You picked the worst example. Fury would be even better if he was conferred the agility of a shorter man. The way he can move at 6'9 is unbelievable, no shortage of boxing ability whatsoever. He's the furthest thing from talentless.
Any fighter around 6 feet tall are either Frazier or Mike Tyson like fighters.... Some a mix in between but they're not those guys and even the real life ones would still have a difficulty of time and need to be on point always . A guy at 6'0 should he win a title probably won't have long term success , the training regimen requires a lot more work , it's why a prime Tyson was arguably the best trained fighter ever, he had to be pin point accurate giving up that much reach to be an effective counter puncher with excellent defense . I've seen a few guys around the 6'0 mark the best way to gauge this is a fighter named George Arias. A Frazier like fighter coming up. Then you have James Wilson who calls himself the Beast at 6'0 . A Tyson like fighter who's clearly not Tyson . If we're being honest there's only one M.Tyson and unless you can get a clone of the 5" 10 nearly perfect fighter of speed and power as well, you are going to be hard pressed finding a dominant guy at 6'0 tall today or in the near future.
If you're a short heavyweight but you are gifted with masterful boxing skills, great athleticism, solid chin, KO power etc...you can be undisputed heavyweight champ. Should never forget that. The heavyweight division has always had tall fighters. Right now they are ruling the division through the comfort of their long straights like they should. However, I'm sure there will be a short exciting champion in the future and I say exciting because shorter heavyweights usually are because of their style and disadvantage.
Hang on, don't just cut him to the quick and be so dismissive. You saying... " in his day"... suggests times have changed and there is room for comment and discussion. eg I was 6ft'1" as a teen, which was tall then. It still is but far less so now--my nephew and his pals are mostly taller for instance. Now I'm comfortably above average height. Little more.
David Haye answered that, but could a 6ft fighter beat a 7'2 fighter, can either height be effective at heavyweight or which height would be more effective? Well M.Tyson was miles better than Valuev as was Liston and Tyson was shorter than 6ft.
I like David Haye hav all his cd's , but when he fought Klitschko David was afraid of getting hit then blamed it on his little sore pinky he could of probably did better really he wasn't Reddy mentally . Still respect tho .
Do you think Haye could have done better at cruiser though? Which do you feel was his best fighting weight?
I'm legitimately shocked. You actually produced a well thought out post with good analysis and held you're usually raging autism at bay long enough to post this here without it interfering. You should be proud of yourself.
It doesn't matter what you think , posts like the one I'm responding to tells me you must be one of those Wilder cheerleader types that must dislike facts because that's what I post on here and got his skirt lifted somewhere ?.
This is almost like a trick question. Some shorter fighters like Tyson could use their shorter height to their advantage. He very effectively used it to bob and weave his way inside. Tua, on the other hand, was clearly at a disadvantage against longer-armed opponents. He simply could not effectively counter the reach difference. Tua is one of those guys, that if he had been taller and had greater reach, he could have beaten anyone. He was so powerful and tough. Man, could Tua take a punch and could he ever land one as well. But, boy, was it frustrating watching him not be able to overcome the reach differential.
If you're six feet or under you better have some major compensating factors like tremendous speed, defence and power. Traditionally only a handful of great HWs were actually under six feet: Tyson, Rocky, Patterson and Frazier off the top of my head. Even smaller guys like Dempsey and Louis were around six one, six two. Of the names listed above, only Tyson I believe could have become champion in the modern era, due to his unique combination of fast feet, fast hands, savage power, iron chin and bobbing weaving defensive style. Fighters like Rocky and Frazier would be too plodding or easy to shut down, and Patterson would be knocked clean out. It's possible, I think, but just highly unlikely. Simply put, fighters under six feet at HW would either be smallish guys artificially inflated, or of a stocky body type not generally conducive to speed of hand and foot.
