What boxer has the best win above their natural weight class?

Duran in the Iran Barkley fight, and Toney and Holyfield. M. Spinks in the first Holmes fight comes to mind.

 

Alexis Arguello, a natural feather in his early prime, outclassing Jim Watt and stopping Ray Mancini plus Andy Gannigan at lightweight.

 

Hearns was a natural light heavy (or at least super middle) starved to stay below that for years. I bet he'd have filled out a lot quicker and earlier absent strict diet control. Must have been miserable, realistically.

 

He was in no way a light heavy or super middle shrinking down to welterweight. No way he was walking around in the 170s or thereabouts when he was fighting at welter during that part of his career.

Look at his spidery legs and thin torso. Even when he bulked up it was adding muscle to his upper body but he isn’t as ‘thick’ as natural guys at those weights.

A guy cutting massive weight (you’re talking 20-30 pounds) doesn’t come in at 145 like he did for Leonard, Curry and Espada. They barely tip the scale at the very upper end of the limit, not routinely coming in at a couple of pounds below.

 

I think he'd have naturally been filling out but didn't due to a strict diet -- I think he'd have moved up in weight earlier and naturally. That's what I meant.

 

I agree with what you said about Hearns except he was a lot slower at 175 than he was at 147.

 

I agree but his body looked a lot less defined in his fight v Hill than it it did v Andries in 87.

 

Also speed was key to Tommy`s style.

 

Yet he schooled a fighter noted for his speed, and quickness at 175 , Virgil Hill. " Quicksilver ".
Of course he was slower at Lt. Heavy than at welterweight. Thats only natural, and he was older.
But that's only relative. I'd bet you Hill , Maynard and others would beg to differ he was slower than the Lt.heavy's they faced throughout their careers.

 

I simply meant Hearns was a better fighter at 147, he was quick at 147 so fighters couldn`t evade his right hand.

 

Not a win, but Mickey Walker getting a draw against Jack Sharkey when he did, is absolutely insane.

You have a former lineal welterweight champion, holding a future heavyweight champion to a draw, between two heavyweight fights where the title changed hands.

The majority of ringsiders had it for Walker by the way.

Insane!

 

One way of interpreting this question is to start at the top of your p4p ATG list and keep going down it until you find a fighter who lost during their prime to a fighter a full weight divison below them.

I get as low as my #2, Harry Greb, who during his prime, whilst weighing 162lbs, lost to the 147lbs Soldier Bartfield.

This is simultaneously the most under celebrated and the greatest victory in boxing history, imo.

 

Of course he was ...
His physical advantages over most opponents at the weight was simply overwhelming.

 

The idea that Hearns was a natural light heavyweight starving himself to fight at 147 and 154 for all those years is crazy IMO. We are talking same day weigh ins if anyone doesn't realise. He made Welterweight for 4 years and was electrifying there. He was prepared to stay there longer in order to rematch SRL too but that never eventuated. Almost 9 years after his first pro fight he was still making 154 and put on the performance of his life at that weight at the 6 1/2 years mark against Roberto Duran.

Starving dehydrated fighters simply cannot function that well over that period of time, or even close. We are talking same day weigh ins. He would have been negatively affected to a great degree. Look at what happened to the likes of Donald Curry and countless others trying to stay down in weight for too long. He was a light welter as an amateur.

He carried 154 brilliantly and that was his peak weight for me tho some switched on people think 147 was his greatest. He was still a heckuva fighter at 160 and even 175 but more vulnerable. He still had loads of power and speed and looked good but was a bit weak in the legs if anything. He carried it pretty well with his height and reach.