Can you name a heayweight Pre Steroid era that was

I think that even without steroids that requires good genetics.

Cleavland Williams was ripped at a shade under.

 

Primo was extremely muscular.

I made a thread about this months ago with pictures.

 

Ken Norton looked like a bodybuilder in most of his fights. Don't know if he ever weighed more than 220lbs though.

 

Ron Lyle?

 

Max Baer was up around 215 at times.

 

It is debatable to call both Lyle and Norton pre steroid era.

 

Guys, its a fascinating question to ponder. More to the point , when do we consider the 'steroid era' to have commenced????? With the developtment of pharmacueticals through the decades, its difficult to be suggestive of many well known names... Ernie Shavers, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, Cleveland Williams, George Chuvalo and so many other names, could be questioned... Please remember, steroids were developed to serve numerous perposes.. Growth, recovery, endurence, fat metabolising etc.... therefore its difficult to list all 'potential' users. Its a crime to point fingers without proof, yet, any fool could pin point those 'users' from the mid 70s to present.. I would like to consider Chuvalo`s personal toughness was purely natures gift, Nortons physique was thru hard work and Tysons explosive speed, strength and power was from.. umm.. err... oh well, I will leave that one alone. Was there a fantastic pre -70s 220 pounder??? When it comes to the crunch, there are very few who we could deem as athletic fighters holding that weight, so i suggest we only consider Jeffries and Willard before we cast aspersions.

 

Very good point ... we tend to only associate the lst 10 or 15 years but it has been going on for at least since the 1970's ... Terry Bradshaw said the Steelers had many players using juice ... the question is what type, to what degree, ect ... boxing may be different since most fighters lack the coaching staff and most in the game lack the polish ...

I would guess pre-Tyson most guys were clean but imagine what some famous figures would have been like if they were alive today and on them based on bodytype ..

Jeffries would have been a 240 pound piece of granite ....

Dempsey, built similiar but better than the cruiser Holyfield, would have been a solid 215 guy today easy with is 6' 1" plus height and his long limbs ...

Corbett as well ...

Joe Louis, with is huge legs and 6' 1" plus would easily have been 220, Max Baer 225 - 230 ...

Liston 225-230 ...more if he had legs ...

My point is that the drugs and the training have had a huge impact ...

 

He grant, if we consider the drug use in the olympics, we find it dates back to Munich, at the least... Hence, there are countless probable 'users' .. As we hold so many great fighters in the highest esteem, its damaging to our own pshycie to reconsider the values of former greats. Regardless, its tremendous to imagine the potential strengths former greats may have obtained through the use of such drugs... With the rawness, defensive flaws, inability to accept defeat and willingness to be hit, in order to return serve to the opponent, perhaps the game would have dissolved well before our time. With Jack Sharkeys fluent co-ordination, he may well have been a complete dynamo...... Gene Tunney, technically and methodically the greatsest heavyweight, pre- Joe Louis, may well have around been long enough to have faught a mid/late 1930`s Max Schmeling....... Its not difficult to sit back and ponder the hypotheticals... Thankfully history will not change, therefore, these men will be remembered for the positives they brought to the sport.

 

I'm not sure how much Charley Powell weighed, but he was ripped.

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Pre-Tyson?

Bull****.

There are obscure heavyweights who had access to steroids even in the 70's and abused them.

They weren't taboo OR hard to find at that time.

 

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And THIS is what a great physique can get you in boxing.

 

Anyway, Peter Maher, Choynski, Dick Tiger, and Sam Langford were ripped to ****.

 

Good post. Steriods were around in the 1950's. However, I do beleive some fighters have a best weight. Louis did not need extra power. At 220 pounds, Louis would lose some speed, stamina and quickness. I think Louis' best weight was in the low 200's.

A good example of extra weight hurting fighters is the 220 pound verison of Ali, and the 215 pound verison fo Frazier. Bigger & slower does not = better for them.