Greats without great stamina

Remember, this thread is only for GREATS who lacked great stamina - so don't list Jermain Taylor and Khan.

The immediate three who come to mind:

Tyson
Oscar
Hearns

Who else?

BTW - you might be able to stretch it and say Cotto, but I really don't consider Cotto a great. But I guess you can stretch the definition and include him.

 

I'll add Tszyu. Even though he's not the same class as Tyson, Hearns, DLH, he can still be considered a great, and he did not have great stamina.

 

Young George Foreman is probably a great example.

 

He is. Forgot about him.

 

SAUL Alvarez?

 

Yeah, Canelo has done enough at this point that he'll go down as a great. He belongs.

 

Funny thing is, Canelo's stamina improved over the years. Goes to show you the importance of a nutritious diet rich on proteins...

On a serious note though, roids definitely helped his stamina, but to be fair to him, he also learned to loosen up. He was a bit tight and rigid as a kid, but he's now he's looser and more fluid, which improved his endurance. So in other words, Canelo has more brains than Oscar, cause Oscar never learned how NOT to be stiff and rigid.

 

The Triple G Rematch was the Line of Demarcation and Months PRIOR to That is When Clenbuterol was Found in Canelo’s System…

Clenbuterol Assists w/BREATHING, But This is All Merely Coincidental…







REED

 

Khan and J. Taylor

 

I think not having to cut weight has played a part too. Although, his stamina was shitty against Chavez Jr. and that was at 164, so maybe not.

 

As an aside, I personally wouldn't say Hearns had bad stamina whatsoever. He just happened to lose to Leonard, who had freakishly good stamina, in the final three rounds. His stamina was never an issue over twelve - from what I can remember, anyway - and wasn't against Benitez.

 

Is National Hero just enlisted in his native Ukraine army wladimit Klitschko consider great? Then he’s my pick…

 

Yes, Wald counts. And those Ruskies won't know what hugged them.

 

Holyfield comes to mind.

 

What?!??!? He had a hole in his heart...

 

Yup! There's a myth that Holy had legendary stamina, he didnt.

 

I wouldn't call it bad, though

 

Yeah, he might not fit here.

 

Especially in comparison to guys like Wlad.

 

McCallum would fit into the same category as Holy.

Far from bad stamina, but theres a misconception that McCallum had legendary stamina, and he didn't.

The bar for truly legendary stamina is: Leonard, Sanchez, Duran, Frazier, Arguello, Marciano, ect.

 

I know he's absolutely hated here but I feel this is one of the few categories Calzaghe can be added to without much dispute

 

Yeah, Joe had really good stamina.

 

I think Khan had good stamina. Lot of 12 rounders in there and he never lost a fight for the want of gas.

W12 Kotelnik, W12 Maidana, L12 Peterson, late stoppage of Paulie etc.

 

Bert Sugar.

 

Khan’s gas tank definitely wasn’t his problem. What let him down was his chin, predictability, and box bot style.

 

Calzaghe had excellent stamina with the high volume of punches he always threw while constantly pivoting and moving. Good chin too. Very hard guy to beat.

 

Back when I had no access to boxing I relied on Bert Sugar or Bill Cayton etc calling into Irish radio with their $0.02

One of Sugars big claims before the first Lewis fight was that "Holyfield has 1 gear, he doesn't know how to move backwards". He also tried to paint Oldyfield as having this relentless stamina and activity levels

Holyfield had spent large sections of the fights vs Moorer, Cooper and the Bowe Trilogy being passive and backing away under pressure.

I hadn't seen any of those fights. But I caught the Lewis fight live.

He was totally listless in the Lewis fight apart from the 3rd round and the later rounds when Lewis backed off.

In the 5th he looked like somebody who had never boxed in his life.

After that I knew that Sugar was a total BS merchant who spoofed to ignorant audiences and who had been forced to do radio pieces in Ireland cos nobody wanted him or his shit views or magazines in the USA

 

I was doing some running the other day.... Its tiring, but running, turning around and running in the opposite direction and then turning again is exhausting.

 

He had "health problems"* that flared up from time to time and accounted for his listless inactive performances.

___________
* hepatitis, hole in his heart, Balco got busted, forgot to say his prayers, dehydration and vitamin overdoses, got hit back, etc

 

I bet.

I got to the gym yesterday and did about 8 rounds on the heavy bag at a steady pace. Not too many high volume combinations or movements around the bag. Just steady work and I was out of gas.


I can’t imagine at 40 years old throwing over 100 punches per round and constantly moving. That has to be extremely HARD.