I found weight-making very difficult in my career. I donโt feel there were the experts around then that there are now in nutrition. There was a lot I didnโt know, wasnโt aware of. Weight-making really affected my career but now, with sports science having moved into the sport, I think weโre seeing the results of that. It would have helped me massively if Iโd had the right advice and information on making weight.
The simple stuff is that you bring your weight down and hold it down but when youโre feeling like youโve got the โflu for six weeks due to holding your weight down, you need more help than we had in those days. That old adage doesnโt always work because in some cases youโve taken too much weight off. Thereโs making weight and then thereโs being able to perform at a weight and keep your reactions and have enough energy to compete. A lot of boxers in the past were probably at the wrong weight and just didnโt know.
I had good people around me; the Lynch brothers were very modern but the science of the sport has moved on. We can now tell a boxer exactly what he should be eating and drinking and what weight he should be boxing at. If I had the knowledge in my career that I have now, Iโd have boxed at the weight above, Iโd have eaten better, I would have been hydrated far better than I was โ hydration is key to performing โ and Iโd have eaten the right foods. There are foods that have no benefit to you, that make you sluggish and slow.
If youโre boxing today you really need to seek the advice of a top nutritionist. Heโll weigh you, work out your mass and body-fat, and what weight you can get optimum performance at. Weโve been doing that for a while now and it works perfectly. Carl Froch, for example, from the weigh-in to the fight, follows our nutritionistโs advice to a tee. Of course there are trainers who want to do everything for themselves but Iโm aware I donโt understand the body as well as a nutritionist. Thereโs a little bit more to the body than your average boxing coach knows, including me. Iโm for seeking the right advice so thereโs no stone left unturned.
Itโs not just about the fight and the weigh-in, itโs from the start of camp to the end. Youโll plan out what weight he needs to be at then what he needs to be eating and drinking, plus vitamins and supplements they should be taking. Itโs a really big part of boxing now and if you ignore it you might be at the wrong weight and have no energy for training.
Mark Ellison is the GB nutritionist and heโs also Manchester Utdโs. Heโs modern, heโs boxing-oriented, heโs an expert in his field and invaluable to us. Youโve seen over the last three years in the successful performances of the GB boxers at the Europeans, Worlds and Olympics, nutrition and weight-making strategies have definitely played a part in it. Thereโs been plenty of boxers who have told us that theyโre a 60kg boxer or a 64kg boxer and Mark and I have sat down with them and explained that theyโre not. A top nutritionist will plan a weight-making strategy and where the boxer should be at any given week and how they should be performing. Iโve learned that nutritionists should get right into the inner sanctum of the boxer and they know everything heโs eating, drinking, where he is etc. Itโs just the thoroughness of a genuine top nutritionist that gives the trainer confidence come fight night that the boxer will have an engine and be able to perform. It arms you more as a boxing coach, you can relax knowing that side of things is covered.