Who was the most out of shape genuine world titile holder?

[forcefraser]

There must have been some champions who were not in the best physical shape, or at least looked a little fleshy round the middle.

Valuev was not contender for body beautiful, but his size made this irrelevant. Any others?

[dondada]

Buster Douglas in his defence against Holyfield was in woeful shape.

[SamWise72]

Surely the 80's heavies; Tubbs, Page and to a lesser extent Spoon were often badly out of shape (though not in their best performances, unsurprisingly).

[Ezzard]

Tony Tubbs
Greg Page
Tim Witherspoon

[pyenest77]

Riddick Bowe.

[Ezzard]

For the last few defences of his reign Larry Holmes had a spare tyre...

[Chris W 1982]

Slightly away from the thread title but I'll never forget the size of Danny Williams the night he fought Klitschko.

[Coco]

I think Foreman wins

[stujones]

A bit of a mis conception - some will never have the genetics to be a body beautiful but are as fit as a fiddle. Gav Rees at Light Welter didn't look the part, but no one can deny he hadn't put the work in.

James Toney at Cruiser is another - fight of the year against Jurov, but looked in terrible shape.

[orbtastic]

Neither were world champ but Buster Mathis Snr (and Jnr, to a lesser extent) were genuine title contenders whose shape belied their skills. Blubbery was often used to describe Snr in fight reports.

Whilst never anything like a top level contender, Brian Nielsen never really looked in any sort of physical shape.

Buster Douglas trained on room service pizza from his jacuzzi for the Holyfield fight. His condition post that stage in his career almost killed him. I think at one point he slipped into a diabetic coma after piling on the weight. He always looked in terrible shape in his comeback fights.

[misterpunch]

i remember my dad being disgusted at the sight of buster mathis senior with great droops of skin rolling over his shorts and waddling like a blancmange around the ring. my dad was such a purist

[spudder56]

tony galento who fought Joe Louis in the 30s looked like a barrel

[Tommy Gunn13]

Phil Taylor......

[rhino222]

Andy 'The Viking' Fordham

[Flump]

You could argue Michael Dokes v Coetzee as he seemed to have left his stamina and initiative in a rolled up $100 bill. For sheer blubber then maybe Tubbs v Witherspoon, for mental motivation then Spoon v Bonecrusher or Douglas v Holyfield.

Or Jocky Wilson.

[Tommy Gunn13]

Andy 'The Viking' Fordham

Good call Rhino

[Julia]

foremans comback

[flatnoseflynn]

Ali. The first Spinks fight.

[Old bones Ian]

Away from the big guys, and Benny Lynch was in a terrible state through alcohol in his last few fights, 6.5lbs over and bloated when beating Jackie Jurich. And then coming in 10lbs above his best weight in losing his last 2, the final bout was a shambles when he lost inside 3 rounds , the only time he was ever stopped.

[handsofstone]

did anyone see Patick Nielsons brother last week(Mikkay i think?) man that boy had the moobs like Jagger,still good 1st round KO though

[crusader]

did anyone see Patick Nielsons brother last week(Mikkay i think?) man that boy had the moobs like Jagger,still good 1st round KO though

It was hard not to notice, and I'm quite confident that he has gynecomastia.

[dbf]

Juan Diaz always looked podgy but had very good fitness.

[misterpunch]

cant stop thinking about lynch and his terrible demise...

[frankgreaves]

did anyone see Patick Nielsons brother last week(Mikkay i think?) man that boy had the moobs like Jagger,still good 1st round KO though

It was hard not to notice, and I'm quite confident that he has gynecomastia.

[sweetscience]

Vivian Harris when he lost to Maussa