Some old time Heavyweights were not that small

I know we live in a era of the BIG Super Heavyweight. But, up until 2000 or so most modern HW were between 5'11- 6'3. Except for a few exceptions like Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis. I looked at so old time Hw and there comparable to most. Most of the fighters are just as big as present Hw champ David Haye.

Peter Jackson ( the great black fighter before Jack Johnson) 6'2 200-210
Harry Willis 6'3 215-220
Jack Johnson 6'1 1/2 205-215
Jim Jeffries 6'2 220-225
Jess Willard 6'6 230-240
Sam Mcvey 5'11 212 ( most say he was built and fought somewhat like Mike Tyson)
Joe Jeanette 5'11 195-200

 

You have a valid argument.

Bulking up did not become the norm, until after the era of Larry Holmes, and these guys had prety respectable physiques up to that point!

In the absence of 100 years of sports science, they were prety big.

I thin k you are over rating Jackson and Jeanette though!

 

All of those guys you listed would be considered small today except Willard.

Just saying.

 

From an old Ring, the average weight in pounds, of a Heavyweight World Title fight contestant since 1900:

1900-09: 189
1910-19: 211
1920-29: 191
1930-39: 208
1940-49: 203
1950-59: 190
1960-69: 204
1970-79: 215
1980-89: 220
1990-94: 227

 

If we go back 50 years in time, to the 1961 edition of the Ring Record Book...
then they had a section called GIANT BOXERS where we, among others, can find such names as:

Andre Lenglet, 6'3 - 210
Luther McCarty, 6'4 - 205
Lou Nova, 6'3 - 202
Charley Retzlaff, 6'3 - 198
Salvatore Ruggeriello, 6'3 - 204
Phil Scott, 6'3 - 206
Otto Von Porat, 6'3½ - 202
Bombardier Billy Wells, 6'3 - 186
Harry Wills, 6'4 - 210

Things sure have changed over the past half century!

 

I think we put too much stock in this kind of thing. HW champions of yesteryear would compete fine today and vice versa.

 

There were plenty of true giants even back then, but they weren't too successful aside from a select few like Carnera and Willard.

Jose Santa, one of the most intimidating men to ever box, was 6'8 inches tall. Mean as he was, he wasn't much of a fighter and was beaten up by Carnera. Perhaps he would have been more deserving of being the inspiration for "The Harder They Fall" than Primo who actually had ability.

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Victorio Campolo, listed at nearly 6'10 tall.

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Abe Simon was 6'4-6'5 and a solid 250+ pounds.

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Buddy Baer, the brother of Max, was over 6'6 tall. He looked a lot like Alexander Dimitrenko.

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The biggest man to ever box was likely the Finnish Väinö Myllyrinne who was well over 8 feet tall and weighed 400+ lbs. He never fought in the pro ranks though.

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Imagine the damage he could have done if he were able to punch somebody with those hands.

 

It should also be noted that aside from our top two, today's top heavyweights are not that big (except their waistlines).

David Haye a former cruiserweight is certainly no bigger than the likes of Ali.

Tomasz Adamek the former light heavyweight is fooling nobody with his size despite weighing nearly 220 nowadays.

Eddie Chambers is not exactly in ripped condition at 208 pounds.

Povetkin is 6'2 and can make 220 with relative ease. Chagaev is 6 feet tall and weighs about 225 when in decent condition (though he could stand to lose more weight). The upcoming heavyweight hope Denis Boytsov is 6 feet tall and weighs 220 pounds.

 

From the old school pictures i'm always impressed by how powerful their legs look

 

Fred Fulton was 6' 4" and 215 or so ...

Carl Morris was 6' 4" and 225 -230 ...

 

Very good point A..I love when you young guys with so much knowledge get deep with the facts. Waistlines are the largest dimension that has grown since the Holmes era...The guys we call small heavyweights today are blown up middleweights and light heavy's that stopped training and the real heavyweights are not in condition....The Klitschko's and a few being the exception but at 6'7 & 6'8 240 to 250lbs is not Bad, Primo and Jess were over 250lbs and Buddy Baer was about 240-250

Also I agree Chagaev and Povetkin can be in better shape and chop off some of the extra lard that is evident from photos

 

This is a myth, Patterson bulked up from MW to 185, Jack Johnson ate his way from 180lbs to 210lbs, and on the other scale Archie considered himself a 'professional dieter'

 

:goodyou nailed it J..it started with Page,Tubbs and others and continued with Kirk Johnson and recently Chambers,Areola and Solis, etc. no reason to have those fat uncut legs that show no evidence of a run

 

What's your point?

We all know that size isn't everything... but it does matter.

Take two fighters who are pretty equal in overall skill. One fighter is 6'2" with a 75" reach and 205 solid Lbs. The other fighters is 6'5" with an 82" reach and 245 solid Lbs. I'm betting on the bigger man most of the time.

There were plenty of big HWs in the old days. Most of them sucked. Maybe "sucked" is kinda harsh but they were far from great. They were far less skilled than guys like Bowe, Lewis, V. Klitschko, W. Klitschko, or even Tony Tucker. Most weren't even on the level of Jameel McCline, Shannon Briggs, or Michael Grant.

Sure the 6'2" aprox. 200-205 Lb. Joe Louis beat-

Primo Carnera (6'6" 261 Lbs, Louis was 196)

Max Baer (6'3" 210 Lbs, Louis was 198 (1" and 12 Lbs ain't much at HW))

Tony Galento (234 Lbs but only 5'9" (he was a lard ass), Louis was 201)

Abe Simon x2 (6'4" 255 and 256 Lbs, Louis was 202 and 207)

Buddy Baer x2 (6'7" 238 and 250 Lbs, Louis was 202 and 207)

My point? These big guys weren't much.

The 5'10" 185-190 Lb Rocky Marciano (who had a 67" reach) beat the 254 Humphrey Jackson, 221 Lb Johnny Shkor, and 230 Lb Bill Wilson. So what? It doesn't tell us how he would do vs. a 240 Lb 6'5" Bowe or even a 6'3" 230-240 Lb Frank Bruno.

Skill level people! That's what it's about. When you add decent skills with... not just a big body... but a big, athletic, and well conditioned body... you have a HW who is hard to beat. If that same fighter also has a good chin and good punching power... you probably have a great HW. Not too many of these, but there have been some.