Most great fighters that were swarmers had great physical strength: Duran, Greb, Dempsey, Pacquaio (Morales said after his first bout with Pacman that he was the strongest fighter he ever faced) etc. Many of these guys had success against bigger fighters with their strength helping them greatly. Are there any great swarmers who did not have great physical strength?
From what I've heard Joe Frazier was not physically very powerful, footage of the smaller Quarry pushing him around in the early rounds seems to confirm this. Stamina, tough mindedness, powerful punching leverage, and relentless movement seemed to be the keys to his success.
This is a good observation. Its a big part of WHY he added the dirty wrinkles into his game. The elbows, low blows, etc. He needed something to fight back in the clinch, and whenever he got completely tied up, he was often neutralized.
Always took LaMotta for being one of the roughest middleweights ever in terms of physical strength. It was like you said, the punch he lacked.
I never really considered Pryor to be a physically strong guy. But he could get in there like nobody's business.
Beat me to it. Even if Aaron did have the requisite physical strength, he certainly didn't plant himself to make much use of it. Does anybody think Greb beat Brennan 4X in 1919 with physical strength? Walker among the heavyweights could also be named, depending on whether he boxed, slugged or swarmed a particular big man. (Walker-Uzcudun would be particularly interesting here.) Harry and Mickey may have been physically strong MWs, but not so much in open class warfare.
I always thought they had strength that matched HW fighters as well fighters from their own class. Greb especially.
He was still strong as an ox though. A fighter can be very physically strong but not necessarily have a big punch in their arsenal. Vito Antuofermo was a case in point. And Mustafa Hamsho.
Everybody except Ali looked weak against Foreman. But everybody expected prison bodybuilder Jumbo Cummings to similarly manhandle Frazier, and this did not materialize. Jerry Quarry was known for his physical strength, but Smoke quickly pushed his hands and arms back in the clinches repeatedly during their rematch with casual ease. Ali, again, no wimp himself in the physical strength category, lauded Frazier for his physical strength. Joe never lifted weights in his life prior to his participation in the ABC Superstars competition, could not straighten his left arm to lock it out, displayed the worst form ever demonstrated in a televised weight lifting event, yet finished second to an experienced weight trainer in Bob Seagren. For somebody who NEVER touched a barbell (or steroid) in his life, slowly powering up 170 pounds with utterly shitty form is not indicative of physical weakness. Ask George Chuvalo what a pansy Frazier was at close quarters. George knows a thing or two about physical strength.
