Examples of boxers moving DOWN in weight with success

Fitz LHW title, Armstrong LW title, Canzoneri 2nd LW title.

 

:good:good:good

 

Jake LaMotta was a Diamond Belt winning amateur at 175 who moved down to 160 for his professional career.

Ossie Ocasio moved down to the newly minted CW division and became one of their first substantial champions, and the first one to move down from HW instead of up from LWH. Randy Stephens was one of his unsuccessful challengers, another smallish heavyweight who benefited from the new division.

 

Maske played heavyweight Max Schmeling in a movie and then moved down to defeat Virgil Hill at cruiserweight.

 

Hopkins and Ward both moved down early.


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Orlin Norris

 

Armstrong won the welterweight title weighing 133, so I'm not certain he really moved down.

Joey Maxim spent years fighting as a heavyweight, but then dropped to the light-heavyweight class and won the title.

Willie Pastrano campaigned as a heavyweight for years, but eventually dropped to the light-heavyweight class to win the title.

Carlos Ortiz was the junior-welterweight champion, but after losing that title dropped to lightweight to win that title. I think, though, that Ortiz was probably always a lightweight. The weight difference in the two classes is not that significant.

 

Bob Fitzsimmons moved down to capture the LtHvy title...to add to his MW & Heavywt Championships.

 

John Conteh? Wasn't he originally a smallish heavyweight?

 

For many many years the "heavyweight" division included the "light heavyweight title" within its ranks for smaller heavyweights. In many ways, compared to other weight classes it was not a real division until about 1960.

 

Yes he was. His optimum fighting weight was around 190, and whilst he could successfully give weight and still defeat the decent (but not best) British heavies of the time he realised he could not give weight successfully to the Ali's, Foreman;'s, Frazier's & Norton's of the time.

I think the CW division came along about 7-8 years too latE for JC.

 

Murray Sutherland dropped all the way from 175 to 160 lbs. and was a decent Middleweight.

 

Glenn McCrory started out losing to British heavyweights such as Hughroy Currie, Rudi Pika, Dave Garside and John Westgarth before moving down to cruiserweight and picking up British title and also IBF world title.

Ironically he was no good at HW even against mediocre fighters, and hardly a great fighter at cruiser, yet he was one of PRIME Mike Tyson's best sparring partners, boxed 100 rounds or so with him in 1987-'88.