Did Sonny Liston really have an 84-inch reach??

We can doubt everyone's reach measurement, yes.
Unless we see it measured.
But there's not many of those, so there's no real reference point.
In that case, there's not much point in doubting a select few reach measurements. Just doubt them all.

It's far easier to call B.S. on height measurements, since when you see the officially "taller" guy looking up at a guy who is officially shorter, you have good grounds to question it.
With reach, it's very hard to tell, because we're talking about WINGSPAN.

 

I'm not sure if 84 inches was his true reach but it was probably larger than it appeared in fights. He was a very broad man who not only had long arms but also massive hands. His hands were very long themselves and perhaps this could have contributed to him having a huge wingspan. Obviously this can't be seen as clearly when wearing boxing gloves.

Having said that, I think his reach was likely somewhere between 80-82 inches.

 

Just as a side note concerning reach. My friend Jim is about 6'1 or 6'2. He's all arms and legs, only weights about 168lbs. His arms are incredibly long. One day we were had a tape measure and we measured each other's wingspan. His was 79 inches, I was 76 but I'm about 100 lbs heavier and am much wider while he isn't wide at all but his arms are long as hell, and when you actually measure a 79 inch wingspan it is quite impressive, that's 6 feet 7 inches.

 

Whenever you've got unofficial listings, it's way too easy to exaggerate a bit for effect.

It's a classic pro wrestling trick, but it's pretty much standard operating procedure for U.S. football from High School on up through the pros, and common in basketball, as well.

I don't think for a second Sonny had an 84 inch reach, even though it's clearly better than the usual 6 foot, 6 foot 1 fighter.

 

Liston's reach looks very long on film. Was it 84"? Maybe a slight exaggeration, but close.

He also had a listed 15" fist, maybe but this could be a bit of an exaggeration too.

 

His arms look really long and he was wide.
His reach would be long then.

 

Yes.
The number doesn't matter.
He had a very long reach ..... and he knew how to use it !

 

Notice how he completely ignored the most reasonable post here.

Welcome to the game of Kevin

 

Marciano had one of the biggest thigh measurements and was one of the smallest HWs. Bigger than Tuas.

 

http://www.gymnation.co.nz/forums/topic/16362-david-tua-getting-cut-like-cake/

http://www.fighttoys.com/Marciano signed photo to Joe.htm

From the pictures one would think that Tua has bigger thighs but I guess your tale of the tape is infallible? As you've written in the past, maybe the 1950s camera couldn't move quick enough to capture Rocky's thighs?
Must be nice to believe everything you read and never question anything?

 

You think your stupid media analysis supersedes the actual recorded measurements?

The more you present your own thoughts as opposed to just critiquing others, the more we can see that you’re a bozo. Thanks for playing.