Who is the smallest person who could beat superheavy Vitali

Everyone who fought Langford agreed that he was the hardest puncher they ever faced. Anyone he caught clean on the chin was a goner. Jack Johnson said that Sam would have beaten Dempsey as he believed Sam's right cross would have gotten there a fraction of a second before Jack's left hook landed. Dempsey, always a modest man, said he is not sure if even at his best, he could have beaten Sam. If such an imaginary matchup would magically be possible (Sam against the super heavies), and I had to bet my life on the outcome, I would bet on Sam. Always, remember, the great ones will find a way.

 

You mean like when the lesser skilled and much smaller Johnson and Wills were constantly battering him, both of them never showing the incredible workrate Vitali did.

 

I would dispute the notion that either was less skilled, and I don’t think either of them fought Langford particularly close to his prime.

Either way we have to draw the line somewhere, and I am choosing Langford.

 

But wait you don't wait Wills, you consider him slow and easy to hit, remember. You also run him down in Dempsey threads. You can't change your mind when you're trying to bolster Langford :nut But anyway Wills jab is nowhere near Vitali's level, his shift of bodyweight makes him a more natural powerpuncher, infighter and bodypuncher but he's definitely a poorer outboxer.

Johnson has a far inferior jab throws about 1/5th of Vitali's output per round. He's also much much smaller, much weaker and a much lighter hitter. The only thing he probably has on Vitali is a better uppercut.

 

I think that both Johnson and Wills were a lot more technically complete than Vitally Klitschko.

If he had been the size of Jack Johnson, I doubt that he would have been champion in either man’s era.

That aside, I am sure that he would have done very well against the green Langford that Johnson faced, or the ageing version that Wills faced.

 

Are we talking small in terms of height, or weight? One thing is clear, outboxing Vitali Klitschko is not going to be an option as no man he faced ever won more than two consensus rounds! Simply amazing.

If its height, I'd say, Tyson, though I feel Vitali would TKO Tyson.

If we are talking weight, then the best puncher with speed. Likely Joe Louis ( 195-200 ) , though I think Vitali's would use his foot speed, height, reach, and angles to tee off on Louis low guard and predictable shuffling footwork.

 

Chris Byrd, obviously. Though Byrd had no business winning that fight Just shows that there's always a chance ...

 

Otherwise you need a small, very tough, busy hw that is hard to hit. I'd almost say Marciano, but I dunno if the Rock has the footwork to catch up to Vitali without getting bust up by the jab. Vitali might have trouble tagging a guy like Marciano cleanly because he fights so low.

 

Can you please explain this using the films so I can better understand your point? I mostly disagree, but not in every area of boxing.

 

In what sense? What did they do better? None are technicians

Vitali wouldn't be a champion today if he were Johnson's size but in Johnson's day he'd have similar advantages that Johnson had in most fights. Vitali wouldn't have the advantages of sports science and top amateur training in Johnson's era ofcourse.

Langford the probable P4P no1 was in no sense green when the less experienced Johnson dominated him. And Wills easily dominated Langford before he was old.

 

I'm well aware of what Langford was capable of. But essentially you're saying that he would stop a guy that was never stopped. That's the sort of chance you can give any heavyweight puncher. Vitali was a great heavyweight or at least close and if didn't take a great heavyweight to beat Langford.

 

Billy Conn, Archie Moore, Jersey Joe, Eddie Machen.

 

When Johnson fought Langford, Johnson weighed 190 and Langford 138. Langford was only 20 years old, Johnson at his peak at age 28. Of course Langford got better after the Johnson fight. He matured, gained experience, and gained weight and filled out. As for Wills, Langford fought him more times than any other single opponent of his career. Both men were excellent, both men deserved better.

 

No disrespect to VK, he was one hell of a fighter, but:

His style was all built around his size.

He used tactics that would have got smaller fighters killed.

He was basically a big crude guy, with an exceptional fighting brain!