Who was the first notable boxer to take up weight training?

Besides basic things like dumbbell shadow boxing or strongman exhibit trickery, wrestling etc as forms of resistance training… Marvin Hart that I know of, Djanders visited his family and they told him that he was a life long weightlifter from memory.

 

I think Jim Jeffries utilized “ strength” training but I’m not sure if he actually used “ weights “.

 

Archie Moore chopped wood, his ko record speaks to his training method

 

Yes. I have heard that from my Grandfather. According to his Family, Marvin Hart had weights in his barn.

 

Evander Holyfield I think was the first World class boxer to really pump iron in the conventional sense. I know he trained with then Mr Olympia Lee Haney.

 

At 2:43 Jeffries sets down his Indian Clubs to then exercise using pulley weights.

In the clip Jeffries can also be seen shadow boxing while holding a dumbbell in each hand.

People might quibble about the degree of weight work on show - but there it is.

Several years later, Frank Crozier was a wrestler/boxer and, at the least, his physique appeared indicative of him having done some fair measure of weight work. Of course wrestlers were known to lift weights.

Jeffries

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Crozier

https://jackjohnsoninspain.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/frankcrozircapitra.jpg

Crozier squaring off with Jack Johnson. Just as an aside, in respect of this particular photo, I remember some older boxing books/mags misidentifying Crozier as Joe Jeanette.

https://jackjohnsoninspain.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/johnsonvscrozierhojasselect.jpg

 

Max Schemling was originally a “weightlifter” as in the sport in the olympics… if he didn’t continue to lift weights he built himself doing it prior, Jack Dempsey actually lifted weights in the “off season” in the conventional manner of his time just barbells and dumbbells stuff probably lots of pump work… Holyfield would be the first one I can think of doing something similar to say how I’d train that is to say in a bodybuilding fashion.

 

I am pretty sure I have read that John L. Sullivan used dumbbells and other weights before and during training. I have no links. Maybe @janitor can weigh in on this?

 

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Michael spinks for the first Holmes fight

 

I've seen people say that Chuvalo lifted weights, but nothing confimed. Bruno, Spinks, Foreman and Holy are the first confirmed I've seen.

No btw, Ali said in his autobiography that he lifted weights when training for Frazier 3.

 

Athletes like wrestler and boxers have been using resistance training (both weights and calisthenics) ever since they were popularised by guys like Saxon, Sandow etc. It's a myth no boxer ever used weights till a certain period. Pretty sure Dempsey used to have Otto Arco in some of his camps, and would've been well acquainted with strongmen, gymnasts etc from travelling and vaudeville as even older boxers were.

 

Frank Bruno before he turned pro.