He was also said to have somehow done this prior to the second Norton fight. The commentators said his stomach seemed flatter than it was at the weigh in. He exerted his legs tremendously in the second Norton fight, and perhaps only the rematch with Spinks is comparable in leg work during his second career. I don't know what to think of what might have happened if he kept his appetite in check. It could be more important that he resorted to rope a doping and punishment absorption when he could have been better off trying to maintain the muscular endurance his legs required to consistently evade punishment and keep his fights away from the ropes. He trained properly for the Spinks rematch, and was able to do this, leading me to wonder if he should have done this all along. (Kinshasa had a soft ring surface tiring to the legs, so he adapted as he had to in the situation. Unfortunately, he kept returning to that debilitating well after his success in Africa.)
Whoa! This is an extraordinary claim, as it is pretty much well-known that Ali's training routine was old-school and weights were certainly not a part thereof. Kindly substantiate?
Good point ! Ali always used to say that weight training was the worst thing that a boxer could do in preparing for a fight.
Ali wrote about it in his auto-biography. He said the weight-lifting was the reason behind him not moving more. I no longer have a copy of the book, but for those who do it should be right near the end.
I'll certainly take your word for it. Seems this book may have some interesting tidbits. In hindsight, Ali does look weight-trained heavy. This approach was ultimately successful -as Ali hit harder and was able to absorb torrid punishment- but it placed him on a road to the gates of hell.
Yeah, it was no way he was going to dance for 15 rds at that point. Especially in the humid heat of Manilla. To build himself up for a brawl was probably the only way to succeed. No one thought Frazier had so much left, though.
interesting thought. ali seemed the kind to be able to let weight build up while fighting guys like al lewis then shed it for frazier 2. it certainly affected his performances but i just have the nagging feeling that past foreman, he had jumped the shark of his second career and was going downhill, slowly but surely
Horrible thought. It’s mid 1986. A 44 year old Ali calls out Tyson. Jim Jacobs decides to make the fight. A young ferocious 20 year old Tyson. Reckon Ali gets stopped?
I suspect he wouldn’t’ve taken the punishment he took in many of his fights, so by the time he was 34 for example he would’ve been fresh not having take much punishment and on top of that, will have been like 209lbs or somethings, so he could’ve even been still within his prime, not saying he’d’ve been at his very best, but would’ve been within his prime age range, rather than being diminished as he was at 34 in real life, punishment taken is a massive factor in your longevity, and your weight also is a factor in your performance, especially when your footwork is as great as Ali’s was. People may say ‘He wouldn’t’ve Been able to keep his weight down that much’, but there were many fighters who weighed the same at 34 compared to their 20s.
That could've been his natural weight when he went up,so yeah,Ali's career would possibly not last long.