Cycling and Boxing

Carrera said:

Is there any evidence to suggest that cycling could be as beneficial (or more beneficial) for boxers as opposed to the usual option of road-running?
I'm not a coach by any means but I recently had a boxer asking some basic advice with regard to a general exercise program, best way to do abdominal work, lower back work, power e.t.c. So, I put him through a few basic standbys.
Not that I recommended cycling as an alternative to skipping and road-running but I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on the matter? What if the likes of Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Iron Mike Tyson had ridden their bikes for cardio instead of so much jogging?
Is it just the custom for boxers to jog.

Carrera, it seems as though there is no evidence to support road work in a boxer's regimen anymore. Here's an article about Holyfield's training system that included no road work of any kind. Fred Hatfield coached him for his strength training for this fight.

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

I think there's as much controversy over weights/boxing as there is over weights/cycling. The old boxing coaches frowned upon weight work but Evander was the exception. Maybe Evander needed weights because he was, in reality, a cruiserweight and didn't quite have the body mass to fit the heavyweight division. He was also trained by Lee Haney as well as Hatfield to bulk up.
Another boxer who fitted the same cruiseweight division was Henry Cooper who only weighed about 185 - 190 when he floored Ali with his famous left.
As far as I know, though, very few boxers have used weights and I don't know if any have cycled.
While we're on the topic, though, my all time favourite boxers have to be Sonny Liston, George Foreman and Ali (who never went to the body and always left his chin wide open with a backward lean). And Tyson was really terrific as well in his prime (as dangerous as Tyson)
Anyway, what do you reckon about cycling for boxers? Do any boxers ride bike?

Doctor Morbius said:

Carrera, it seems as though there is no evidence to support road work in a boxer's regimen anymore. Here's an article about Holyfield's training system that included no road work of any kind. Fred Hatfield coached him for his strength training for this fight.

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

Carrera said:

I think there's as much controversy over weights/boxing as there is over weights/cycling. The old boxing coaches frowned upon weight training.

My point was to show that Holyfield did not do any running rather than him including weights.

Quoted post said:

Anyway, what do you reckon about cycling for boxers? Do any boxers ride a bike?

I don't know of any that ride and I would imagine that more will drop running from their training as well.

I liked Tyson early on but he's just such a complete idiot. He lost my support long before he went to jail for rape not to mention his dietary habits. Cannibalism is not a sporting event.

Apparently Tyson came from an unstable background but found some stability in boxing. What happened later was he winded up being manipulated by promoters, screwed financially and pressured on the domestic front. Little wonder he lost to Buster Douglas sometime later - his head was rarely focused on his sport and he didn't know how to handle the hangers-on. Finally he just lost it altogether.
Sure, the demands made on the body during boxing rounds are different than what you experience jogging. I know Ali was very big on road-running and recall reading an account of a biographer who joined him on a run prior to the Rumble In The Jungle. Ali usually jogged with his entire entourage and the scene from Rocky of Stallone running up the steps in Philadelphia was snatched from something Joe Frazier did in that city - running up the steps.
Maybe boxers would benefit from something I used to do myself - cycling up a huge hill in bigger gears. There's a very steep climb near where I live (near an old farm) and it's so tough to complete I have to kind of move the bike from side to side to keep moving. When I get to the top I'm literally gasping but the whole process takes just 5 minutes from top to bottom.
Another routine is to time-trial my way back from work at 6.00 a.m. I usually aim for 30 minutes and watch the various clocks as I get closer to home. Once I get to the main town I glimpse at the central clock in the square as I ride along the cobbles. 6.20 is my average, which leaves 10 minutes to make it to the front door. After that I'm literally soaked in sweat and sometimes heave as it's so early in the morning to ride flat out.

Doctor Morbius said:

My point was to show that Holyfield did not do any running rather than him including weights.

I don't know of any that ride and I would imagine that more will drop running from their training as well.

I liked Tyson early on but he's just such a complete idiot. He lost my support long before he went to jail for rape not to mention his dietary habits. Cannibalism is not a sporting event.

Apparently Tyson came from an unstable background but found some stability in boxing. What happened later was he winded up being manipulated by promoters, screwed financially and pressured on the domestic front. Little wonder he lost to Buster Douglas sometime later - his head was rarely focused on his sport and he didn't know how to handle the hangers-on. Finally he just lost it altogether.
Sure, the demands made on the body during boxing rounds are different than what you experience jogging. I know Ali was very big on road-running and recall reading an account of a biographer who joined him on a run prior to the Rumble In The Jungle. Ali usually jogged with his entire entourage and the scene from Rocky of Stallone running up the steps in Philadelphia was snatched from something Joe Frazier did in that city - running up the steps.
Maybe boxers would benefit from something I used to do myself - cycling up a huge hill in bigger gears. There's a very steep climb near where I live (near an old farm) and it's so tough to complete I have to kind of move the bike from side to side to keep moving. When I get to the top I'm literally gasping but the whole process takes just 5 minutes from top to bottom.
Another routine is to time-trial my way back from work at 6.00 a.m. I usually aim for 30 minutes and watch the various clocks as I get closer to home. Once I get to the main town I glimpse at the central clock in the square as I ride along the cobbles. 6.20 is my average, which leaves 10 minutes to make it to the front door. After that I'm literally soaked in sweat and sometimes heave as it's so early in the morning to ride flat out.

Doctor Morbius said:

My point was to show that Holyfield did not do any running rather than him including weights.

I don't know of any that ride and I would imagine that more will drop running from their training as well.

I liked Tyson early on but he's just such a complete idiot. He lost my support long before he went to jail for rape not to mention his dietary habits. Cannibalism is not a sporting event.