People say he was like 180lbs in the ring, but coming to think of it, he weighed 155lbs against Sumbu Kalambay and that was back when they had same day weigh ins, so how was he all of a sudden 180lbs in the ring when they introduced before day weigh ins? Was he really that big of a middleweight?
I talked with him at the IBHOF 2 years ago. He was 6'1", about 220 pounds. So, yes, I would say he is very large for a Middleweight.
He was huge for a middleweight, strong, hit hard had a head the size of a heavyweight yeah, he was huge. Just because he was able to make 155 and fight doesn't mean he wasn't a bigger man than other middleweights it is not common for a man his size to be able to cut weight to 160 and still be strong enough to fight but he was certainly one of the few
The first time I saw Chavez Junior ...i instantly thought of Iran Barkley....he’s not like his dad at all
For a MW, he appeared very tall and very solid in frame. Yes, his head was big also. Monzon was considered a big MW in his day and if that still holds to some degree even now, Barkley was taller and appeared that bit more solid again. Though obviously a weight restricted division, MWs seem to come in a lot of different heights and frames. If there are such concepts, what would be the ideal or average height and build expected for a MW?
I met him a good five years after he retired and at thatt point he was pretty husky and easily over 200 pounds. He was definitely every bit of 6'1. Honestly, I remember being amazed thinking that he fought at 160 at one time especially before the days of massive weight cuts. Back in those days most Middleweights were in the 5'10 range. Now they are mostly over 6'.
He was 153 against Kalambay. That's a pound inside the 'light middle' limit. He was tall and quite wide shouldered. He was skinny in the lower body though. He had no legs, no hips, no ass ... unlike Beyonce Knowles.
I've always thought he looked big in there but if you watch a round of his first fight with Hearns he looks pretty standard. Hearns looked like a big middle as well by then so yeh Barkely looks like a big middleweight.
This is the answer. What we see as "big" is largely the bias of what we easily see when standing erect-the upper body. But normally a man has 60% of his body mass below the waist. If someone is at most around 50%, we will see him as bigger than he objectively is. Relatively small backside, hips & upper legs make one look larger than they are not only because we notice the upper body more, but the former make much less of an impression. So a Holyfield or Wilder look bigger than they are-also because ironically if you are lower body fat than an average person or HW, although you have marginally less upper body mass due to fat, it makes the muscles more visible. Hello Mike Weaver. Frazier looks smaller than say Shavers right? But even without Shavers having "no legs", they were almost the same weight-at about the same body fat %. And Frazier was shorter with smaller hands & arms (less length to hang muscle on). But if you calculated actual muscle per square inch, due to legs & butt he had at least as much mass as Shavers.
