Sometimes they are under reported to throw fighters off too. Traditional measurements from finger tip to finger tip is not the best way to look at it, as broader shoulders and longer fingers really do not have much to do with the length / range of a gloved fist. HBO's version is a bit better. The pit of the arm to a straight fist. The HBO record holder is Vitali Klitschko a 29.5", yet his traditional reach is listed at 80". When Vitali fought Lewis it looked like he had a shade in reach, even though Lewis's traditional reach is listed at 84" I used to think a big reach advantage was even better than a big height advantage. Now I think they are about even.
vitali is listed at 79 inches.look at boxrec. no way vitali's arms are longer than lewis's.i can't find the photo right now,but there was one photo,i think the weigh in between two,and you can clearly see that lewis has bigger hands and longer arms. [url]http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Lewis-Golota.jpg[/url] see how lewis has bigger hands and longer forearms than golota. vitali has small hands for his size and his arms are actually short for his height.he has the same reach as his height,and when you add his broad shoulders,he actually has shorter arms. see how adamek has bigger hands than vitali [url]http://www.boxnews.com.ua/photos/2702/Vitaly-Klitschko-Tomasz-Adamek1.jpg[/url] vitali was a master at controlling distance considering he didn't have long arms for his height.
buster douglas was listed at 83 inches,seems huge,but he definitely has a case for it..massive shoulders and very long arms,plus big hands.
Box rec does not measure. One editor reports. On Kltischko's official web site, they say 80" I'll go with that. Vitali has a long upper torso, and pretty big hands When he fought Lewis, HBO had it Vitlai 29.5, Lewis 29" for their version of reach [url]http://www.klitschko.com/vitali-wladimir/vitali-klitschko/[/url] [url]http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/12/wladimir-and-vitali-klitschko-a-tale-of-the-tape/[/url]
maybe he has 80 inch reach,but that is not long considering his height. vitali has wide shoulders and his reach is,or almost as his height...that means he doesn't have long arms.if he had long arms,his reach would be few inches longer than his height. look at larry holmes,he has narrow shoulder but very long arms,so his reach is 81.longer than vitali's...holmes has longer arms than vitali. vitali has big hands comparing to an average joe,but comparing with other heavyweights and considering his size,his hands are small.
Ignore the numbers and trust your own eyes. Vitali and Lewis had a roughly equal reach when they fought. Their arms are the same length here in the shoulder to closed fist jab exchange. [url]http://img.welt.de/img/bildergalerien/crop122036713/7689738924-ci3x2l-w540/Boxen-Klitschko-Lewis.jpg[/url]
My only advice would be never pick a picture where one guy is landing and one guy is falling short (or appears to in the pic) to try to pick reach. The guy landing always looks like he has better reach, at least to me.
One man has his torso turned into the punch, the other does not. I draw quite a bit and an equal arm length measurement is pretty easy to call. I don't think there is any doubt both men were surprised by the other's reach in this match. Reason it was kind of sloppy for their standards, they were never out of each other's range. [url]http://im.rediff.com/sports/2003/jun/22pic1.jpg[/url] [url]http://www.spox.com/de/sport/mehrsport/0811/Bilder/klitschko-lewis-514.jpg[/url] [url]http://www.boxing.com/images/sized/images/articles/klitschko_vs_lewis-530x317.jpg[/url]
Yeah, I can easily believe 84" for Liston...every picture I see of him, I notice that humongous reach of his. He was a monster...a very impressive and imposing guy.
If only Vitali had more torque to his punches....he'd be the Klitschko brother that everyone talks about...I'v e always condidered VK as a heavyweight version of Carlos Monzon, but honestly, only to an extent. Monzon was of course a much better fighter,...but that's the closest parallel I can draw in comparing Vitali.