Fastest World Heavyweight Champion ever

[Boilermaker]

What is everybodys opinion on who was the fastest World Heavyweight champion ever. The challenge is that we place all of the former world champions in the one place at the one time, we set a course for say 10 miles and we have a race to see who gets there first. How does this race pan out and what order do they finish in?

And by the way, short clotheslines all round for anybody who starts differentiating between hand and footspeed, talking at lenghth about a jab or ability to slip and duck!

[PowerPuncher]

So you want to know who runs 10miles the fastest or who was the fastest boxer? I'd expect Fitzsimmons or Jones to be the fastest HW champions over 10 miles because they were the lightest and 1lb equals 5seconds on the mile, so do the math. But we all know boxing and 10miles runs are quite different affairs or gebressalassie would be the greatest boxer of all time

[dezbeast]

Ken Norton was an extremely gifted sprinter. I don't know how well he'd fair in 10 miles though. Why the great distance? I'd be much more interested in seeing how well they' d do in one mile or even less.

[SteveO]

My nod is to Ken Norton because he did track.

Didn't he?

[anarci]

for 10 miles how about a prime Holyfield. I think he won the event in superstars one year against star atheletes in other sports.

[Boilermaker]

Ken Norton was an extremely gifted sprinter. I don't know how well he'd fair in 10 miles though. Why the great distance? I'd be much more interested in seeing how well they' d do in one mile or even less.

Yes, there is a reason for the long distance. Long distance running is a large part of boxing training. It used to be probably the most important part, although in recent times weight lifting seems to have taken over. I have heard stories that Muhammed Ali was phenomenal in training over the long distance and that most training partners could not keep up.

Likewise, the likes of Fitzsimmons used to run 10 more than 10 miles a day. Probably harder than the marathon runners of the time if there were any. Rocky was known for long distance running and training hard and always in great shape. Running times of top distance runners have no doubt improved, but i wonder whether people think that modern fighters could still run long distance. Klitchsko for example looks to be in great shape (i dont know his training methods) but i wonder wheter he runs much in training or not. I wonder whether he could keep pace with some of the older greats. I dont think so, but without knowing how he trains, i coudlnt hazard a guess. I would have thought that Ali would be in the running for such a prize, but a corbett or Fitzsimmons would be up there also.

[teeto]

What is everybodys opinion on who was the fastest World Heavyweight champion ever. The challenge is that we place all of the former world champions in the one place at the one time, we set a course for say 10 miles and we have a race to see who gets there first. How does this race pan out and what order do they finish in?

And by the way, short clotheslines all round for anybody who starts differentiating between hand and footspeed, talking at lenghth about a jab or ability to slip and duck!

:rofl:rofl

[mrbassie]

Who drove the fastest car?

[Boilermaker]

Who drove the fastest car?

Jack Johnson, he once had a match race with a professional driving champ (forget his name)

[Titan1]

Ken Norton.

[GPater11093]

So you want to know who runs 10miles the fastest or who was the fastest boxer? I'd expect Fitzsimmons or Jones to be the fastest HW champions over 10 miles because they were the lightest and 1lb equals 5seconds on the mile, so do the math. But we all know boxing and 10miles runs are quite different affairs or gebressalassie would be the greatest boxer of all time

that cant be right

im 9st 4lbs so i shoud be super quick round the track but i get wooped by my mates at it although im just as fit.

Jack Johnson, he once had a match race with a professional driving champ (forget his name)

and get absouloutly trounced

[rekcutnevets]

Heavyweights running 10 miles? I'm going with that ole speed demon, the Rock.

Marciano was sub 200lbs., and ran everyday.

[Muchmoore]

10 miles is way more endurance than speed.

I'd probably go with Marciano, because I know that he can physically run that far because he did it fairly regularly.

[djanders]

I'm going with Fitzsimmons in this.

[Shake]

Another one for Marciano here.

[la-califa]

IF i was to think of a Heavyweight which would be fleetfooted enough & strong enough to compete in a long distance endurance race. Really two fiighters come to mind. Cassius Clay & Floyd Patterson. Although Joe Frazier was dedicated to his roadwork & had very strong legs.

[fists of fury]

My pick would certainly be one of the lighter guys over 10 miles...someone like Patterson or Fitz. Rocky was light enough and darn fit, but he had those short, stubby legs and a build not conducive to long distance running. So for me even though he is fit enough to do it (and did) in a race, he'd be battling to keep up with the longer, leaner guys.

I'd also look a light (sub 210) version of Ali to do well.

[Top Dog]

WTF, boxers should not be running 10 miles, what a load of nonsense, silly topic. Slow running makes you slow, simple as that. So let's get this right, you box for 3 minutes at a time, with a rest of a minute, so the best way to train is by running for approx 1.5 hours at a slow pace, yeah mmm some how I dont think so. :nut:lol:

[janitor]

10 miles is way more endurance than speed.


Speed isn't worth two buckets of warm spit over distances of 10 miles plus.

The average speed is verry low at all but the most elite levels and it is down to endurance and pacing yourself as you say.

In a half marathon the smart competitors let all the heroes run ahead and tire themselves out then pass them in the last five miles.

I would certainly give a strong edge to fighters like Marciano and Jeffries who regularly ran such distances in training.

[janitor]

WTF, boxers should not be running 10 miles, what a load of nonsense, silly topic. Slow running makes you slow, simple as that. So let's get this right, you box for 3 minutes at a time, with a rest of a minute, so the best way to train is by running for approx 1.5 hours at a slow pace, yeah mmm some how I dont think so. :nut:lol:

Its what fighters have been doing for the past 200 years.

Don't get me wrong, the argument does come up from time to time that roadwork is not apropriate for boxers, but it is conspicuous that fighters who buy into the new orthodoxy always seem to tire down the stretch.

[PowerPuncher]

that cant be right

im 9st 4lbs so i shoud be super quick round the track but i get wooped by my mates at it although im just as fit.



and get absouloutly trounced

How far do you run? Over a longer distance you maybe more competitive. You probably have less power in your legs and perhaps your not a natural athlete, perhaps they play football more than you for instance and have done more running. There are many factors that go into it. Obviously its a power-size ratio, but for each extra 1lb bodyweight you will run 5seconds slower over a mile on average.

Either way imagine carrying 100lbs on your back when running and imagine who detrimental it would be to your running time. Its simple physics at the end of the day, the more mass you carry the slower you become. Plus the heavier you are the more oxygen your body needs to fuel muscles so you tire faster.

BTW 10mile running isn't optimal to HW training in my view, a primed runner's VO2 max (maximal oxygen concentration, ie stamina) is achieved over a maxed out 5k/3 Miles, and boxers being heavier it is probably over a shorter distance. Anything more is an exercise in muscle endurance rather than stamina

[Boilermaker]

It is interesting that the favourites so far seem to be guys like Fitz and Marciano. The evolution theory doesnt seem to be as strong and noone seems the least bit perturbed by the Olympic Games theory. I am not up on figures but as i understand it, many of todays high school runners would have been quite competitive with the olympic runners of yesteryear, particularly from Fitz' era. Is it possible that this suggests that the older runners like Fitz might struggle to keep pace with some of the modern fighters even if Fitz trained in this type of running more Frequently? I dont think it would work this way, as i would do the correlation to the training, but i thought that quite a few others would insist modern fighters couldnt be beaten.

[PowerPuncher]

It is interesting that the favourites so far seem to be guys like Fitz and Marciano. The evolution theory doesnt seem to be as strong and noone seems the least bit perturbed by the Olympic Games theory. I am not up on figures but as i understand it, many of todays high school runners would have been quite competitive with the olympic runners of yesteryear, particularly from Fitz' era. Is it possible that this suggests that the older runners like Fitz might struggle to keep pace with some of the modern fighters even if Fitz trained in this type of running more Frequently? I dont think it would work this way, as i would do the correlation to the training, but i thought that quite a few others would insist modern fighters couldnt be beaten.

I'd pick Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather to beat Fitz/Marciano over a 10miles run very comfortably. Fitz is not particularly quick over 10miles from what I've read. The bottom line is big men can't run 10k effectively. The bigger they are the slower they will be.

As a teenage WW I was closing in on a 4miniute mile, later in my 20s I was a ripped to shreds 190lbs and was killing myself to get near 5miniutes. And going for 10miles my pace would drop off remarkably from what it once was and I'd end up with bruised/blistered feet and be unable to run for days. Most boxers just use roadwork as moderate exercise, Fitz included looking at his mile times, and don't push for personal records, but then again they are boxers and not distance runners.

[janitor]

I'd pick Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather to beat Fitz/Marciano over a 10miles run very comfortably. Fitz is not particularly quick over 10miles from what I've read. The bottom line is big men can't run 10k effectively. The bigger they are the slower they will be.

As a teenage WW I was closing in on a 4miniute mile, later in my 20s I was a ripped to shreds 190lbs and was killing myself to get near 5miniutes. And going for 10miles my pace would drop off remarkably from what it once was and I'd end up with bruised/blistered feet and be unable to run for days. Most boxers just use roadwork as moderate exercise, Fitz included looking at his mile times, and don't push for personal records, but then again they are boxers and not distance runners.

The depressing thing about distance running is that however much effort you put in there is always some 76 year old bloke who can trash your best effort.