I think people vastly overrate how much of an advantage size actually is, I get that people are under the impression if you're 6'5 240lbs you're suddenly unstoppable to someone who is 6ft 200lbs but history has shown that this isn't the case. Firstly I'll talk about Jim Jeffries who was 6ft 2 220lbs, This is the same size as richard torrez Jr, But Jim came from a much tougher era, Forget about the fact that his opponents were "little men" and remember back then the Gloves were smaller and Jeffries had too take enormous punishment in order to down his swifter opponents using grit. In Joe louis and Jack dempsey's time there were Large number of giants like fred fulton(while only slightly above 200lbs in weight he was still 6ft 5 similar to wilder's physique) who was considered a top contender, Jess willard who was champion Watch his fight with dempsey he uses almost the exact same tactics the modern big men do against smaller men, Jab to keep away his smaller opponent tie him up on the inside(Also take note that 6ft 1 192lbs dempsey is able to wrestle with him despite Jess being a very big man and exceptionally strong as well) Finally the china chin argument can't be used for willard because he toughed through a vicious beating from 6ft 205lbs Jack Johnson for 26 rounds Carl Morris, Luis Firpo, Harry wills(Though dempsey didn't fight him) And in Louis era, You have A lot as well, The Baer brothers(Max Baer in particular has very similar attributes to deontay wilder) Abe Simon, Primo Carnera(Has similar attributes to Mahkmudov except the power but actually has a heart so it evens out) etc in the Marciano era, You had Carmine vingo(who was 6'4 reportedly so probably over 200lbs as well and marciano put him into a coma), Bob baker and Nino Valdes(Both around 6ft 3 215lbs and both were beaten by archie moore) That's a lot of people who are giants even by todays standards and all of them weren't unskilled bums. While I understand there's a lot of rose tinted glasses about the past I don't think these fighters should be dismissed because they're "too small" and for the "sports" evolve argument. Have you ever thought to yourself that maybe boxing has evolved to become more safe? Think about it, Do you think a T-rex would lose to a Chicken in a fight? I think that argument doesn't hold much water in the grand scheme of things.
Was originally a "Cruiserweight" And ever since he moved up he's been making most of his opponents look bad.
Haven't seen that line in a while "Every big heavyweight I don't want to admit is skilled would've been Primo Carnera back in the day. Just look at Makhmudov! The sweet science has deteriorated!"
Lewis, Klitchko's, Fury, AJ A pattern is occuring. Not to say that a small man cannot beat them, but look who has been dominating. When a SHW knows to how box and use his size, hes going to do well.
Jai Opetaia will be that man. His speed, explosive power and granite chin will make plenty of the bigger guys look very average.
The problem is blind fanboys who simply can never accept when their fighter gets beaten and exposed. We’ve had people claiming Wilder would beat guys like Klitschko and Tyson because ‘he’s 6’7 and hits hard’ - please, skills win boxing fights at the end of the day and the guys today are just not as skilled or even as athletic as the past eras. In general, the best athletes have moved away from boxing and today’s lot benefit massively from hype and having weak competition.
Not true, The likes of Lennox Lewis, Riddick bowe, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko even AJ and even some of the lesser fighters like Tony Tucker, Buster Douglas, Joseph Parker could've given past great fighters difficult times. I think it's more whether or not these big heavyweights can fight someone more elusive which a lot of them aren't able to do. If anyone is the modern equivalent of Primo Carnera it's Tyson fury. Maybe it was a bit rude to lump all of the modern superheavy's in the carnera camp.
For heavyweights the difference in size doesn't mean much unless its a big difference. Lewis is smaller than Fury, yet because the gap isn't that big he stands a chance of winning. None in their right mind however would argue Frazier could beat Fury. The gap there is simply far too much.
Tyson fury would get Knocked out by Frazier, Fury can't take someone endlessly battering him. Remember Steve cunningham who was in a similar realm to Frazier weight wise Knocked Fury on his ass. Fury has next to nothing to prove he can take even remotely half the pressure that Frazier would exhibit on him. Fury's usual clinching tactic wouldn't even work as Frazier had excellent stamina. I'd Favor AJ far more than Fury over Frazier. AJ actually has the potential to stop Frazier due to the power he has. A feather fist is going to have a hellish time against Frazier no matter how big they are.