Heavyweights Average Height: Ring Top 10 1956-2010. Very interesting

So you think Wlad dominated Chambers because of...his superior skill.

Wlad had such better skills than Chambers he outboxed him all night and KO'd him in the 12th?

My point is perfectly valid. There are bad boxers who are big,just like there are bad boxers who are small.
And im not talking about talish guys who are fat like Arreola, Im talking about the new breed of athletes,that didnt exist pre.1990-ish. Guys that are 6'5+ 240+ and in great shape,AND have great skills.

Those kinda guys just simply didnt exist pre 1990 or so.You cant point to anyone in Alis era, who was that size and in that shape. They just didnt exist. Foreman was considered a monster at 6'3 and 225

My point that if you're big and good, you have a massive advantage over a guy that is small and good.

Like I said,theres a reason we have weight divisions.

 

This thread has gone slightly off topic
It's about whether or not the height of top ten heavyweights is generally increasing.
The thread starter has been very selective about what years he chose.
Also the average heights don't tell the full story, what is more useful, is looking at the number of very tall hws in the top ten.

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This graph shows much more clearly that the heights are increasing,although there are still smaller heavyweights.

 

Who is exactly is this new breed, Wlad and Vittles? And why have they both gassed in most of their tough fights? Who cares about size and shape when skills and stamina have gone to ****? Id rather see Norton-Holmes, Bowe-Holyfield and Ali-Frazier than big tall guys who lack the skills to go to the body, have crap stamina and who's only defensive skill is holding on for dear life or backing straight up.

 

Round 4 : commentator says "Already you can see that the two men are beginning to slow".

Round 6: Commentator says "Both of them now are taking a breather."

round 7: Commentator says "Ali seems a little bit disgusted with himself, but he's mighty tired"

Round 8: Commentator: "Those pitty-pat punches aren't gonna do much for anybody" and "These two are not so much fighting now, they're sparring. They're putting on an exhibition now in the middle of a world heavyweight championship fight… What is going on? I am surprised the referee hasn't moved in here because this is not fighting for the title. And the crowd is beginning to boo and I don't blame them. People have paid more than 60 pounds here for a ringside seat and they want a fight." and "Clay is talking to him again inside the clinch."

Crowd yells "Joe, Joe".

Round 9: Commentator (US TV) says "Frazier is the fresher of the two, no question"
Commentator (UK TV) says "Frazier is breathing hard. And he's breathing a lot harder than Clay is".

The crowd boos again loudly. The commentator says "Nothing in those punches" (= weak punches).

Ali is so reflexless and passive that the commentator notices "There's a sort of strange death wish about Clay as if he wants to tempt fate. And he is tempting it here because he's been hurt twice now in this round and he's done nothing in reply. He hangs his chin out and asks for it. Why should a man do that?"

etc.

 

Oh, and I can point to Chuck Weiner, who was the size of today's "super heavies", but was able to go 15 rounds. Wasn't Vittles sucking wind in the 5th against Byrd? I know for a fact he was because its clear to see on the video. How could a new breed of fighter be so gassed out against such a small, outdated model of heavyweight?

 

All anyone has to do is watch the fight to see the difference in then and today. Imagine those commentators doing Lewis-Vittles? :yep

 

I'd say the Lewis-Vitali fight was pretty disgusting too.
Both men were gassing quickly, that they had trained for lesser fighters and both did it on 10 days notice doesn't matter that their early gassing was a disgrace.
Though there was less clinching.

Tua-Ike was a true war.

 

Was Vitali winning that fight when he got injured.

Did Wlad not beat him twice rather easily after that?

As for the clinching you spoke about earlier. Ali CLINCHED ALL THE TIME!

Im not talking about "big" simply in terms of weight, im talking about 6'6 245lbs ATHLETES.

Those type of people did not exist in Alis era,or indeed at any other time up until about the 1990s.Bring ing up Chuck Wepner is just silly. Chuck Wepner was 6'5 and a doughy 225. Hes not even in the same statosphere of athlete as Wlad or Lewis.

Im not talking about Primo-esque carnival shows.

Im talking about quick, skillful 6'5+ 240+ heavyweights.

I stand by what I said,the heavyweight division has been dominated by guys like that for 20 years.

When the Klits retire, you've got Fury, Price, Wilder,Helenius, Pulev all ready to step in.

Anthony Joshua coming up behind them.

If there is ever a 6'2 220 lbs legit champ again,Ill gladly take it back.

 

There are always exceptions to the rule, but the chance of it happening again is smaller than it was in the past, much smaller.

Now about Ali clinching all the time: (didn't want to mention it at first)
Ali-frazier.
How much of the time was spent on clinching/arm holds and head down pushing
Round 1: (around) 20% clinching
2:35% clinching
3:30% clinching
4:20% clinching
5:20% clinching
6:25% clinching
7:30% clinching
8:25% clinching
9:15% clinching
10:25% clinching
11:30% clinching
12:35% clinching
13:30% clinching
14:45% clinching
15:45% clinching/arm holds/ head push down

Wlad for example also clinches a lot, but atleast those are clinches (most of the time atleast, against Haye he leaned on his back, he got a point deducted for it)

Ali puts arm holds and pushing down in it, and verbal abuse.

Wlad again:

Not 100% sure about it if I remember right Samuel Peter 1 was his most clinchy fight which averaged 20 seconds of clinching per round.

Now one of the best heavyweight fights if not the best hw fight ever.
Tua - Ibeabuchi
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOlkGxWyWIg[/ame]

 

Is Boystov really one of the best heavyweights of the last decade,if thats the case, the God help us all.

Im not just saying this to say tall fighters are the future,but you could easily put Dimitrenko in there over him.

His resume is just a scotch better than Wilders.

Even Helenius and Fury have a shout to be in there instead of Boystov

 

The average height of the heavyweight division will not change very much, there will always be a lot of boxers around 6'-6'2 and weigh over 200lbs. People this height are much more common so will always make up the majority of the division. So therefore even though taller boxers will be more common, they will not have a huge impact on the average height.