BoxRec

Anyone know of any fighters that train notoriously hard or others who dont really bother?
It came to mind cause i saw a programme years ago that featured footage of Kosta Zoo (cant be arse to remember the spelling!) that stood out as particularly intense (bearing in mind i have boxed for years so know what hard training is). He did a full hour solid on the heavy bag, no rounds or breaks, and was punching with power pretty much throughout. I was amazed watching it. Also showed his floor exercises which looked like traditional gymnastic bodyweight stuff, and weight lifting which was very explosive and he was shifting some massive poundages for his size, clean and press with 110 kg
Naz was slack at the end as i recall, did no running for last few fights
Any others?

Kopsta Tszyu is surely the hardest training fighter in the world. He does two hours of strength and conditioning work before doing traditional boxing workout, and then does gymnastic exercises as well. I've seen the training regimes of lots of figthers, and nobody comes close.

Ali was a notoriously shoddy trainer. He absolutely hated running.

hadest trainer, hopkins.

Clubber Lang in Rocky 3 didn't fornicate about six weeks pre-fight....

REAL_DEAL wrote:hadest trainer, hopkins.

I've not seen his training regime, but it would have to go some to beat Tszyu's, he definetly stays in shape, but I bet Tszyu's is more intense.

Tszyu needs to be more intense as i think he slacks off more inbetween fights.... Hopkins keeps in much better shape between fights...

different approaches same result..... P4P greats

Hopkins is a good one, heard he's a mentalist in the gym.
I've got one of Holyfields old training programmes which goes into great detail about his weight training for strengthening him up for the heavweights. Its by Dr Fred Hatfield. Look it up, its interesting stuff, not you traditional 'boxers' workout.
In Eubanks autobiography he talks about his training, didnt do that much (in comparative terms with other boxers of course) but did spar loads, and we all know about his conditioning and stamina.I've always thought that some boxers overtrain, which is why you often see a 'flat' performance in the ring. Hard to imagine that top athletes fighting for belts come in unfit, so i reckon many just peak too early and leave it all in the gym.
It annoys me that many boxing coaches are stuck in the past and don't recognise this, in my experience alot think 'more is better' and there's no argument.
Every individual is different and can cope with only a certain amount of strain on their bodies, so its interesting to see how the top guys train to various degrees of intensity.
Eric Lucas only spends an hour a day in the gym i've heard.
Zoo is a physical freak in terms of fitness and strength, which is why i fear for Ricky...

danzig wrote:I've always thought that some boxers overtrain, which is why you often see a 'flat' performance in the ring..

you are right and i think making weight is a HUGE part of that

I've heard Georgie Kandelaki puts near Tszyu-type effort into his training.

danzig wrote:Hopkins is a good one, heard he's a mentalist in the gym.
I've got one of Holyfields old training programmes which goes into great detail about his weight training for strengthening him up for the heavweights. Its by Dr Fred Hatfield. Look it up, its interesting stuff, not you traditional 'boxers' workout.
In Eubanks autobiography he talks about his training, didnt do that much (in comparative terms with other boxers of course) but did spar loads, and we all know about his conditioning and stamina.I've always thought that some boxers overtrain, which is why you often see a 'flat' performance in the ring. Hard to imagine that top athletes fighting for belts come in unfit, so i reckon many just peak too early and leave it all in the gym.
It annoys me that many boxing coaches are stuck in the past and don't recognise this, in my experience alot think 'more is better' and there's no argument.
Every individual is different and can cope with only a certain amount of strain on their bodies, so its interesting to see how the top guys train to various degrees of intensity.
Eric Lucas only spends an hour a day in the gym i've heard.
Zoo is a physical freak in terms of fitness and strength, which is why i fear for Ricky...

Yes, Holyfield dispensed with a lot of the traditional gym training, preferring to do it his own way. Apprently Duva had murders trying to get him to do roadwork, but Holyfield used to work out with those bleep test machines, which really are probably more suited to a boxers workout.

Roadwork I think is a bit of anaethema.

Interestingly, I used to have a book with Bob Fitzsimmons workouts in it, and it was way ahead of it's time. Bob used to go for a 10 mile walk, and would intersperse it with a series of sprints, hill climbs, and then 10 minute jogs, which is what modern fitness coaches advocate rather than shlepping 10 miles every single day, which I doubt is good for the knees anyway.

Tszyu said when I spoke to him, that he has had to adapt his training regime due to his shoulder injury, but that he trains a lot harder now than when he was 25.

I think the insistence on mile after mile of roadwork, whilst probably great for core cardiovascular fitness, isn't that neccesary for a boxer. 400 m sprints would be a much better bet, if done in sequence with a rest.

I think the reason a lot of fighters do tonnes of roadwork is that they blow up between fights and the roadworkl

A conditioner I used to speak to advocated specialised exercises which mimiced the action of the sport, so he devised exercises like the 'wood chop' which utilised a weighted stick which was swung around the head to work the muscles of the back. He actually said that the exercises he used to train fighters (he was a conditioner not a trainer) were quite like modern versions of the exercises you see Rocky doing in Rocky IV.

Benn probably ranks up there.

The way they trained those Russian amateurs was something else too - those stories Jirov tells of running down locked corridors away from his trainer's attack dog take some beating.
Plus being dumped over the side of his ever friendly trainer's boat, then having to swim for land.

Frank Bruno....you don't get a body like that eating KFC as Frank would probably put it.

Running is crucial (IMO), but it must be varied. Long slow distance work is good for helping shift fat, but you need hill sprints, fartlek etc....

fartlek? What the fornicate is that.

Yes, that's exactly my point, long slow runs are great for shifting flab, but interval training is much better for explosive sports.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:fartlek? What the fornicate is that.

Yes, that's exactly my point, long slow runs are great for shifting flab, but interval training is much better for explosive sports.

Fartlek comes from the Swedish for 'Speed Play' and combines continuous and interval training. It allows the boxer (athlete) to run whatever distance and speed he chooses whilst frequently varying the intensity from very low intensity to very high. This type of training stresses both the aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways.

Steve Lillis of the Sport mentioned once that Felix Trinidad was the most intense trainer he had ever seen.

If I remember rightly, when Boxing Monthly did a piece when Fenech embarked on a comeback they were like about his training and stuck him into the top ten on a basis of their trip.

If I remember rightly, Fenech got whacked out early.

Marvin Hagler another famed trainer, but his effort in the gym prior to Leonard was apparently an eye opener even for the people who worked with Hagler.

was reading an article on a website the other day, and the author said, that basically when its time to train, floyd mayweather junior is all business and works is arse off in the gym. I have seen one of his sessions a while ago and it looked pretty intense, the guy is always in top nick and does twelve easily.

also mosely is supposed to have a pretty intense program. steroid rumours aside, his body is also always in top shape, and ive read many a time he is a demon in training.

stujones wrote:Marvin Hagler another famed trainer, but his effort in the gym prior to Leonard was apparently an eye opener even for the people who worked with Hagler.

Yes, I was going to mention Marvin Hagler, with regards to the Leonard fight I have heard some people mention that Hagler may have overtrained.

Nigel Benn early in his career when being traines by Brian Lynch (??) once fainted after a run and was told by a doctor he was overtraining and his body fat level was dangerously low.

Rocky Marciano and Barry McGuigan had reputations as very hard trainers as well.

Here is Kostya Tszyu's workout taken from the book 'Boxing's greatest workouts.'

Roadwork
25 minutes hill work
30 minutes jogging

part 1 strength and conditioning.

touch toes and hold for 10 minutes.
side to sides 1 minute
swing arms up and down 1 minute
bend knees and touch the floor with fingers

50 press ups on knuckles
10 pulls ups close grip
20 minutes moderate skipping
4x10 pull ups
dumbells 4x1 minute curls 30 second breaks
4x15 barbell curls
3 x 20 disc lifts to chest
bench press 70 reps 35kg
next twists and rotations 1 minute
leg raises 1 minute
4x1 minute leg raise holds
3x50 sit ups

boxing workout
50 press ups
20 minutes skipping
10 minutes heavy bag
3 x3 minute shadow boxing
sparring 6-12 x 3 minute rounds 30 seconds break
6x3 minutes focus pad
3 minutes shadow boxing
gymnastics standing on head then tumbling for 25 revolutions
tennis ball punching
10 minutes skipping

That's some daily workout.

Amazingly, considering his physique. Roy Jones did not do any weight training at all, nor even any push-ups or chin-ups in his routine. most of his workout was heavy bag, speed bag and floor to ceiling bag work.

according to the book he didn't spar either.

holyfields one

http://www.sportsci.org/news/news9709/hatfield.html

it would be interesting to see when Holyfield started using these methods. he looked dead in the third Bowe fight, though he claimed that was a heart problem , and later a shoulder problem, I always suspected something a bit more sinister myself.

anyone remmeber britishboxing.net david haye interview. his went

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