A 170lb technician can beat a 220lb heavyweight, especially if he is not giving up significant height and reach.
The way I see these match ups and I know a lot disagree with me. If a LW is jumping to WW he won't still weigh 135 pounds. If a WW jumps to MW he won't still weigh 147 pounds. That's because weight is an advantage and you wouldn't give it away for no reason. When Toney was an elite HW he didn't weigh in at 160, when Jones JR was a HW titlist he didn't weigh in at 168, there's lots of examples of a man moving up in weight and bulking up. Byrd was it a natural at 215 so he overate. Patterson wasn't naturally 190 pounds so he overate. People are saying Charles loses because he gives away too much weight to Tua, so let him bulk to Byrd. Does anyone doubt he could carry the weight that Byrd did?
If Charles would bulk to 215, would he still have the flexibility? Would he still carry his speed? Could he keep it up, like he could at 190? Not all 6'1 men are the same. Thomas Hearns could also get to 190, but he isn't Charles at that weight. Nor is he Marciano. I remember Hearns saying something about wanting a 200 pound catchweight with Mike Tyson [url]http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/22/sports/sports-people-boxing-hearns-vs-tyson.html[/url] How would Tyson have fared with a 200 pound weight limit?
Self admitted huge Ezzard Charles fan here...I'd lean Towards Charles at his best to find a way to survive and diffuse Tua stylistically...BUT there's a chance that big left hook lands.
I'm in the same boat. Charles extra class and ability have me leaning toward him but he did mix it up a bit and was never overly a mover.
Guys like Thomas Hearns proberbly always cheated the scales somewhat. He was aiming for five weight divisions even before he fought Hagler. Boxing training takes weight off. When you stop training it goes back on. It's like yoyo dieting. It becomes harder and harder to get down. So saying there is a reason fighters "put weight on" to fight at a higher weight is a bit silly. The weight is already there! What they are actually doing is not taking so much off. Why would Thomas Hearns fight Hill at 154? He was proberbly coming down from 180 to make 147! David Tua was still 201lb in his first pro fight even though he no longer had to make 91k as an amateur. You would think he would have took less off and came in heavier but a that point Tua was comfortable just like that. 201lb is not a million miles away from Charles who beat the cr@p out of bigger guys. But put an extra twenty artificial pounds on Tua and he's proberbly easier for Charles to beat.
This is a forum ,a forum by definition is for open discussion.For example let's say a poster matches Holmes versus Marciano,another says his jab would rip Rocky's face open,in response another says Holmes was vulnerable to the right hand,another mentions that Holmes possessed a great uppercut, the perfect weapon for the croucher, and so on. It's a debate to examine all possible outcomes.If you find it annoying that not everyone parrots your point of view , but is actually interested in all the pros and con of what various fighters bring to the table , then perhaps this forum isn't for you? Here's a tip for you, if my posts annoy you don't f*cking read them!
So Hearns just trained a week or two for the Hill fight and other fights at 175 did he. Maybe that's why Benitez used to train for a week or two all the time, otherwise he would have been fighting at lightweight or under.
Of course not. That would be pedantic. Boxer's are fighting the scales as well as getting into shape. If they are not fighting the scales then they can just concentrate on getting into shape. They're not training any less. Everyone knows this! Eating at a different time makes a huge difference. Riddick Bowe for example would eat before bedtime so as to hold onto his weight. He famously installed a walk-in kitchen onto his bedroom for this very purpose.