Is Andy Ruiz's body fat % a disadvantage?

Ruiz' hand speed helps to make up for his lack of being in good shape. I do think he would be well served if he could combine his quick hands with somewhat better foot speed and a higher endurance level toward the end of a fight. I voted for a moderate disadvantage.

 

I guess it might help him with incoming body punches, but I believe it hurts him in many other ways (leg speed, stamina, even balance). I voted for the moderate disadvantage, the same as Fogger did above..

 

I went with moderate disadvantage because he’s obviously shown that he can fight successfully despite all that extra weight. Could he perform better if he was more ideally conditioned ? Possibly.

 

Yes, I think that any fighter in history, would have performed optimally with a low body fat %.

Having said that, it is much easier to get fit, than it is to get thin.

 

I guess moderate? Minor? Somewhere in between? I cannot imagine carrying all that extra weight is helping his foot speed or cardio. Yet, despite carrying the extra weight, he's a really solid B-level fighter, so it cannot be harming him a large amount.

 

Massive, career-defining advantage.

Morbid obesity was a huge contributing factor for why Ruiz destroyed AJ. Being an undefeated world champion and the posterboy of physical fitness, you are expected by everyone to steamroll a little fat man like Ruiz. AJ would have simultaneously underestimated him ("he's a slob, not even coming in shape") and subconsciously been TERRIFIED of losing, as he rightly would have understood that being KO'd by such a blob would be the most humiliating defeat of all time. Psychologically this must have wrecked havoc for AJ, both preventing him from really getting up for the fight and increasing the pressure tenfold.

Ruiz knows that cruiserweights and LHW's are too fast for him, even though he could make those weights in theory. Kevin Johnson (another slow-footed fat HW) said that he realised early on he needed to get out of the 200 lbs division as they were "fast and hit hard", whereas HW's usually just hit hard". Thus Ruiz has a better chance against more stationary fighters who like to brawl, aka heavyweights. Ruiz's fat doesn't fatigue him as much as the equivalent in muscle would, gives him greater punch resistance than muscle would, increases his strength in the clinches and the power on his punches. These physical advantages combined with the psychological factors enabled him to beat AJ: an only moderately fat 210 lbs Ruiz would have had a far smaller chance of victory and he was never physically blessed enough to be anything more than a one-hit wonder.

 

You can't change your body type.

Ruiz has what god gifted him

Just like Butter bean

The era of ripped heavyweights is over.

Ruiz would look ill if he dropped his bodyfat, it's a genetic disposition, it's not even a hormonal thing which tends to be the case for lots of people.

The biggest disadvantage to high body fat is ability to regulate bodyheat which plays a big role in HW boxing, but even the lean big men will gas out and feel like death in the heat, the fatter men can hold more water weight also. So it all balances out.

 

He’s always going to carry a lot adipose tissue, that’s just his genetics. 245-255lbs would be a good weight for him. Enough bulk that he can be physical with these big HWs but lean enough that he has speed and stamina for late rounds.

 

His trainer said he fights better a little bit fat

Probably the Joshua 1 fight was about ideal

 

Your delusional if you think sheer body fat helps anyone do anything other than weigh more and possibly keep afloat

 

No offense but your argument fails before it gets started when you compare Ruiz to Butterbean. Butterbean didn't take fitness seriously and he was a carnival show at best. Ruiz own trainers say he eats like a pig and his ceiling is incredibly limited due to his unprofessional habits. To say he wouldn't be a better fighter if he was in better shape can only be true if you are assuming he's the best he can be right now

 

Yes it is a disadvantage.
Even if he fights well enough with the extra weight, his body would perform better if he was not carrying the extra weight.
Provided he loses the weight in a healthy way, or better yet never gained it in the first place.

 

Having excess body fat is never an advantage in a highly aerobic sport such as boxing. Ruiz is likely carrying at least 40 pounds of useless blubber. He has had success as a boxer in spite, not because of this.

 

The effect of size on punch resistance is so strange. Just weighing more seems to even help chin.

I wish I could do more than like this post. I feel sorry for all the humans that have never read what I just read.