Why did Ali let his conditioning go in the 70s?

That doctor seems to have been a quack. Ali could still get down to 212 at 32, so there's nothing surprising about how he developed weight wise during the early 70's.

After Zaire he never got down under 220 lbs again, but age as well as even more fame, money and probably women could have something to do with that. After Manilla he also lost some of his muscle tone, I think, and that I find harder to explain.

 

Ken's upper body was naturally ripped, an inborn genetic gift which Mike Weaver shared to an even greater extent. However, Ali had the bigger and stronger legs.

Thighs: Ali 27 inches, Norton 24 inches.
Calves: Ali 17 inches, Norton 15-1/2 inches.
(Foreman's thighs at the time were 25 inches, although his calves were 17 inches like Ali's.)

The tensile strength and muscular endurance of Ali's legs was ridiculous. His smallish hands and square boxing stylist's shoulders (exactly like Tunney's) limited the frequency to how much he could load up on punches to the head, but he could plant those powerful legs in an instant and drive though well placed bombs.

Like Tunney, Ali built up his tensile strength and muscular endurance through constant tree cutting, wood chopping, splitting and sawing. He supplied all the firewood for his Deer Lake Training Camp. He was one guy who George Foreman could not physically overpower. Having trained with weights while simultaneously chopping and splitting firewood myself, I can promise you that for strength training in boxing, hire a professional lumberjack.

Muhammad let his training go a bit because at the outset of his return from exile, he unfortunately discovered his resistance to punishment, then relied on that too much. For his comeback, his legs were at their best conditioned for Norton II, Frazier II and Foreman. Inoki took those legs away, but Ali ponderously danced his way through Leon II, then commented post fight that the muscles of his legs were sore afterwards. I've experienced that myself.

Also, Ali was an accomplished clincher, even for Liston, and Archie Moore stated on camera that his draining tactic of pulling down on the head and neck was the key weakening strategy that enervated Foreman to the point where he was ready to be knocked out.

Just as racehorses need to be raced into competition condition, that's exactly what Ali did in the 1970's. He was never rusty. His true preparation for Manila in 1975 came through driving himself to collapse over the last five rounds against Wepner to avenge that ninth round Tony Perez ruled BS KD, getting in 11 rounds of quality work with the physically powerful and lethal punching Lyle (who Leroy Caldwell said punched about as hard as Foreman), then that Championship Distance blast furnace with Bugner in Kuala Lumpur.

Frazier couldn't fight more than a couple times a year with his manner of training, body type and arduous manner of infighting. He was rusty for Ellis II after ten months of inaction following JQ II. He went at about an average rate of eight months between matches.

Ali, a great active Champion, typically put up the Title an average of four times a year when healthy. Marciano, with his bad back, hard training and style, could only defend twice a year like Frazier.

For Kinshasa, Ali still sported some abdominal definition at 216.

 

I couldn’t say for sure New re the PED history and, as to Usyk specifically, I haven’t necessarily suspected of him of PEDs based on appearances but in this day and age it’s not impossible.

 

Late in his training for the rematch with Leon Spinks, he did report that he had gotten down to 217, and indeed that's the weight he was at for the Holmes debacle. Angelo Dundee said before Holmes that Ali was in better condition than he was for the Spinks rematch, raising interesting questions about how much better he might've done against Larry if he'd continued taking his Thyrolar as prescribed. It probably would've more closely resembled Charles-Louis. He definitely would've gone to the final bell, then probably stayed retired after, no Berbick (for which he was indeed considerably stronger physically, and he did better against Trevor than John Tate or Greg Page).

Following Liston I, he did a summer pilgrimage to Africa weighing 240 pounds, then later trained himself down to 201 for the rematch with Cooper. But his strength and power seem to have been at their best when he was from 212 to 216 pounds.

 

I thought he weighed 221 for Spinks ll. A lot of posters say he was worse. I disagree. That Ali would have lost to Holmes but would have been competitive. He seemed to move well.

 

That was an absolute prime Holmes. Would have taken Ali's second career best to be competitive or win. If Ali hadn't taken those meds, he'd have made the final bell, but it would have been a lopsided decision (assuming the decision was fair). And probably ugly -- Holmes would be real concerned about a robbery, so he'd have been going balls out trying to get a stoppage, at a point where he'd have been much better than Ali.

 

I don’t know If he was lax on training or if it was just the way he aged.

 

As it was, Larry proceeded with some caution until round nine, then backed off as Ali's ability to take a punch proved intact. But ih his autobiography, Holmes did note that he was far weaker in the clinches than he was when training for Kinshasa.

Yeah, he was 221 for Leon II. I suspect he let up his training intensity immediately before their rematch for strength, and Leon admitted years later that Muhammad's constant draping of his 20 pounds heavier body in mid ring was the key tactic, as his rope-a-dope was exploited so decisively in their first bout, as Sam Solomon had him target Ali's biceps and splitting of Muhammad's guard with uppercuts.

 

Just a random observation but the most ripped Ali appeared in his first career (just imo) was when he fought the Liston rematch.

Coming in at just 206 or 206 1/2, he was very shredded but also appeared to have put on some obvious muscle at the same time for compound visual effect.

I guess it might’ve been surprising at the time that Ali came in some 4 to 4 1/2 lbs lighter than he was for the first Liston fight.

The crazy part about the rematch is that , if it had lasted longer, we likely would’ve been treated to one of if not the greatest performances of Ali’s career.

Even for the short time that it did last, Ali looked brilliant, elegantly gliding around as if on a hover board and looking as fast as he had ever been.

Even if one doesn’t accept it as worthy of knocking Liston down or out, that right hand (“anchor” punch) still connected solidly and was arguably the fastest single shot that Ali ever threw.

The less often seen live television side view of that punch conveys the speed far more than the regular angle more frequently shown (from behind Liston).

 

I didn't know that Ali was into UFO's.

 

Yeah, that was an interesting revelation during the interview. Carson seemed a bit bemused by it.

 

I agree that Ali probably was at his most ripped during Liston 2

https://i.imgur.com/otDv0qL.jpeg

That probably helped sell all the posters of Ali in the famous staredown.

 

Great photo.

And, while Liston came in a bit trimmer at about 215?? for the rematch, he looked somewhat softer than he did some 5 years prior when only about 3 pounds lighter vs Cleveland Williams - so some trade off between muscle and fat during the intervening years.

There was a lot of well defined muscle and superb conditioning in the ring when Sonny and Cleveland got together.

Both men also clearly paid good attention to ab work to harden up and strengthen the all important core.

One of my favourite photos from their first fight: -

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Yeah, he looked in fantastic shape against Liston. His body had matured over the 15 months since the first fight. Too bad we never got to see that fight play out.

 

And Muhammad was actually five pounds lighter in the second fight in spite of him looking heavier. Yes it's a shame that it did n't last longer. I see Ali stopping Sonny - without any controversy - by the halfway mark.