How many HW champions meet U.S. Army weight requirements?

The way I see it : the increase in size of the general population should not be regarded as key.
Once we start considering such statistics it opens up too much debate and uncertainty.
We could talk about thousands of sociological factors and have half-baked theories that 'sound right' but prove nothing.

Consider this ....
The size of heayweight boxers could actually very well increase while the size of the "average man" decreases.
That's like saying fashion models can get skinnier in a society where the average person is getting fatter.

So, it's easier and simply explained if we stick to what actually happens in the boxing world.

 

But if a regular girl decides to become a fashion model she will also become very skinny to fit in with the trend of models. So that comparison still holds true.

Boxers are a subset of the population. That is an unquestionable and undeniable fact.

It also makes a lot of sense that in the heaviest division it will contain boxers who are the tallest in the sport. Tall boxers can only exist if tall men exist.

The more tall men exist the more likely we are to see tall boxers.

I agree with your tipping point theory though, I just think it occurred more naturally than Choklab does. If you have Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis at the top of the division, it makes sense that people fighting them want to weigh more.

 

Yes. That's precisely what I'm saying. That is the important part. That is factual and understandable.

Yes.

That is only factually true (proven even, through deductive reasoning) if everything else in "the world" ("society") stays exactly the same in relation to boxing.
But that's not the case.

We can discuss thousands of sociological factors that could off set each other. But it's a waste of time.

Everything in boxing is natural on its own terms.
I have difficulty understanding what choklab is even driving at with a lot of his "natural", "artificial", "functional" terms most the times.

 

I will say :
Anabolic PEDs do exist. There was a time when boxers did not have them.
Weight training is openly encouraged more among boxers than in years gone by.

But those facts are just details on how a boxer might gain weight these days.

The why is more important. Why gain weight ?
Answer: Because it can often help.
And boxers always knew this. Boxers have always tried to alter their body weight, one way or another.

 

That's perhaps a strange way of looking at it though.
I doubt heavyweight boxers or female fashion models give a **** about about U.S army height-weght requirements.
I doubt anyone cares about those requirements except potential recruits, recruiting officers ... and you !

Heavyweight boxers have always sought to alter/adjust/maximize/optimize their lean weight.
The only thing you can say now is that some of the best are better at it than anyone in the past.

Mind you, most of them still probably spend more time shedding weight than putting it on.

 

Yes. And if in 2035, a 210lb giant slayer wins the crown, the presumptions will change once again.
All it takes is a small HW defeating a string of big guys for people to have a major psychological shift.
Something I think many of us agree that a guy like Louis would be more than capable of doing.

David Haye vs. Wlad Klitschko.
Obviously he didn't, but imagine for a moment if Haye won that fight. He would've been the undisputed lineal champion. Then he would've beaten 300lb Valuev.
Then he lose to 210lb Bellew.

Something as small as that could influence opinions and theories on size limitations.

As time goes by, our data pool enlarges.
And we now know that a Joe Louis, being fully optimistic, is a once in a century guy. Perhaps we learn that he is even rarer than that. I'm not ready to close the book on the "bigger is best" discussion.

If there is no serious sign of a sub 220lb HW dominator by 2040, however, it will be extremely difficult for me to uphold that view.

 

I hear you, and fair point.
One case would indeed be an anomaly compared to the general trend.
It will take a few of them for boxing trainers to look at 6'6 guys and say "So what?"

Nonetheless, I think that if Haye were known as the best in the world for a period, and lost to a 210lb guy down the line after beating a 300lb giant, views would be different. Especially given he was a former cruiserweight, and lost to a 198lb cruiserweight.