Why are so many Heavyweights so FAT compared to before the late 90's?

[Grand Champ]

Vitali, Wlad and Haye are the best in the Heavyweight Division and look at their body..! They are in good shape..! But why are so many Heavyweight fat and have been for about 5-10 years now compared to heavyweight boxers who boxed all the way up to the late 90's ????

Why this sudden attitude that Heavyweight means you can use the Donut & Burger Diet and powerlift a bit and suddenly you are a pro boxer?

Am I Totally wrong when I state that Heavyweight boxers back in the days took better care of their body and of what they ate compared to boxers of the 21th century? Go through the big guys of the past - Marciano, Ali, Fraizer, Foreman (prime), Tyson, Spinks, Holyfield, Louis .. They Wasn't fat and out of shape like so many fighters of this era (Talking HW) .. It's so bad that Holyfield who's what? 48? Actually can compete with a lot of these fat bums!

Please.. Tell my why boxers are so fat when they shouldn't be!

[JAB5239]

Vitali, Wlad and Haye are the best in the Heavyweight Division and look at their body..! They are in good shape..! But why are so many Heavyweight fat and have been for about 5-10 years now compared to heavyweight boxers who boxed all the way up to the late 90's ????

Why this sudden attitude that Heavyweight means you can use the Donut & Burger Diet and powerlift a bit and suddenly you are a pro boxer?

Am I Totally wrong when I state that Heavyweight boxers back in the days took better care of their body and of what they ate compared to boxers of the 21th century? Go through the big guys of the past - Marciano, Ali, Fraizer, Foreman (prime), Tyson, Spinks, Holyfield, Louis .. They Wasn't fat and out of shape like so many fighters of this era (Talking HW) .. It's so bad that Holyfield who's what? 48? Actually can compete with a lot of these fat bums!

Please.. Tell my why boxers are so fat when they shouldn't be!

Many are just lazy and think bigger is better.

Here is another question.....why is it todays heavyweight throw less punches, yet are winded and pretty much spent in 10 rounds, sometimes less? Is it because they are bigger?n Or is it because they are less dedicated to their craft compared to their earlier era contemporaries.

[KalboKO]

It could be because the elite fighters of this generation are so big and tall. The Klitchko brothers are both over 6ft 6 inches, Lennos Lewis was 6 ft 5 inches, Bowe was about the same and other contenders like Michael Grant and Jameel McLine were all over 6 ft 7 inches. For other heavyweights who couldn't cut down to cruiserweight, I guess they didn't want to be both at a height and weight advantage, so if you can't be tall, you might as well be wide? BTW, the old school heavyweights might have had a better work rate but not all of them looked like Greek gods. Larry Holmes and Joe Frazier weren't exactly muscular guys. Michael Spinks was a blown up light-heavyweight and he looked it. The only really muscular guys back then - Ken Norton and Mike Weaver, weren't really big guys either. They were usually outweighed in their matches.

[JAB5239]

BTW, the old school heavyweights might have had a better work rate but not all of them looked like Greek gods. Larry Holmes and Joe Frazier weren't exactly muscular guys. Michael Spinks was a blown up light-heavyweight and he looked it.

Who gives a **** what a fighter looks like? Personaly, Im interested in how he fights. Spinks never had that "Greek god phsique (sp?) at 175. But he was entertaing and could put a guys lights out.

The only really muscular guys back then - Ken Norton and Mike Weaver, weren't really big guys either. They were usually outweighed in their matches.

While Weaver wasn't a really big guy, like Norton he was unusually strong. Ken on the other hand was almost always the bigger man in the ring.

Either way, they fought more exciting fights and threw alot more punches than todays heavyweights.; Fighters today seem to go 1, 2 clinch. And they hardly put any body work in. UHH, heavyweight fighting has changed for the worse in my opinion.

[Southpaw Stinger]

Heavies of old used to cut weight as it was said to improve stamina. Now they seem to want to put on as much weight as possible as they think it will give them some sort of advantage to be out of gas past round 3.

[insipiens]

The 90's was the steroid era.

In the 70's they looked more like today's HWs than they did the 90's.

[PLATE]

It doesn't help that there's no upper weight limit for the heavies.

I think this obesity trend started in the 80s. Is it any coincidence that the quality of heavyweight fighters started deteriorating around this time? I think the great heavyweights of old would've mopped the floor with most of the current crop, whether they were outweighed or not. A guy like Rocky Marciano, arguably the best-conditioned heavyweight of all time, must be laughing hysterically at the blubbery, slow, zero-stamina fighters out there these days.

[KostyaTszyu44]

i think its just laziness pure and simple

im not a klitschko fan but props to them for always being in shape

some heavyweights like toney are simply blown up from lower weights and obviously they will be chubby but the fat guys like arreola who would be a trim 220-30 and turn up weighing like 250 are just idiots

no dedication, plain and simple

also whats with this bizzare trend of whoever fights the klitschkos bulks up in weight??? do they think having a few extra inches on their waistline will help them compete??

they are idiots, if anything they should try and trim down to get looser and lighter on their feet so they can move and frustrate the bigger guys

[LondonRingRules]

But why are so many Heavyweight fat and have been for about 5-10 years now compared to heavyweight boxers who boxed all the way up to the late 90's ????

** You've fallen for some old wive's tale put out by the usual suspects.

Be fat and out of shape goes back to bare knuck days in jolly olde England.

John L fought the battle of the bulge and excess that did him in. Jeffries had several bouts around the 250 mark and retired because of being fed up with training. A year later he was around 350lbs.

Johnson fat and paunchy for some of his defenses. Langford blew well over his best weight of 165-170. Ali was notorious for showing up out of shape. Always had the Willie Meehans, Two Ton Ton(e)ys, Buster Mathis types. Big George pretty much set the standard on how to use bulk in his comeback. Interesting how Lennox edged up fight by fight, looking a bit like Rahman in their last fights.

Different landscape favors size. Shorter bouts, refs quicker to stop fights, KDs count for more points and and more stoppages than ever. Usual suspects cringe to admit it, but a fatboy who knows how to use his weight punches very effectively and wears more on opponents.

Look no further than the recent Walker/Arreola fight. Looking like superman didn't keep Walker from being gassed out after a round and a half. He spit his mouthpeice out after pitching a masterclass on fatboy because he had nothing left.

Being a fat heavy no a guarantee of success, but much worse to overtrain than accept a few extra pounds as Jim Jeffries found out in his ill fated comeback. Same deal with Tyson/Douglas where Tyson had to drop 100 lbs like Jeff did. Both came out looking like they were auditioning for a zombie movie.

Kbros and Haye look fit because they're naturally tall and slim for their frames. Wlad and Haye both had some stamina problems and Haye may still have them.

End of the day, boxing always influenced by the rules and the culture of the day. Fat's where it's at today, and the next Dempsey, Frazier, or Tyson quick waterbug slugger coming up will have a feast, but those types seem to skip a few generations before reemerging and they seem to also be getting bigger, Dempsey 190, Frazier 205, Tyson 220.

Might be ButterBean Jr to save the division, ya never know......