Size matters. A discussion on classic vs modern heavyweights.

Your first point is flawed. Marciano wouldn't necessarily be bigger. 2 and 3 look good though.

 

I hear all this talk about these really big heavyweights with "superior skills" to giants of past eras, but almost every time there's a heavyweight fight being discussed y'all saying how useless these guys are !


Go and re-watch the likes of Valuev, McCline, Briggs, M.Grant, L.Whitaker, and even many of "smaller" "top guys" like Rahman & Maskaev.
Lumbering oafs all of them.
They hug and hold and stumble around worse than Primo Carnera ever did.
That's what y'all are complaining about.

BTW, the Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko fight a few years ago wasn't exactly a masterclass display of skills and finesse.

 

The heavyweights of today are better due to one cause.

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The grill.

 

the tale of the time tells some interesting numbers. george foreman gained 4 1/2 inches on the wrist (?!?) from the 70s to the 90s. explanations?

 

Bottomline, they weigh heavier and I am not talking about due to fats. Lewis was fit at 145 lbs. I am not going into details about neck, fist, etc. If you are saying that they all have the same dimensions, then why is Lewis heavier than Foreman?

How many were there back in the old days? Ziltch. And no, Willard and Carnera do not count. If you do, then you might as well count Savarese and Briggs today. :rofl

When did Wlad start at low 220s?? And who cares what weight he started? He spent majority of his career at the upper 230s. If you want to base on the weight they started, then Joe Louis started at 181 lbs. How's that for a fair comparison?

If you say that Louis could carry 220 then why didn't he? My guess is that he will not be as a great fighter as he is simply because that weight will be too much for him.

He had muscles but take his belly off and he would have been at high 220s max :rofl

He did fare against mediocare HWs. Everytime he stepped up in competition, he lost (Holyfield, Morrison). He even lost to Schulz. And he was badly losing to Moorer before his power bailed him out.

Toney against Peter is an example of how size matters. Peter's skills is about 10% of Toney but Toney is just too small to beat Peter. He could weigh 230+ but that doesn't mean he was a big guy.

Holyfield had success until he met big guys like Bowe and Lewis.

Jones only got the title from the weakest hw title holder, so his case is hardly convincing. If he knew he had a chance to beat the best at HW, we would have seen him stayed at HW.

 

By the way, since you like to use Evander as an example. He weighed 190 lbs when he fought at cruiser which many considered as his best weight.

Why did he find it necessary to weigh around 210 during his stint at HW? If it were better for him to weigh 190 (which was around the same as Marciano and Dempsey)?

Fact is, he need those mass to be competitive at HW. :deal

 

But Marciano was only 5'10 and 185 lb..or should we take 2080th marciano who would be 7'10 and 300 lb and his IQ would be 200..:rofl

Marciano was much smaller if you compare him nowadays heavys..

 

Hey, I have never denied that added size that is useful helps. However, why did Evander stop at 208 (and later at around 215 or so) to win the title? Why did he not weigh in excess of 230? 240?
There is a point of diminishing returns, and a point of no return. How would Evander fight at 240? Probably like ****.

 

I know manny people, myself included still eating only 1 o 2 fruits a week.

 

He can only increase weight so much. from 190 to 215 is 25 lbs, not a neglible weight by any means.

Well actually Evander is somewhat exceptional case because his weight is deceiving. He is no doubt a huge guy, his upper body is no smaller than that of Tyson. The only thing that keeps his weight down is his skinny legs. I bet if you put Tua's legs on Evander, he will instantly weigh close to 250 :rofl

 

Agreed.