Jimmy Ellis's weight jump - the first concrete sign of steroid use in boxing?

Well in those days steroid use would be a lot easier to spot, i.e. backne, hair loss, shriveled up genitals and so on and so forth.

Was any of this evidence present in any of his fight films?

It could be he first started lifting weights at that time. Anyone familiar with lifting knows that your first year and a half or so you're body is still adjusting to the stress and much more receptive to growth than it becomes over time. We call that newbie gains, and it definitely slows down after a couple years, but those first two years you can easily add 10 lbs of muscle a year, given the appearance of rapid mass and muscle growth...

Of course, he could certainly still be a steroid cheat, although I see no reason for digging up a dead guy and besmirching his for the sake of some cheap laughs on some internet forum

 

Not really what the phrase is generally used for but at 160 lbs or so, I view Ellis as being a glass half empty in terms of weight with potential for greater size via natural means..and possibly via omission = not training right down and perhaps inhibiting his more natural size.

So, so he could still easily be in fighting trim with some natural weight gain and some weight work in all possibility.

The notable thing for me is that he could keep his weight that low for so long, up to age 25.

Not saying any of this correct but just how I see it.

Otherwise, at 190 lbs or so, on appearances Ellis did not look like a user at all - his frame accommodated it easily.

If he was using, it only served to help his ‘fro make HUGE gains.

 

I wouldnt put it past Ali, although I'd need to see some evidence.
He gets a total pass for taking diuretics for the Holmes fight. We ostracize modern fighters for using such

 

If Ali took any steroids, they must have been pretty bad - he never showed any increased muscle tone, strength, endurance or decreased body fat. I don't think he'd be averse to taking them - his willingness to use the Thyrolar that almost killed him in the ring with Holmes on the advice of a doctor best described as a quack, and not only take it but exceed the recommended dose, suggest he was up for anything he thought would help. He was a genius in the ring, but outside the ring he was susceptible to anyone pitching almost any idea. He thought the Thyrolar was like a vitamin, probably would have approached steroids as the same thing. But I don't think they played a role in his career - utterly no evidence from anyone in his life, friend or enemy.

 

This is a great question and I've been trying to look at some comparisons. The best i can come up with are Tami Mauriello and Michael Moorer. Mauriello turned pro in '39 as a 16 year old welterweight. Within 2 years he was fighting for the light heavyweight title and by the end of that year ('41) he was fighting at heavyweight. Now of course back then if there was anything ingested chemically I don't know what they were testing for or if they tested fighters at all. But in the case of Tami, I would lean towards natural growth as he was so young as a pro and also because some childhood accident left him sort of lame in one leg (I often heard old timers refer to him with a 'clubfoot'). But whatever it was it was enough to prevent his entry into military service during the war and I also believe because of this that cardio such as running was not in his training regimen. Ergo, the weight gain.

Michael Moorer was a bit different. A modern fighter where PEDs were rampant and if one looks at his record, his last light heavyweight bout was in Dec. of '90 at 175 and 4 months later he is almost 40 pounds heavier. Hmmmmm!

In the case of Ellis, I also heard something to the effect of almost force-feeding him beer for the weight gain. I don't know about that but again, this is a great question.

 

Come of it mate ! There is absolutely no comparison between a 38 year-old Muhammad Ali , (already showing signs of Parkinson's disease), using diuretics to lose weight and vile cheats like Jarrell Miller.
To even mention Ali's desparate bid to lose weight ( which was probably for Ali's vanity ) as an indication that Ali had hitherto cheated is outrageous.

 

Yes it's always "not the same" when Ali did it. I won't even try and argue at this point. What's there is there

 

Re your last comment,yes I totally agree.

 

I'm certainly no unquestioning fan of Muhammad Ali.His treatment of Joe Frazier was totally
despicable.However Ali was a vain ,desparately ill man suffering from middle-age spread
when he fought Holmes.Hence his use of diuretics,almost certainly for cosmetic reasons to
cater for his vanity.
To suggest this pointed to Ali as being a likely user of steroids is absurd.

 

Don't see it at all.