gilgamesh wrote:Frazier getting blasted out in 2 rounds by Foreman doesn't have a damn thing to do with Stamina, and Joe's performance in a swimming or cycling event is irrelevant. He had the Stamina to go 15 rounds in a Boxing match, and still be swinging with knockout power in the 15th round. Therefore he had good Stamina as a fighter which is all that matters since it was his chosen profession. Whether or not he could beat people at Cycling or Swimming has nothing at all to do with his in ring Stamina.
Foreman overpowered him and knocked him out in 2 rounds. Frazier didn't have a chance to get into the fight hardly and he was already beaten. That has nothing to do with Stamina, that's just a guy hammering you with heavy blows and ending the fight before it even really has the chance to get started. That's a comment on Foreman's power, and the defensive gaps that Frazier had that Foreman was able to take advantage of.
You guys don't get it and you don't want to see it... If you place DEAD LAST by a VERY WIDE and RIDICULOUS MARGIN in RUNNING, swimming, and cycling races and you're blowing really hard as you finish the race, you have stamina issues. Boxers run every day. They're not supposed to run like snails but most of them do. It doesn't surface until somebody pushes them to a hard pace and then they fall apart in a round or 2. Frazier would get terribly fat between fights when the money started rolling in, but he could absorb a lot of punishment like James Toney - so he could fake it.
Most of the time stamina and weight issues are not apparent because of weak competition. Nobody watches boxers run. Nobody times them, instructs them, makes them do wind sprints, or has qualified strength trainers and cardio-conditioning coaches working with them. You need flexibility and agility instructors, and people to tutor them in plyometrics and speed work. You need a nutritionist. Nowadays guys like Anthony Joshua, Errol Spence, or Gennady Golovkin will blow you away unless you don't get strong, durable, and conditioned, and watch your weight.
If Foreman kept his weight down between fights like he did for his first 38 fights he might have held the title for a very long time. Everyone loves to eat so it's a very widespread problem with Heavyweights. Heavyweights can weigh anything they want. When you go up and down 50 to 75 pounds in weight a few times it start effecting your stamina even when you get the weight off. You're better off staying fat because it's not good for the body. Tyson Fury will find this out. Guy like Buster Douglas, Buster Mathis, Odlanier Solis, Sam Peter, Chris Arreola, Kirk Johnson, who go up as high as 300 pounds or more enough times never lasted that long as contenders.
