I had a debate with my friend about whether heavies from Ali`s era would have done well vs AJ due to his size and the fact that Povetkin`s hand speed was a little too much for him at times in their bout, he replied saying Ali would have been the same size as AJ if he was training now by eating supplements and stuff, I countered that Ali would slow down if he got near AJ`s weight and couldn`t get to that weight anyway because of his height, but my friend said Ali was 6'3 and it would be no problem and stuff! Anyway I decided to post a thread about this and someone replied that Ali`s legs were bigger than AJ`s. Were his legs bigger and what does that mean to the argument that AJ would be too big and powerful for Ali and his era? This content is protected
The truth is that Ali and fighters of his era trained for a fight, did nothing between fights, then trained again when they had a fight coming up. If Ali fought 4 times in a year, he probably trained 12-16 weeks in that year, maybe less if some of his opponents weren't considered a threat. The training probably consisted of sparring, hitting the bags, and a jog. Between fights the boxers gained weight and didn't train. Today, Joshua and others train full time. The fighters are bigger, stronger, and better conditioned today. Put Joshua in the ring with a guy like Zora Folley or Brian London and Joshua would look extremely fast and he wouldn't tire at all, Folley and London would be too weak and slow to tire him...If the perception is that fighters today fatigue quicker, it is because they are fighting bigger, stronger, better conditioned men. Stepping in the ring with Jarrell Miller at 6-4, 300, extremely strong, and able to throw a lot of punches and stepping in a ring with Folley is like two different sports.
So Joshua's better conditioned yet completely winded by the 5th rd losing all fundamentals? Joshua barely can get through a fast pased 12rd fight. But he's better conditioned than fighters that typically trained for 15rds? Esp Ali who in his prime retained all his technique and form and still was fresh in 15 rd fights? Fighters trained to fight back then, not posing for body building magazines. You say the opposition is bigger and better conditioned. But if the fighters and their opposition is bigger and better conditioned then fighters of the past,shouldn't they also be less fatigue if everything else is even? Theirs only so much size, so much power,so much speed a human body can achieve. And if your thing is great physical strength and size, your going to sacrifice flexibility, your going to sacrifice endurance,and its the reason these body builders disguised as boxers are so fatigued early in fights. Not because the opposition is bigger or stronger. Big heavy muscles are great for body building not for boxing. It's a lot more useful in the UFC than in boxing. It's been proven 100's of times since the 19th century and recorded boxing matches.
