Is there a point where height is no longer an advantage in the HW division?

This.

 

Joshua and Wilder have fight dictating power.
Fury, if fit, would be something of a freak to Byrd. Could probably win wide from the SP stance.

Parker, would be the only top 5 today that I'd give Byrd even odds against.
Byrd didn't handle long, quick handed HWs.
Vitali could have ran from him or even taken a knee in each of the last rds and still won clear.
He survived wlad first time, but lost his mind thinking he could go after him and survive in the return.
Byrd, came into his prime just prior to the EE invasion, and made his mark as the best US HW not roided to the gills.

Great fighter, and a H2H tossup vs many of the prehistoric or cold war champs.
Just don't see him beating a modern HW of 6-4 or better

 

Super tall guys are more prevalent now because they can finally fill-out those lanky frames with roids. Like Anthony Joshua.

 

I could see Byrd beating Wilder convincingly. Vitali Klitschko was winning against Byrd but VK did not really land a memorable punch on Byrd, he just managed to keep Byrd on defense constantly. Wladimir Klitschko is a different story. The younger Klitschko had a unique ability to vary his timing, that's why he never seemed to have a hard time with Byrd and I don't think Joshua has that. We shall see if or when Usyk steps up.

 

Height and reach always matter, that's why we don't see much succesful Heavyweights around 6'0" anymore the hall of fame is riddled with. Funny fact, most of them had a very big reach for their size too.

 

The Tall man had excellent coordination.

 

more height usually means extra mass, so the limiting factor is going to be how much the heart can contend with (mass requires more energy to keep it moving, but the heart can only give so much).

Depends also on how boxing evolves - its cardio demands have fallen with shortened fights and more stringent refereeing healthwise, allowing larger mass boxers to thrive when they would once have gassed out and got their heads easily kicked in.

If the 22nd century sees 6 round title fights with bouts so incessantly broken up by the ref that we see a collective 10 punches per round, then 7 ft to 8 ft boxers 400lb might thrive.

 

Look at Fury and Dychko. Neither of those guys suffer from being as tall as they are. I think people let the problems the average tall person has cloud their judgement of a top level athlete. Taller people are more prone to joint problems and have a much higher caloric intake to meet to put on weight. However, the ones who take care of their body and properly tune a typical training regime to accommodate their huge frames can function just like your average person.

Joshua doesn't has gas tank problems because he's 6'6, he has them because he carries more muscle than he should on his frame. Klitschko is 6'6 as well but has broader shoulders and thicker wrists. Joshua shouldn't be coming in the ring weighing almost 10 lbs more than Klitschko.

Also I don't think being 6'4"+ is a necessity now. It's just that modern sports science and better understanding of the human body have given these huge guys the knowledge to tune their body to a 12 round fight where it wasn't as easy to do that before.

 

I imagine like 10'2 cause you'd have to crouch to hit the guy but he'd have free reign to tea off on your knee caps. Especially if you had really short arms, like a four foot wingspan.

 

These guys today have quick hands but very slow feet and just dont move well.

Look at the trouble Parker had with Ruiz Jr.

Byrd beat McCline, Vitali, Harris, Williamson, and Thunder. I also think the ref missed a KD against Golota that should have gave him the nod. Some of these fights were hard, but he found ways to win.

He was down against Vitali but frustrated the hell out of him, and didnt let him coast, forcing that corner retiremenr after a strong round.

You need to be light on your feet or crafty at cutting off the ring to beat Byrd, theres a reason the aging Lewis and so many others didnt want him.

 

Try a vegan diet and stop lifting weights at that size and see what it does for your stamina.....

 

Height is always, ALWAYS, important. No matter the weight.

And after my short amateur experience (I was a horrible amateur fighter, really bad, though) I would say that height is not only important, but decisive. It's not that you need to be a better fighter to beat a taller guy, it's that you need to be a MUCH better fighter to beat a taller guy.

If the taller guy is equally skilled, or slightly under your skills, just slightly, he will always win. Reach and height is that important imho.

That's my experience as a bad fighter, as I've said.

 

they do. Fury is as low an output puncher as they come. To argue he reached the top when he beat a 38 year old man is insubstantial an argument. His win over Cunningham was better.

Credit for winning the world title, but hes insufficient proof that a giant can last long at the top.

Within limits though height is obviously important, we just dont know that limit yet.

 

If someone is going to be able to turn a huge height disadvantage into an advantage, they are gonna need excellent head/upper body movement, excellent footwork, and explosive speed everywhere - hand, foot, reflexes

 

Byrd was a solid Champ for sure.
But, the big guns from the 90s save McCline, Vitali, and Lewis just didn't have the multi dimensional offense to get at a great fundamentals fighter such as Byrd, but, the guys today are being trained to stay out of the vacuum and using their bodies better to defend, allowing them to frustrate smaller men.
Stewards genius created this, and can't see it being overcome