Need more info on ideal boxing weight?

Question

I guess I have a 3-fold question, but here's a little background. Currently, I am Cruiserweight class - I stand 5'8", 183 pounds. I have gone as high as 188. My questions are:

1) How do I know what my ideal bout weight would be?

2) Is it better to be at the higher-end of the weight class, or at the lower end?

3) How do I know how much weight I can SAFELY shed-off pre-bout, without sacrificing speed, strength, stamina, endurance and all that?

I've noticed that no matter how much cardio or medicine ball excercises I do, I never go below 181.

Thanks in advance for your insight and experience!

Answer 1

This is a very hard question to answer, because it's so different for everyone.  Generally you have to balance the power you gain from carrying more muscle with the speed you get from being lighter.  Also, you have to take into consideration that by going down in weight you will (generally) be facing opponents with a little less pop in their punches.  However, you and I share the same problem- we naturally fall in the dead middle of a weight class (I'm a lanky cruiserweight at 6'3" and 182.)

Your ideal bout weight is whatever your body can naturally support at its strongest and quickest.  You may find that if you go up to 188 you're stronger, but so much slower you're getting whacked coming in and going out.  It's usually better to be at the high end, under the theory that you've got more muscle and can hit with more power and take more hits.  However, some people try to go above what their body can naturally carry, and just come out flat.

How much you can shed depends on your will power, and the amount of time you've got.  I wouldn't think about shedding more than about 5 pounds, starting a week before the fight.  If you're cutting more than 2 or 3 pounds the day before you're going to be in lots of trouble.  Again, some people handle it better than others.  You might try doing it over a week, just to see.  But be warned, cutting weight sucks so badly it's not even funny.

Like I said, it's very difficult for people stuck in the middle of cruiserweight.  You need to either gain 12 pounds of muscle to hit the top end, or lose 8 pounds that you can't get rid of to be a light heavyweight.  My feeling would be that at your height you'll probably be better going down to light heavyweight.  Talk to your trainer about what you need to do to get there.  Perhaps what you need to do is get some more muscle definition to keep your metabolism up, then work the cardio hard to burn the calories.