Tommy Burns fighting today...

Wow. I wouldn't even have thought to put the two together. I read that Burns was 5'9 also. I've seen him listed as 5'7 and 5'9. And 5'8. Of course I've seen Ali listed as 6'2, 6'3 and strangely 6'4. How hard is it to take someone's definitive height?

 

its a bit harsh getting teh guy to fight on New Years day

 

I say he would beat Arthur, and then he would clean out the Cruiserweight Division, and then he would ask to be sent back so he could take the Heavyweight belt from Hart.

Happy New Year!

 

Does Burns get thrown straight in? Or does he get a chance to work with a top class trainer and prepare for his fight?

 

Burns is one of the best infighters I have seen on film and his power was incredible for a fighter of his size. I think his style would work verry well today with little or no modification.

With todays miriad of titles and weight classes, combined with todays training methods, he would be able to fight in any division from middleweight to heavyweigh as proved prudent.

Taking the above considerations into account I have to conclude that he would almost certainly have enjoyed considerable success, and that we would likley be looking at a multiple weight division champion.

 

I agree with you,Burns was very mobile ,quick on his feet , evasive and hard hitting,I fancy his chances against Ketchel.
Burns could have been a double title holder anyway ,because when he fought O Brien for the Heavy crown ,both men scaled inside the Light Heavy limit , so he could legitmately have claimed that title.

 

If Burns had claimed the LHW title I would suggest:

A. That his claim would almost certainly have been accepted.

and

B. That this would have increased his standing among modern fans.

 

Burns was a good overall fighter He had success from WW-HW. In todays game I'd imagine he'd do well at WW, JMW, MW, SMW, LHW, and CW.
I've seen him listed at 5'7" most of the time. His reach is mostly listed at 74'... which is a pretty long reach considering how tall he was (Holyfield's is 77 1/2" and he is 6'2 1/2" BTW).
His reach was longer than Charles', Marciano's, Patterson's, Frazier's, Tyson's, Roy Jones', and James Toney's among others.
He had good speed and power. He was well conditioned, had a good chin, and recovered from punishment well. He went the 20 round distance several times and remained active thruout. Sure, Jack Johnson beat him convincingly but there is no shame in that.
43-5-9 (34) overall and 13-1-1 (11) in HW World Title fights. He also went 0-1-2 in MW World Title Fights... he did win the Michigan State and Pacific Coast MW titles.

 

I don't know if he would ever have been able to make welterweight or juniour middle.

He was looking to contest the title at middleweight before he got a crack at Hart but making the weight would have been hard for him.

I am prepared to assume that he could have made middleweight today, and that he would not have needed to use weights to make cruiserweight.

 

Very true... he was still solid at 175-180Lbs. I just meant that at one point he was a WW... actually he started at LW!

I think he'd fit in well at SMW and LHW though. As for Arthur Abraham? Who knows but Burns has more experience vs. bigger men. Abraham has fought a few fights at 168, the rest of his pro bouts have been at 160. Burns definately fought taller men with longer reaches. He's also fought bigger, stronger, and harder punching men.

As much as I like Abraham, I'd have to favor Burns... at least on paper.