19.12.06 – By Paul McCreath: Everyone who follows the heavyweight division knows that the heavies are bigger today than in earlier years. They are not just taller but bulkier, too. Do they gain anything from this added weight or are they just lazy fighters taking the easy route in their training? In order to try to answer this question, I will take a look at the careers of some who have gained a lot of weight and at the results that followed. I will exclude from this examination any who have always been heavy for their height or those who have put on weight in order to move into the heavyweight division. These I may deal with in a later article.
Probably the most famous of the fat boys is George Foreman. When George first won the world title from Joe Frazier in 1973, he was one of the biggest heavyweights in the world. At the time, the young, 24-year old Foreman weighed all of 217 pounds, almost all pure muscle with little fat. In fact, up until his last pre retirement fight with Jimmy Young, in March 1977, Foreman was only over 230 lbs once.
He was 229 lbs against Jimmy Young. 10 years later, in March 1987, Foreman, then 38-years old, launched his comeback, looking considerbly older and slower than in his prime. Though, Foreman’s awesome power was still there. He came in at as much as high as 267 lbs but normally weighed around 250 lbs. Yet Foreman was a special case. He was no dummy, realizing that he could not, at his advanced age fight, the way he used to.
Instead, however, he changed his style. It took nearly three years of fighting his “bum of the month club” opponents to finally perfect this new style. During this time, Foreman shortened his long punches, mostly hooks and uppercuts, and became much more conservative in the number he threw. At the same time, he also became good at blocking punches with his massive arms, which he would often hold in front of him in a cross armed style, similiar to Ken Norton’s crab defense. I believe Foreman knew that the added weight would have little negative effect on his speed, considering he never was fast to begin with. Nevertheless, Foreman’s main strength was always his power punching, which he still retained in the 2nd half of his career.
While we can debate about who was the better fighter, young slim Foreman or old, fat Foreman, we cannot deny that regaining a portion of the world title against Michael Moorer, and making a pile of money along the way, was pretty impressive. Foreman’s reputation for liking to eat, no doubt, helped in obtaining that very rewarding deal to promote those grills as well. All in all, I would say fat was good for George Foreman.
James Buster Douglas was another matter. Buster was always on the chubby side but he got in great shape for the Tyson fight and won the title. Less than a year later, and 15 pounds heavier, he put on a disgraceful performance and lost his crown to Evander Holyfield. Following this fight, Douglas pretty much stayed overweight until 1997, when he briefly regained his form for two fights, one against Louis Monaco and the other Quinn Navarre. Though, Douglas still wasn’t as in good as shape as he was in the Tyson fight.
Shannon Briggs turned pro at 205 pounds and usually fought at around the low 220’s in his early career. For his two worst performances, he weighed 242 lbs for Sedrick Fields and 268 for Jameel McCline, both losses. But then he turned around and came in at 268 lbs for Liahovich and won the title. It should be pointed out that most of Shannon’s added weight is pure muscle. However, due to the sheer amount of it, he’s vastly slowed down, much in the same way as fat would, in my opinion. I think the jury is still out on this one.
Hasim Rahman spent most of his career at around 238 pounds but then got fat for his fights against John Ruiz and David Tua, in 2003, coming in at over 249 lbs for both of these less than impressive bouts. Later, Rahman slimmed down again and regained the vacant WBC title. However, Rahman has been so inconsistent over his career, it is difficult to draw a definite conclusion here, but since his heavy days were not his best, I am inclined to say he was better off light and in condition.
David Tua is another who ballooned up considerably. In his early career, he usually weighed about 225 lbs. In fact, he was 226 lbs for his great war with Ike Ibeabuchi, fought in 1997. Tua later moved into the 245-250 pound range, starting in 2000, and has yet to make a truly good showing at that weight. Only once has he been able to regain a semblance of his former condition, against Chris Byrd in August 2001, when Tua came in at 233 lbs. However, clearly, Tua was better at 225 lbs.
Kirk Johnson as a young rising prospect tipped the scales at around 226 lbs and gradually moved up to 238 lbs for his fight against John Ruiz fight in July 2002, Johnson’s first major disappointment. He then gradually grew to a whopping 260 for the Vitali Klitschko bout, in December 2003, and looked terrible. In a short period, Johnson went from bright prospect to almost a fat has-been, from my perspective. His career has been interrupted with frequent injuries, perhaps not helped by his ill conditioning. For me, I believe Johnson ate his way right out of contention.
Joe Mesi, in his early years, normally came in at about 225 lbs. He shot up to 248 lbs for the Jason Curry fight, in March 2003, then 237 lbs for Monte Barrett in December 2003, and Vassily Jirov in March 2004. Could the added weight have slowed Joe just enough to allow both these fighters to land those damaging blows that might have been avoided if he were lighter and faster?We will never know,but Joe has never been the same since.
In conclusion, it is difficult to say that anyone has truly gained by adding weight unless your name is George Foreman. Briggs may well be a saw off. The rest appear to have lost something, generally speed, stamina, and sometimes balance. Any gains in strength seem to be overshadowed by what they lost. One might believe that other heavyweights who have always been on the portly side might well benefit by taking off a few pounds as well to increase their speed and stamina.
Will we see this happen? I doubt it. It is too easy for a lazy fighter to take the easy route and say “if George Foreman can do it, I can too.” I think we will need to see a fit young slugger around 225 lbs to come along and dominate the division before anything will change. Could that be Alex Povetkin?