Fighters who let themselves go...

[gazot]

I saw Naseem Hamed in the high street a few days ago. Damn is he in terrible shape! Nobody even recognized him. He has gone from featherweight to heavyweight in only 6 years and at only 5'4" and what must have been 200lbs+ you can imagine how bad he looks. What are the worst examples of out of shape ex fighters?

[HandToMouth]

buster douglas... the 1977 elvis of boxers

[GanchoIzquierdo]

Wilfredo Gomez

[-KOKid-]

I take it you mean fighters who let themselves go after they retired?
Most fighters put on weight after their fighting days are over, but of course some more than others.

Roberto Duran certainly looks like he is enjoying himself at the dinner table these days.
One can hardly recognize him from his fighting days, even though it was common knowledge that he would blow up between fights.

Same goes for Mike McCallum.

Last time I saw a photo of Erik Morales he looked like he was a middleweight - at least.

How about Mike Tyson?

Or Fernadno Vargas?

Buddy McGirt.


There's plenty more - and I'm sure we can add Ricky Hatton to the list when he decides to retire.


On the other side of the slide, about the only fighter I can think of who lost weight after retiring is Pinklon Thomas.
He was downright skinny last time I saw a photo of him.

[PeteLeo]

I second the Wilfredo Gomez nomination. He's virtually unrecognizable now. And he sounds terrible (though that supposedly is mostly due to throat damaging punches he received). PeteLeo.

[TDKO]

Buddy McGirt seems to have cloned himself within his body, for a trainer
he has gotten quite a bit larger then his fighting weight.

[mrbig1]

I saw Naseem Hamed in the high street a few days ago. Damn is he in terrible shape! Nobody even recognized him. He has gone from featherweight to heavyweight in only 6 years and at only 5'4" and what must have been 200lbs+ you can imagine how bad he looks. What are the worst examples of out of shape ex fighters?

He said a few months ago he was making a come back.

[mrbig1]

Let me add Roberto Duran. Looks like 200+ pounds.

[Randy Gordon]

When I saw Roberto Duran at the 2008 IBHOF weekend, he was at LEAST 100pounds over his fighting weight, and I mean his fighting weight of 147 pounds. At the parade prior to the inductions, I'm surprised IBHOF officials didn't use Duran as a float rather than have him ride in a convertible! He gave new meaning to the word "obese." But at least he looked happy!

-Randy G.

[GorDoom]

A lot of football players especially linemen bloat up after retiring. Like boxers they have to make a certain weight their whole careers The enforced & many times self imposed (think LaMotta & Duran for example) weight loss takes a toll over the years & that's why we see such outlandish gains in weight post-career for so many athletes.

GorDoom

[Off The River]

I think the amount of energy used in staying fit is a big problem post rtetirement. Being able to eat enormous amounts and then burn it off also means you don't have to watch what you eat.

In my own situation, if I was ever putting on a few pounds, I'd simply run, or walk it off. I always did physically demanding jobs and never had serious weight issues. After getting run over by a car and spending the next several months on the couch, I went from a fit 185 lbs to about 230lbs in less than three months. Now, pushing 40 and much more injury prone, I really have to watch what I eat to stay under 200 lbs.

Oh yeah James Toney. And he aint even retired.

[PD99]

On the surface, it's ironic that guys who once reached such Olympian levels of fitness should ultimately blow out after retirement.

I've always put it down to a several reasons -

1) Their prime training regimes equating to aversion therapy (to any form of fitness maintenance) later in life. 2) A once apt but now inequitable (relative to current activity) food intake 3) Enjoying the good life based upon their accrued fame and wealth (if they managed to hang on to their dough or make $$$ in some other endeavour). There are others but I see these as the main catalysts.

Jim Jeffries blew out big time after his first retirement but appeared to peg it back somewhat after his second retirment. Johnson appeared to suffer rather quick muscular atrophy post retirement with little hint of the build he once carried. Maxie Baer was badly bloated in the latter part of his life.

On the flip side, some fighters who maintained their trim in later life - Jim Corbett, Joe Choynski and Henry Cooper. Obviously, pretty svelte, middle of the road guys to begin with.

[Michael Frank]

Foreman. Ali. Holmes. Mustafa Muhammad.

Though Gomez, Douglas, and Duran would have been my first 3 nominations had they not been mentioned already.

Seems like a number of these are guys who always had weight trouble when they were competing.

[TKO11]

Just give him another 2 years:

[GorDoom]

Mustafa Muhammed??? I've met him as he's a trainer & I'm a cornerman. While I've never actually worked with him we've had fighters on the same card 3-4 times now.

I've talked with him fairly extensively each time I've seen him. Anyway the last time I saw him was probably about 2-3 years ago & Mustapha looked exactly the same as he did as a fighter except of course he was older...

Unless he's really let himself go since the last time I've seen him, he definitely was in more than adequate shape every time I saw him.

GorDoom

[PD99]

Just give him another 2 years:

Mike always walked and talked a healthy appetite. He did chow down on Holyfield's ear and Lewis' leg and said that he wanted to eat Lewis' kids after all (by the looks of it, maybe he finally caught up with them). His beverage of choice with meals - I'll take a stab at Chianti.

Give him another 2 years.

For what, the Title of Fattest Man on the Planet?

[robertk]

Another honorable mention is Juan Roldan. He has to be on par w/ Wilfredo Gomez.