Donald Trump’s recent arrest in Atlanta has led to an interesting revelation about the former president: he’s built like a world-class athlete.
Trump, 77, said he was 6-foot-3 and weighed 215 pounds before his incarceration at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia on Thursday. This is a dramatic improvement from the 6-foot-2, 240-pound he claimed in April, when he was charged in New York on allegations of tampering with business records.
Growing an inch taller and losing 25 pounds, Trump shares virtually the same dimensions with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, current heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and none other than Muhammad Ali.
In fact, Ali often weighed around 215 throughout his career. “The Greatest” was 213 when he scored by technical knockout over Cleveland Williams at the Houston Astrodome in 1966 and a pound lighter in his next fight when he won a unanimous decision over Ernie Terrell.
By the time his rivalry with Joe Frazier began in 1971, Ali was fighting at exactly 215. However, as he got older and began to focus on absorbing punches, Ali’s weight slowly climbed. above 225. In his last fight, a 1981 unanimous decision. After his loss to Trevor Berbick, Ali tipped the scales at 236 – almost as much as Trump claimed to weigh five months ago.
Trump is actually the ideal weight for a 6-foot-3 senior, according to BMI
Muhammad Ali (center, with Henry Cooper) regularly fought around 215 pounds during his career
At 6ft 2in, Lamar Jackson weighs about the same as Donald Trump, ex-president claims
Oleksandr Usyk, who will face Daniel Dubois on Saturday, is also 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds
Trump is actually the ideal weight for a 6-foot-3 senior person, according to the body mass index published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
And that should come as no surprise. A former New York Military Academy high school football and baseball player in the early 1960s, Trump regularly brags about his athletic prowess.
“When I was 17 I loved sports,” Trump told MTV in 2010. “I’ve always been a good athlete and I’ve played soccer, baseball, soccer, and wrestled .” I think what I loved the most was baseball.
Trump was so good, he claims, he could have played professionally.
“I was captain of the baseball team,” Trump said. “I was supposed to be a professional baseball player. Luckily, I decided to go into real estate instead. I played first base and I also played catcher. I was a good hitter and just had a good time. Now I play golf.
Shohei Ohtani (left) and Luguentz Dort (right) are about the same height and weight as Trump.
Trump says he was known as one of New York Military Academy’s best baseball players in the 1960s
Three years later, Trump bragged about his playing years on Twitter: “I played football and baseball, sorry, but I’m considered the best baseball player in New York State. »
Leander Schaerlaeckens of Slate then uncovered nine box scores in Trump’s high school games, in which he scored 4 of 29 at home plate.
Trump said his baseball career was derailed when he attended a tryout with “another young kid named Willie McCovey.” McCovey, the late Hall of Famer and legendary Giants slugger, was born in Alabama in 1938 – eight years before Trump was born in Queens.
Other athletes who share roughly the same body dimensions as Trump include Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, St. Louis Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt, Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer, Thunder forward of Oklahoma City Luguentz Dort and Houston Texans rookie quarterback CJ Stroud.
These days, Trump limits his physical gifts to the golf course, where he’s known for his power workouts.
The 6ft 3in Trump is pictured alongside 6ft 7in Hulk Hogan in 1987 in Atlantic City
Trump catches a baseball thrown by former Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera at the White House
6ft 1in Tiger Woods receives Presidential Medal of Freedom from 6ft 3in Trump
Trump holds a Marucci baseball bat during a “Made in America” product showcase in 2017
Trump addresses the crowd at the Bedminster Invitational LIV golf tournament on August 13
“He can really hit the ball,” PGA legend Ernie said after watching Trump land a hole-in-one in 2022. “He makes good contact.” He has a good swing. Like any amateur, you need to practice the short game. I keep talking to him about his chipping. It’s a very good putter. In his day, he must have had a handicap of 4 or 5. Today he is probably 10, 12 years old.
Trump also played with Jack Nicklaus and Brooks Koepka, both of whom complimented his playing.
His golfing abilities led caddies at a club in Westchester, New York, to compare him to one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.
“…caddies have gotten so used to seeing him hit the fairway that they’ve come up with a nickname for him: ‘Pele,'” Rick Reilly wrote in his 2019 book, “Commander in Cheat.”
