
What I'm trying to tell is he was not just a big stiff mount of raw iron pumped muscle..