Light heavyweights are larger sized fighters, but not gargantuan sized like modern day heavyweights. And historically, light heavyweight has produced many talented fighters who have the skill of smaller men combined with a larger size. Thoughts?
140-168 produces the best of both ends of the spectrum. probably because the talent pool is deeper, and also because our genetic design is not evolved for pygmy or giant. we are designed to be able to bench our own weight, run 20 miles, pull yourself up a tree or rope with just your hands, etc... that is the ideal physical specimen. and out of the pool of ideal physical specimens, you will get the best athletes. thats why in football, the best players arent the biggest or the smallest.
There’s more skill in the lower divisions as others have mentioned. Thing with LHW though is a lot of them are athletic enough to be skilled and explosive while also hitting like cruisers and heavies. That’s why a lot of LHW bouts look so damn brutal.
No. The weight limit is too low. LHWs used to be able to contend at HW but they were never at an advantage. In MMA LHW is the perfect blend of size and skill because the limit was set at 205 a full 30 pounds heavier. Boxing is built around all the big guys being in one division and LHWs who could win at HW usually fought at HW. LHW did have more prestige as boxings 2nd division than CW and now BW will have but it was still the second division. 140-168 are more skilled but those guys don't have the size to beat HWs or to even try. And at this point LHWs don't either. Maybe someone will start at LHW really young and gradually bulk up into a HW but RJJ was probably LHWs last dance.
I don't think there is any such mix. It can't really be measured like this for me. If George Benson was 7' tall would he play/sing more beautiful licks?
either side of MW, so yes it is within the range and as already mentioned, Welters cum Middles, Middles cum L-HW. WW - 147 to 175 - L-HW.
I think MW is the perfect blend of size/skill. MW's can be anywhere between 5'8 and 6'0, normally they're around 5'10 and some of them have broad shoulders that make them look like LHWs, but with speed. I think LHW is the point where fighters begin to lose a little bit of that blazing speed of hand and foot (other than Roy). IMO if you take divisions, you'll find standouts that are faster than some other standouts in the division lower. As an example: SMW: Plant is faster than pretty much all of MWs of his era. MW: Nunn was faster than basically every JMW (and MW) of his era JMW: Terry Norris was faster than the majority of WWs of his era And there's more guys I could name as well, just don't wanna get bogged down. At LHW, if you take out Roy, there aren't a whole lot of LHW's throughout history that were faster than their MW (no SMW division the majority of history) contemporaries. You don't see LHW's with speed advantages over their smaller contemporaries (unless they came up which is another reason to disqualify Roy as he was really a MW with WW speed). Now if we're going by power then yeah, some LHW's have I personally believe CW, in a few instances HW power because they and CWs are basically little HWs. Alot of LHWs are 6'2, 6'3 even taller and look like HWs........But skill/speed etc I think MW is the perfect division.
Just ask yourself how many light heavyweight boxers have been lorded historically and recently. I don’t know if that is down to the mix of size and power but it’s never really been a live weight, on paper it looks like it should be the ultimate division but in reality it’s probably been the division with the least depth. It’s the original weight classes that seem to produce, below heavyweight it’s middleweight and welterweight that have consistently produced. I wonder if it’s down to the history of the weights and fighters staying at the weight due to the history, it’s an interesting question that rises more questions. But it’s more about the rivalry between fighters that ignites a division rather than the attributes of a fighter that are typical of the weight. The welterweight division and the middleweight division have given more than most weight divisions in my lifetime.