Does fat make you better at heavyweight

Boxing events don't last long enough to deplete glycogen; typically it takes at least 90 minutes of sustained exercise for glycogen-depletion or fat-burning to become a factor. One can easily become exhausted while still carrying plenty of liver and muscle glycogen by fighting at too fast a pace--as tends to happen when a boxer with relatively poor endurance faces a boxer with much better endurance. this. also for a while they let them drink gatoraide type drinks inbetween rounds then they complained that when it spilled it made the rings slippery. idk every other sport can drink sugar/electrolyte mixes. But its still only 45 minutes

Extra Weight can help with Punch Resistance for sure old fat foreman had an iron jaw while when he was younger he was dropped a few times

That's not what I mean. I'm aware that muscles require oxygen-carrying red blood cells while fat does not. If you look at both of my statements, I said that you don't want to be fat, just as you don't want to be a bodybuilder. You don't want to get in the ring with eight percent body fat because it's actually better if you get in the ring with 16 percent body fat or something along those lines. I'm just making general statements. There is no instance where someone has no muscle and all fat, which seems to be what you are implying that I said. Obviously you need muscles to do anything. What you don't need is a lot of muscle because being muscle bound isn't exactly going to make you punch harder and will leave you exhausted much sooner than someone who wasn't muscle bound. I'm referring to physics and its laws. To hit hard, it's more about weight transference than how much you can bench or curl. And to give this context, we saw a muscular Joshua get KO'd by a fat Ruiz. So clearly, the fat guy showed what's more efficient in the ring. When they fought again, Joshua was able to use his size and reach to win. Not his muscles. Here are some issues with low body fat: You Become Prone to Serious Heart Problems. ... Your Energy Levels Plummet. ... You're Suddenly Always Cold. ... Your Workouts Suck. ... Your Muscles Don't Recover from Exercise. ... You're Constantly Hungry. ... Your Testosterone Levels Drop. ... Your Muscles Become Weaker. And if you're too fat, then there are similar issues, such as not having enough muscle to handle the bodyweight, fatigue, sluggishness, etc. I believe you are missing the principle here. Generally elite male athletes in their 20-30s have no difficultly making 8% bodyfat without suffering from the kinds of problems listed above; indeed, part of what separates elite athletes from the rest is the ability to achieve low bodyfat percentages without adverse effects. Both muscle and fat tissue are metabolically active and require "oxygen-carrying red blood cells"; albeit muscle much more so. I'm not sure what you mean by "muscle bound". "Weight transference" is due to contraction of skeletal muscles. The stronger given muscles are, the stronger those contractions & the less effort required to produce a given submaximal contraction; in other words, increasing strength increases local muscular endurance. It is certainly possible for muscle to be just as much "dead weight" as excess bodyfat; if a distance runner develops enormous neck, chest, upper back and shoulder muscles they will be at a competitive disadvantage. I assume in discussions of this kind we are referring to development of musculature responsible for offense and defense in the sport of boxing.

In this decrepit HW era, everything is ass backwards.

In terms of punching power: coordination/balance, muscle control, emotional make up. Those are the things that matter.

All voluntary movement is mediated through skeletal muscle while bodyfat is "just along for the ride". The greater metabolic demand of muscle--the fact that an athlete who gains 10lbs of muscle will increase his caloric expenditure more than he would if he added 10lbs of fat--is due to the fact that muscle powers movement as opposed to being an inert storage depot of surplus dietary energy. I am not sure if the statement "less muscle and more fat will allow you to hit harder without getting gassed as easily" was intended as a joke, but obviously this is untrue; the "hitting" is powered by muscle, this statement is tantamount to claiming that "If I reduce the power of my car's engine (read: less muscle) and fill the trunk of my car with bricks (read: more bodyfat) I will drive up a hill faster and will minimize strain on the engine and save gas." That's not what I mean. I'm aware that muscles require oxygen-carrying red blood cells while fat does not. If you look at both of my statements, I said that you don't want to be fat, just as you don't want to be a bodybuilder. You don't want to get in the ring with eight percent body fat because it's actually better if you get in the ring with 16 percent body fat or something along those lines. I'm just making general statements. There is no instance where someone has no muscle and all fat, which seems to be what you are implying that I said. Obviously you need muscles to do anything. What you don't need is a lot of muscle because being muscle bound isn't exactly going to make you punch harder and will leave you exhausted much sooner than someone who wasn't muscle bound. I'm referring to physics and its laws. To hit hard, it's more about weight transference than how much you can bench or curl. And to give this context, we saw a muscular Joshua get KO'd by a fat Ruiz. So clearly, the fat guy showed what's more efficient in the ring. When they fought again, Joshua was able to use his size and reach to win. Not his muscles. Here are some issues with low body fat: You Become Prone to Serious Heart Problems. ... Your Energy Levels Plummet. ... You're Suddenly Always Cold. ... Your Workouts Suck. ... Your Muscles Don't Recover from Exercise. ... You're Constantly Hungry. ... Your Testosterone Levels Drop. ... Your Muscles Become Weaker. And if you're too fat, then there are similar issues, such as not having enough muscle to handle the bodyweight, fatigue, sluggishness, etc. I believe you are missing the principle here.

Boxing events don't last long enough to deplete glycogen; typically it takes at least 90 minutes of sustained exercise for glycogen-depletion or fat-burning to become a factor. One can easily become exhausted while still carrying plenty of liver and muscle glycogen by fighting at too fast a pace--as tends to happen when a boxer with relatively poor endurance faces a boxer with much better endurance. Exactly. It takes a long time to even start the fat burning process. Nobody is going to be burning fat during a 12 round fight, no matter how intense they’re fighting.

fat in combination with good diet (boar meat especially) along with the crazy gene the human race is always improving & heavyweight boxing just mirrors this, fury is now the apex creature and someone to aspire to be and look like Too many people ignore “the crazy factor”. Fury has that, and it can help a fighter withstand serious pain, concussive blows and long, gruelling tests of endurance. A crazy man is the most frightening opponent.

All our energy comes from glycogen stores in our muscles. Once our glycogen is depleted, our body transitions over to our fat stores to use as energy. That's why you'll see anthony joshua and wilder get so tired and running on fumes towards the end of their fights because all their glycogen will be depleted. Meanwhile you'll have fury and ruiz catching a second wind because their body has tons of fat to start burning and using as energy. Boxing events don't last long enough to deplete glycogen; typically it takes at least 90 minutes of sustained exercise for glycogen-depletion or fat-burning to become a factor. One can easily become exhausted while still carrying plenty of liver and muscle glycogen by fighting at too fast a pace--as tends to happen when a boxer with relatively poor endurance faces a boxer with much better endurance.

Some fat on heavyweights is fine. It will vary per individual though.

Depends on your style of course but there is often a certain amount of Sumo going on in HW boxing. If you are giving up 30 pounds and being pushed effortlessly about the ring, that's difficult to overcome. Also, as previously mentioned, there's a little more mass working behind your punches and of course increased punch resistance.

i think the question is a natural build like Fury/Ali vs a gym build like AJ and Gerald Washington. Norton had the gym build but that's before my time, so I don't how he compared to Fraizer more natural.

fat in combination with good diet (boar meat especially) along with the crazy gene the human race is always improving & heavyweight boxing just mirrors this, fury is now the apex creature and someone to aspire to be and look like

All our energy comes from glycogen stores in our muscles. Once our glycogen is depleted, our body transitions over to our fat stores to use as energy. That's why you'll see anthony joshua and wilder get so tired and running on fumes towards the end of their fights because all their glycogen will be depleted. Meanwhile you'll have fury and ruiz catching a second wind because their body has tons of fat to start burning and using as energy.

I'm not sure. I just think modern heavyweights are poorly conditioned.

The thing with Fury is that a lot of his “fat” is excess skin from dropping 140lbs after he went obese, giving him the illusion he’s fatter than he is. He’s never been the ripped type anyway though. His family said for years he’s better when he’s around 260-270, so obviously the added weight helps him. He was in the 240’s for the Wlad fight. I’d have personally thought excess fat isn’t helpful to anyone, but who am I to argue with the people that watch them fight/spar/train every day. Ultimately I don’t think it matters too much, unless you’re too muscular to the point it’s affecting your stamina (AJ). Or your extra fatness is down to not training, like Ruiz in the AJ rematch. Of course lower weight fighters are usually going to look ripped because most of them are boiling down to the weight of a teenage girl instead of their natural walking around weight. But obviously heavyweights don’t need to make weight. Some will naturally have the body type to look muscular just from training, some won’t. Some will do it for aesthetic reasons I suppose but that won’t win a fight. could Fury and Ruiz look like Frank Bruno in terms of muscles? I don’t know, Maybe if they completely dedicated their like to a bodybuilding routine, training and diet like some Instagram person, But what use would that be at the expense of boxing training? We know fury can fight 12 rounds and has good stamina and Ruiz has shown it too, so it wouldn’t really serve any purpose to become ripped as long as they work hard in camp

Tyson Fury is peak boxing physique.

It's weight, not fat, per se. Weight makes you take punches better and hit harder. It's simple physics. Muscles burn up oxygen, so in a sense, less muscle and more fat will allow you to hit harder without getting gassed as easily. All voluntary movement is mediated through skeletal muscle while bodyfat is "just along for the ride". The greater metabolic demand of muscle--the fact that an athlete who gains 10lbs of muscle will increase his caloric expenditure more than he would if he added 10lbs of fat--is due to the fact that muscle powers movement as opposed to being an inert storage depot of surplus dietary energy. I am not sure if the statement "less muscle and more fat will allow you to hit harder without getting gassed as easily" was intended as a joke, but obviously this is untrue; the "hitting" is powered by muscle, this statement is tantamount to claiming that "If I reduce the power of my car's engine (read: less muscle) and fill the trunk of my car with bricks (read: more bodyfat) I will drive up a hill faster and will minimize strain on the engine and save gas."

I literally cannot believe there are people in this thread arguing the benefits of carrying excess fat :eek:

Fury has ripped up the book of what a world class heavyweight should look like physically the same with Andy Ruiz. Two tubby lads that dominated this era without looking like a bodybuilder. Is the extra fat but superior fitness the way forward for the division. The primary benefit of excess bodyfat--for boxers--is that it does provide additional cushioning to protect against punches to the body. One rarely sees heavyweights KO'd by body shots; this may be one reason why. Generally, of course, bodyfat above a certain minimal level (typically 6-12% for men, depending on genetics) is simply dead weight that makes everything more difficult. Strap on a weighted vest loaded with 20-50lbs and try sparring to get a reasonable approximation of what 20-50lbs of extra bodyfat will do to a boxer. It's intriguing to contemplate how much better Fury and especially Ruiz would be if they could improve in this area.