Fighters who had the "size advantage"

Broner comes to mind. He was massive at 130 and even 135 but jumped up too quick and got found out at 147 and hasn't looked nearly as good at 140 since either.

 

Muhammad Ali
Klitschko brothers
Celestino Caballero

 

Broner...however the pint sized ponce de Leon negated his size advantage.

 

What are you talking about Ali for?

Ali competed in the light heavyweights for the Olympics. LMFAO

 

The difference is most of those guys could beat down other guys their own size. Donaire just got beat down by a guy his size who wasn't as talented as he was.

 

Lennox Lewis
Klitschko sisters
Antonio Margarito
Saul Alvarez

 

Historically the champ tends to be bigger than the rest of his division. The guys who are considered the best punchers or the most dominant usually have abnormal height and reach advantages, ie they belong in another division. I usually cite Tommy Hearns, Ray Robinson, Alexis Arguello, Paul Williams, Bob Foster, Michael Spinks, and Bernard Hopkins as prime examples of this. This was also a major factor in their ability to climb weight classes, since they usually just moved up to weights where their height, reach, and punching power were normal, as opposed to true p4p greats like Roberto Duran, Mickey Walker, or Henry Armstrong who were undersized for the divisions they fought in.

 

He outreached, outweighed and was taller than most of his opponents in the pros

 

Ali was 6'3" with a reach of 78" and weighed about 215-220 in a time when the average heavyweight was 6'0"-6'1" with a reach of 74" and weighed 205-210. The heavyweight champ is almost always the biggest guy around, with some notable exceptions. Joe Louis and Mike Tyson might be the only dominant champs who routinely fought guys who were bigger than them. Dempsey gets credit for beating three guys bigger than him, but their skills or condition are debatable. But there is a reason why Jack Johnson was only six feet tall but called the Galveston Giant. He took the title off a guy who was five foot seven for Christ's sake!

Ali definitely had size advantages against most of his foes. Jerry Quarry, Ellis, Frazier, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Oscar Bonavena, Chuvalo all smaller. But he did fight a few guys who were as tall Young, Holmes, Norton, Mathis, Lyle, or bigger Bugner, Foreman, Terrell.

 

Ali compared to Marciano:http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b374/ROOFIEREEFER/marciano-ali2.jpg

Ali was a big man for his day

 

How did Hearns and DLH make this list? They certainly used their size to their advantage when they were younger, but they both had success as they moved up. To be fair, the same can be said for Donaire. Keep in mind that the guy started out as a Flyweight.

 

You mean fighters like Ron lyle, Sonny Liston, Ernie Terrell, Ken Norton and George Foreman.

 

Tito Trinidad
Junior Jones
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
Kelly Pavlik
Erik Morales
Danny Garcia

 

That doesn't in anyway contradict my statement. 39 of Ali's 50 opponents were or had fought under 200lbs.