Which Middleweights would've benefited the 168 division other than D1ck Tiger and Greb?

Stanley Ketchel, Leo Houck and Jake LaMotta

 

Ketchel was at his best around 155. Houck could have come in under 158/160 he just boxed at what he was comfortable at during the ND era. Remember he was participating in several sports, not just boxing, so he was just boxing at his walking around weight. I dont know that Tiger would have benefited much more from 168 either. Like Houck he wasnt a very big guy and he had the added problem of not being very good against movers, particularly if they had size on him. I think its one thing to fight at a more comfortable weight but you give up other things that really benefited these guys against smaller fighters. LaMotta is another one. He was a really squatty guy and while he had some success against light heavyweights his lack of height and reach really shoehorned him into the middleweight division. Boxing against those bigger, taller fighters may leave you a little stronger but it erases some of the other advantages you both carry down with you or unevens the playing field that you evened by dropping down and fighting guys your own height, reach, etc. who may be still be weaker than you even when you are weight drained. Such was the case with LaMotta. Jakes real issue was that he lost focus after he met Vikki and didnt train the same way. He didnt stay in shape between fights and then hed crash diet and take all kinds of pills and stuff trying to lose weight and retain his strength and it really screwed him up at the end of his career. He was taking Benzedrine and other amphetamines along with diet pills and diuretics in order to take shortcuts. In addition to that he began drinking heavily after he lost the title and it was all down hill from there. When he was young and focused on his goal before he got jaded and ***** whipped his weight wasnt as big an issue. Yes, he was naturally a bigger guy than your average MW but his physical limitations and his ability cut weight and retain strength meant that was where he was a natural fit.

 

Harry Kid Matthews was really a '68-pounder according to his sometime trainer George Chemeres.

 

Jake LaMotta is the most obvious example. He lost extreme amounts of weight to make 160. That took a toll on him both mentally and physically. You can get away with it for awhile but he catches up.

 

era's of them,

where catchweight fights were the norm, especially among top guys chasing titles and recognition among bigger fighters... dozens, hundreds of them had to do this.

 

Lloyd Marshall

 

He fought Johnson at 170

 

There was no official weigh in for the fight. The weights announced (actually 174 for Ketchel) were merely taken at the word of the fighters. This was the same situation when he fought Joe Thomas in 1908. Boxrec lists his weight as 170 because Ketchel said he weighed NEARLY 170. There was no official weigh in. Yet when there were official weigh ins Ketchel always weighed between 155-160 pounds even when he didnt have to make weight. I wouldnt take two wildcard fights and extrapolate that this was Ketchel's natural weight.

 

He's mostly known for his LHW work but Billy Conn would've enjoyed a 168lbs division

 

When I think of a fighter who could benefit from the b@stard divisions, it is generally a guy who either came up short in their division against a dominant champion or that could not make the leap from...in this case MW to LHW.

I think of a Bennie Briscoe trapped between Monzon and Hagler that could have perhaps benefited from another division.

 

Jock McAvoy and Len Harvey at certain points in their careers. McAvoy in particular would have benefited from a halfway house between MW and LHW.

 

Marvin Johnson the LHW could've