BoxRec

Jack Dempsey's way of training was ridiculous, but cool at the same time. He would drench his face and hands in brine to toughen the skin.

Muhammad Ali would train underwater, throwing punches in the deep end of the pool.

I've heard that Tony Galento sparred with a bear, a kangaroo, and an octopus! crazy bastard.



Who else trained in unique fashions?

Archie Moore as a youngster would walk around the block on his hands.

AndreWardFan2006 wrote:Jack Dempsey's way of training was ridiculous, but cool at the same time. He would drench his face and hands in brine to toughen the skin.

Muhammad Ali would train underwater, throwing punches in the deep end of the pool.

I've heard that Tony Galento sparred with a bear, a kangaroo, and an octopus! crazy bastard.



Who else trained in unique fashions?

Actually, Ali really didnt do this very often.Before he was world known he used this as a gimmick to lure LIFE or TIME magazine, cant remember which one, to come take pics of him. He did run backwards which is pretty interesting.

Ali used to work on sidestepping trained attack dogs. Vassiliy Jirov's trainer in Kazakhstan used to take him way out on a lake in a row boat, make him jump out and swim back, and also made him run from attack dogs, with no protection.

AndreWardFan2006 wrote:Jack Dempsey's way of training was ridiculous, but cool at the same time. He would drench his face and hands in brine to toughen the skin.

Muhammad Ali would train underwater, throwing punches in the deep end of the pool.

I've heard that Tony Galento sparred with a bear, a kangaroo, and an octopus! crazy bastard.



Who else trained in unique fashions?

I would love to see some film footage with Galento boxing a kangaroo. That would definatley borderline on crazy if you have ever seen a kangaroo fight.

Galento didn't spar the octopus, he choked the thing to death. Crushed its neck.

The Ali 1 is a total myth, he couldnt even swim.

A bear would break a persons neck in about 5 seconds, its one of their natural fighting instincts, so i believe tony's anicdote to be a myth too.

Not really training, but as a lad, Cassius Clay got his brother to just throw stones at him, and he would dodge them, he never got hit once.

was it true that Ray Robinson drank blood sometimes before fights? whats the story there?

Hopkins had to dodge cocks in jail .

That's why he is such a good defensive master.

mattym wrote:A bear would break a persons neck in about 5 seconds, its one of their natural fighting instincts, so i believe tony's anicdote to be a myth too.

Not necessarily.

Galento probably fought a small black bear cub or something. Don't think he was fighting fully grown kodiacs... Ouch.

nah it wasn't a bear but a baer as in max and buddy.

i heard boza edwards used to go on his runs with his doberman and he'd end up carrying the exhausted dog part the way home.the size of a doberman to cornelius makes me doubt the story.

DoubleM wrote:Galento didn't spar the octopus, he choked the thing to death. Crushed its neck.

Are you serious?

dalek wrote:i heard boza edwards used to go on his runs with his doberman and he'd end up carrying the exhausted dog part the way home.the size of a doberman to cornelius makes me doubt the story.

I would have to question that also, dogs have by far more stamina than humans.

kick asner wrote:I would have to question that also, dogs have by far more stamina than humans.

That very much depends on the age and health of the dog.

Grimm wrote:Hopkins had to dodge cocks in jail .

That's why he is such a good defensive master.

Not too big of a Hopkins fan huh?

KOJOE90 wrote:

DoubleM wrote:Galento didn't spar the octopus, he choked the thing to death. Crushed its neck.

Are you serious?

Yep!

I heard that Vinny Bagadoughnuts used to swim with a backback filled with bricks. True Story!

I also heard that Paddy McRhubarb would smear bacon grease on his fists while boxing a cougar. Honest!

But my favorite training sessions must go to Tomaytoe Cann. That guy was so tough that he used to have his wife run into him with the family studabaker while wearing a blindfold just to test his ability to take a punch. All that while reciting Act 2 Scene 4 of King Lear

AndreWardFan2006 wrote:Muhammad Ali would train underwater, throwing punches in the deep end of the pool.

I'm pretty sure that this was just a photo oppertunity for the benefit of the media and as far as I know was not a regular part of Alis training routine.

But I think Marciano used this training technique quite a bit.

The photo was completely fabricated, as Ali had never earned to swim.

its a cool picture though isnt it?

man, in his prime Ali was the perfectly built HW. Great picture, I did think there were some in color......
http://www.discountgraphics.net/sports/ ... c20955.jpg

this one is a bit brighter.

Harry Greb played lots of hand-ball as part of his training, there are clips on his web page to download, and I think its an excellent routine because swiping with each hand whilst staying well balanced and in position is very important to the boxer.

Jack Dempsey would also chew pine gum to strengthen the jaw, and have his older brother plant one on him to get it checked

And Ray Robinson wrote he would drink a quart of ox blood to give him strength...I always thought the blood would congeal and make the person very sick

Decagon wrote:

mattym wrote:was it true that Ray Robinson drank blood sometimes before fights? whats the story there?

Before one of his fights with Jake LaMotta, the two had dinner in a restaurant together. Robinson asked the waiter for a cup of blood, and told LaMotta that it was his pre-match ritual to drink a cup of blood. When the waiter came back, he asked him to bring Jake a cup, too. Robinson drank the blood down, but LaMotta didn't touch his. One of the greatest psych-out moments in the history of sports. Sonny Liston's staredown? Psh.

hoho! thats one way of getting into your opponents head. With Jakes psyche this would have toyed with him for quite a while, and he would have felt somewhat less of a man for refusing and being outpsyched by Ray.