The Andy Ruiz Dilemna, is it really possible to be fat and fit?

Remember Joe Hipp? He used to tell people that he trained hard, but the weight just wouldn't come off. Well, when he needed a good performance against Morrison, he got in really excellent (for him) shape.

Arreola looked pretty good for the Wilder fight.

I am not saying that a guy like Butterbean could ever be svelte. But we all know that when these guys want to, they can get into reasonable shape. They just don't want to eat grilled chicken with greens, and stay off the candy bars and booze.

I have seen the pictures of fat kid Ruiz, and he could get into shape. I hope he does.

 

1 you are wrong when you say he was in peak shape for parker. He didnt even recieve 1 round of mitt work from abel sanchez. 2 parker didnt outwork him.

 

Kownacki throws a lot of punches for a big fella

 

Yea but I think it’s very rare, there’s a really fat guy in my gym who trains hard and can do a lot of fast paced rounds, but he’s the only fat guy I’ve ever seen in a boxing gym that is so fat and so athletic

 

In some sports the extra weight can be an advantage, Sumo, strongman etc. Basically sports which strength is the dominant attribute required and there's no weight limit, yes you can indeed be fat and fit for that sport.

In boxing it's generally a disadvantage, less so at heavyweight though. Foreman is probably the best example of a fat heavy having success, but at his heaviest during his prime he was 229lbs so during most of his comeback he was really only 25-30lbs above his natural fit weight.

Compared to Ruiz Jr who let's be honest is naturally a small heavyweight, he's probably fighting at 50-70lbs above his natural weight, if not more.

Some fat heavies can seemingly fight at a decent pace, though usually when they are the ones setting the pace. When forced to fight their opponents pace they tend to struggle and even when they do have things their own way, the limited movement due to their weight can be problematic as we saw in the rematch between Joshua and Andy.

I think Ruiz could get away with carrying a little extra weight like most heavies due to the nature of heavyweight boxing but he's very far off from that, he probably needs to lose 50lbs if he's ever to get the most out of his talent.

 

There are different body types.

Some people just can never get skinny or chiselled and Ruiz falls into that category.

Tony Bellew, to a lesser extent, is the same.

Then you have some guys who just whisk an egg and end up with huge biceps

 

Ruiz is almost unthinkably fit by the standards of 'the man on the street', because he's a physically talented guy who's been playing a physically very demanding pro sport for a the past decade or so.

But compared to what he could be if he trained a little harder than he did now & ate a lot more sensibly, yeah, he's not as fit as he could be, it's obvious.

 

It's just "Can you be athletic while carrying a tire around your waist?"

Yeah, it's possible to manage, but it's hard, and you'll be faster and stronger -- and have greater endurance -- without it.

Not really much of a paradox or dilemma as far as I'm concerned.

 

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l think it depends on the sport. Guys like Warren Sapp, no muscular physique - He proved he was fit to be a menace to any QB for 4 quarters

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2Ton making Baer look a little amateurish at times.

"Toney at 237lbs is a fat tub of goo
Jim Lampley

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There are athletes that can perform well even when nowhere near peak condition. That doesn't mean they wouldn't be better if they trained harder.

Ruiz is well known for cutting corners in training so while it's remarkable that he's able to do what he does at that weight, I think it's pretty obvious that he isn't giving himself the best opportunities by frequently coming in so grossly overweight. It's probably too late for him to change now though.

 

Ruiz was very soft in the Parker fight at 255. He looked more rock solid at 267 against Joshua, because there was more muscle underneath the fat. At 283 he didn't do any training and just gobbled up everything in the kitchen fridge. He retained his speed and power at 260, but lost it at 280, and I think he lost his power in the mid 50s.

 

I agree with this. Where strength is king is also elite professional strongman. You are at an active disadvantage in that sport if you are not as big in body mass you can be, which increases strength. You need to balance it to the point where you are as big as you can be, without being so big that you suffer from lack of stamina or flexibility in certain events hurting your performance.

Andy Ruiz should be fighting at no more than 240lbs. He was 255lbs vs Parker but he still lacked the punch output to win the decision. You can see if he had let his hands go more he would have won, but perhaps he didnt because he knew he would gas.

The 268lbs and 283lbs he was vs AJ were both way too high. In the first fight it didnt matter because he clipped AJ early on and AJ was only in survival mode after that.

You cannot be the best you can be if you are carrying a significant amount of body fat in sports where cardio and flexibility is king. In boxing if you are very short at HW like Ruiz, there is an advantage to carrying some additional weight because it gives you additional power and strength. So long as it doesnt hurt your stamina and flexbility.

 

this.Ruiz is freakish. Yes I do think its possible to carry bodyfat and still be athletic and have cardio.