What's a good average reach for a heavyweight boxer?

Reach is overrated, since it all comes down to how a fighter uses whatever tools he has. A guy with a longer reach is vulnerable in exchanges against a guy with a shorter reach, who knows how to use angles well. If a guy with a shorter reach uses an effective strategy he could still beat Wilder or Fury.

Ortiz with his 76 inch reach (his 84 inch reach listing is bogus) effectively neutralized Wilder’s jab and reach, but he didn’t have an answer when Wilder started throwing right hand leads.

Fury for as talented as he is doesn’t change up his footwork enough and makes himself predictable as the fight progresses. Wilder figured out Fury’s pattern late in their fight, which allowed him to time Fury with his combination, but Wilder figured it out too late.

 

Reach is only as good as the style and skillsets the fighter can use and what another fighter may let him get away with.

Ruiz has a 74 inch reach but that comes with somewhat heavy feet.

Wilder has a 83 inch reach but doesn't utilize it where hes that lucky to be undefeated ,we saw several fights he cant jab with a jabber and Furys 85 inch reach got him in all sorts of confusion..

More then not the longer reaches have wins over the shorter ones in this class.

Ruiz was able to get one over AJ but odds are stacked against him still ,reach could really be his down fall in December if Joshua uses that reach. Optimal reach I would say is 80 inches tbc most key guys have over that .

1.Fighters with under 80 inch reaches....Chisora / Povetkin / Parker / Kownacki /Rivas / Whyte/ Kownacki / Usyk /Whyte / Ortiz /Miller / DDD /Hunter all averaged about 78 inch reaches,the highest one was Hunter 79.5.


2, Fighters with 80 or over inch reaches.....Joshua /Fury /Wilder / Hrgovic /Joyce / Jennings /Ajagba /Bakole / Pulev / Wallin / Martin /Breazeale all over 80 inch reaches .

Only 3 in the other group has wins over guys on this one that was Hunter over Bakole and Kownacki over Martin and Ortiz over Jennings ( only including pro sanctioned bouts) .

The longer fighters averaged 82 inch reaches altogether and had a height of 6.5 inches which is also reach even if someone says its not bc it effects distance to.

I know not everyone fought each other but 5 fights with the longer reach guys defeated one another.

Id say 80 inch reaches is a safe bet unless you are Usyk ( Edit : OR over 6'3 But one guy doesn't make an average number.

 

A reach advantage combined with good jab is a big advantage. If this is combined with a height advantage the odds are stacked against the shorter fight with less reach.

I’d say 78 inches is average today.

79-80 inches, Above average

81-83 inches, Better than 80 percent of the field.

84 inches or more, historically rare.

 

No-one can reach like you do Mark.

Sorry guys, couldn't resist.

 

Average for a contender, maybe 78", but rapid hands can breach the reach gap as Jnr showed.

 

This video announcer lost a ton of credibility when he said Fury is one of the largest men in the heavyweight divisions history. Fury at 6’7” is big, but guys his size and even bigger weren’t exactly uncommon even in the old days.

That said I admitted that Fury has a lot of talent, but he does tend to get predictable. He showed signs of this in the Zack Page fight and had to get reigned in by Steward, since in the later rounds Page adjusted to Fury’s reach and height and was started to land clean shots. For whatever reason it isn’t on Youtube any longer, but he also started looking predictable in the Wilder and Walken fights as the rounds progressed.

I think if he wouldn’t have had the layoff and stayed active under Peter he would’ve improved and would have more tools in his arsenal than he currently has.

 

No idea why so many people on here have a problem admitting that Fury is 6‘8 6‘9.
Wilder is 6‘7 for sure and Fury was taller then him by an inch or more. And fury was noticeable taller then wlad who is listed as 6‘6. fury is gigantic even for a modern heavyweight

 

What year are we talking? They get bigger and bigger.. In the 1980s a 81 inch reach was good.. I think.

 

now? 85? I really don't know.. Remember Hearns has a 78 1/2 inch reach which was heavyweight reach. So it is hard to understand reach. The arm length is something which seems more accurate since shoulder width factors into reach I think.