Can we consider champoin boxers as having ideal body weight

fneder
fneder Posts: 7 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
After Floyd Mayweather's championship fight this past weekend, I noticed he weighed in at 146 lbs, and he's 5' 8" tall. I realize there can be be lots of variation on an ideal weight for a given height, but I have to believe that's pretty much the ideal.

Boxers can't afford to carry much weight that isn't working for them, but they can't be any thinner either. Their height/weight combo is essentially aimed at survival — strong enough to destroy, fast enough to avoid getting destroyed.

It may be an unattainable goal for normal, non-pro athlete types like me, but it does tell me what's possible. Might be worth doing more boxing-type training, huh?

Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    About Ali...
    "His training was mostly old school, a tribute to the fighters in the decades before the ‘60s,” Fortune says. “He trained like you should train — like you were gonna be in a fight. His roadwork was twice as much as what he needed, his sparring twice as much as he needed. If he was gonna fight 15 rounds, he’d spar for 30.”

    He was a magnificent specimen in his prime, for sure. 6'3", 212 pounds.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    A boxer's weight for their height is ideal for boxing, there is no true body weight that is ideal across all disciplines, sports, or lifestyles. Taking it further, each person has their own ideal weight for their body type and genetics.
  • mantium999
    mantium999 Posts: 1,490 Member
    Champion makes a nice boxer brief, but I now realize thats not where this was intended to go.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Boxing training is good exercise. Boxer weight, like MMA or wrestler (real) weight, can be very deceptive. A lot of guys are dropping serious water weight for the weigh-in, and it's not what they'd normally weigh for their musculature and body fat.

    Mayweather seems to be about what he fights at, so he's a decent look at what a lean + high performance little guy weighs.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Keep in mind, fighters tend to extreme diet and EXTREME dehydrate for their weigh-ins to make their weight class. A fighter at 145lbs during weigh-in probably weighs at LEAST 10lbs more on fight night. And their normal walk-around weight when not immediately preparing for a fight will easily be 20-30lbs higher. There are MMA guys who fight at 205 and admit to weighing upwards of 250 normally for example. Plenty of fighters cut upwards of 20lbs and even more for their weigh-ins.

    So in other words, no, their weightclass versus physique versus height is largely irrelevant to the real world. Floyd isn't particularly big for his weightclass so I don't think it's as extreme as some of the examples I listed. But I bet his normal walk-around weigh is closer to 160 than 145.
  • fneder
    fneder Posts: 7 Member
    These are all great points about weigh-in numbers vs. the reality of living everyday. I didn't know all that. Still, it amazes me that he can have enough muscle to hit that hard, while still being lightning fast to get the hell out of the way when he needs to. It's the intersection of those elements that drive the necessary physique, no matter what the variance in weight on fight day.

    The best athletes in other sports just don't seem to have the same balance - basketball puts too much emphasis on height, football on mass, and baseball? Well, CC Sabathia is a great pitcher, but...
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Just as an example of fight weight:
    Mayweather remained unbeaten in 45 fights and added another piece of the junior middleweight title to his collection in a fight that was fought at a 152-pound limit. Alvarez weighed in at that weight, but was an unofficial 165 pounds when he got into the ring while Mayweather, who weighed in at 150 1/2 pounds, was an even 150.

    Mayweather was fighting about where he actually is - he can easily fight at 140 if he needs to. Alvarez dropped down ~13 lbs water weight for the weigh-in, then re-hydrated.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Keep in mind, fighters tend to extreme diet and EXTREME dehydrate for their weigh-ins to make their weight class. A fighter at 145lbs during weigh-in probably weighs at LEAST 10lbs more on fight night. And their normal walk-around weight when not immediately preparing for a fight will easily be 20-30lbs higher. There are MMA guys who fight at 205 and admit to weighing upwards of 250 normally for example. Plenty of fighters cut upwards of 20lbs and even more for their weigh-ins.

    So in other words, no, their weightclass versus physique versus height is largely irrelevant to the real world. Floyd isn't particularly big for his weightclass so I don't think it's as extreme as some of the examples I listed. But I bet his normal walk-around weigh is closer to 160 than 145.

    100% this

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