Can a 5'7 man beat a 6'7 man?

Well, it depends a lot on what race you're looking at.

For instance, most hispanics still average about 5'7" today, which is why the light- and welterweight division is so full of them while there have only been a handful of heavyweight contenders in the past 100 years. In Holland, 6'0" is average today while something around 5'9" was the average 50 years ago. I don't have stats on "American"'s (mixed race of course) right now, but i've seen them in the past and they showed a significant growth. Why do you think so few top heavyweights between 1900-1960 scaled over 200lbs while between 1960-2000 a lot of them did?

 

At least part of it is the way they trained.

Let me play devils advocate and suggest that while heavyweights have become heavier their height and reach has not changed much.

 

I dont know. But it's not necessarily related to height.
I can see that there are lots of 6'2 and 6'3 heavyweights in the last 15 years who scaled 235-245lbs, but 30 years ago heavyweights at the same height were likely to be 20 pounds lighter.
And there were lots of lean, sinewy physiques back further. Weight is different to height.

And having said that, accepting that heavyweights have in fact gotten significantly TALLER doesn't mean it must be because men in general have done so.

A few years back it seem that all the top male Tennis players were 6'3 to 6'6, and only a decade or so earlier they'd been 5'10 to 6'2, generally.
No one's claiming that it's because the average height of people in general went up 4 or 5 inches in 10 or 20 years. It was something that happened in Tennis.

Theories are all well and good. I dont have one of my own, but I dont accept most of these claims just because lots of people repeat them and they make sense in some way.

Jess Willard was over 6'6 and considered very tall in 1915. Plus he was naturally big and burly, with a big bone-structure, the kind of man who weighs 250, 260 or more when he's well fed and not dieting/training. That's a big man.
I live in London, a busy city, and I dont see many men that size. The percentage is very small.
Obviously, the likes of Valuev are even rarer. Many people will never see a man as big as that in their entire lives.

 

Jack Johnson at 6'2" was nicknamed the Galvelston Giant. Can you imagine the 6'2" Trevor Berbick being named The Jamaican Giant? If not, why?

 

Compared to the average man of the day who would be say 5' 7'' Jack Johnson would have cut an imposing figure.

I dont think that he was particularly tall for a heavyweight of the period though.

See my response to power puncher.

 

There were actualy quite a lot of big men active in Johnsons era. Johnson himself was 6' 1'' and the following contenders were active around the period.

Al Kaufman 6' 1''
Frank Moran 6' 1''
Sandy Ferguson 6' 3''
Carl Morris 6' 4''
Luther McCarthy 6' 4''
Denver Ed Martin 6' 4''
Bob Armstrong 6' 3''
Hank Griffin 6' 1''
Jim Johnson 6' 3''
Klondike Haines 6' 1''
Al Palzer 6' 3''
Arthur Pelkey 6' 1''

I dont think that Johnson at 6' 1'' was anything exceptional.

 

Exceptional enough to be nicknamed a giant anyway.

 

The term giant might be relative to the average Joe rather than relative to other fighters.

Heavyweights over 6' seem to have been ten a penny in this period. You had a 5' 7'' champion of course and a lot of guys who would be light heavyweights or super middles today campaigning at heavyweight.

 

Of course I could easily expand my list somewhat by lowering the bar a bit.

Your point generaly stands. There are probably more tall heavyweights today than in earlier eras but the difference is not as big as people think and it is idifficult to quantify.

One article in the time tunnel section of this site a few years back compared the average height and reach of contenders in the 20s to today and found that those today were an inch taller on average.

 

As far as Americans average height, I remember finding a link a couple of years ago that had the average height increasing by two inches since the 1950's. To the degree there is stagnation, it is due to increasing immigration from countries with low average heights, such as Mexico and East Asia.

 

Of course, that was my point. A 6'2" man today would be considered anything from "a bit above" average to "very tall", depending on the country and generation you're looking at. But by no means would he be considered a giant among men.

 

Certainly.

Even so, most men add an inch onto their height and a guy genuinely that 6' 1-2'' who is shaped like Jack Johnson would be a prety imposing sight even today.

He would fill a door frame.

 

Janitor,


Do you know how tall/big Emanuel Campbell was? He was described on boxrec in the dempsey fight as a "big coloured fighter"