You really think Povetkin is a better fighter than Marciano and Walcott because he carried am extra 15 pounds of flab on his body?
Very true. AJ is a great fighter but he lacks a few things for me to favor him over many ATG heavyweights
Interesting debate. We can say that Holyfield was able to make 187, come in at a solid 203 afterwards and pump up to 210-217lb. Usyk on the other hand had to make 199, but rehydrated to like a couple of pounds more. He was taller than Holyfield too and could carry a little bit more. I believe the lowest Mike Tyson came in after he got 19 years of age was 213 for Ribalta, but more often came at 217-221 after that. At the age Holyfield was fully roided and Usyk beat AJ (34), Mike Tyson could barely make 222 lb. But also in younger years its said he ballooned to over 240lb quickly in two months between Thomas and Tucker, within a brake before the training camp. Which gives us the following weight hierarchy: Tyson > Usyk > Holyfield.
For the topic: One of the smallest fighters to make a good impact against 240lb AJ might be this 192lb version of Bert Cooper. This content is protected But for the high chance odds, AJ wins by stoppage of course.
What about Louis, Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Marciano, and Joe Frazier? Would you favor any of them against Joshua?
Good question. I think training and nutrition far superior today. I don't mean boxing techniques but access to equipment, time and science of body conditioning. That being said I am going to qoute Joe Frazier when asked how he would do against men like Jack Johnson. He said they were more "man" than we are today. What he was saying was those old fighters worked out in 100+ degree gyms, had poor health care, poor nutrition, walked every where and survived many untreatable diseases . A man like Jackson was tougher than I could ever imagine and far tougher than any modern day fighter hands down! So all those men were the truest champions, but I would say Frazier and Louis would be my top picks
Povetkin was always flabby and soft. If he is training in the 15 round era he probably weighs around 215 pounds. You now have a weight gulf of 25 pounds for Marciano, an all time great fighter, to overcome a against career contender in Povetkin. Usyk, a potentially great fighter just overcame the very same weight gap against a championship caliber talent in Joshua. How at this point can you put so much stock into size that the greatness of a fighter basically reduced to nothing?
You didn't think about diminishing returns though now did you. The bigger you get, the less weight matters. Just because 215lb Povetkin can give Joshua problems does not automatically mean 185lb, 5'11 Marciano can. Marciano fought in an era of mostly light heavyweight-cruiser sized fighters with a few big oafs, it's not like he dominated an era packed full of legitimate modern sized heavyweights. Or even packed full of 210 pound guys. A majority of them were sub-200 pounders. Thats why i don't think too highly of him. Usyk does not fight like Marciano, he's outboxed Joshua and outclassed him during their chess match. He's also significantly larger than Marciano. 6'3, 221lb and he looked relatively fit. Even non bulked up Usyk is still about 215 pounds. I do however think 205lb Holyfield destroys Joshua because he's not only more skilled than Marciano imo but he was also larger at HW
The Klitschko era changed the heavy weight division because of what Wlad specifically brought to the table. Guys like Joshua would never hang in 15 rounds with a hungry relentlessly paced power puncher who's not going to be intimidated by his size. Marciano beat fighters as large as Povetkin. I've got no reason to believe povetkins size alone overcomes everything else. Agreed on Holyfield.