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Old 07-07-2009, 01:05 PM   #44
Jersey-Jim
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Fighters like Evander Holyfield made a living fighting Giant Heavyweights. Originally a Cruiserweight, Holyfield used the services of Mackey Shilstone, I believe, to initially put on the muscle mass?

Holyfield stood 6’ 2” with a 78” reach. He weighed around 210 (thanks to cyber-workouts in gym!)

In comparison, the big men he faced (big being defined as the combination of height, weight and reach) were:

Riddick Bowe: 6’ 5” 81” reach
Lennox Lewis: 6’ 5” 84” reach
George Foreman: 6’ 3 ½” 82” reach
Nikolay Valuev: 7’ 0” 85” reach

The popular school of thought is; the big man can use a jab and right hand to keep the smaller fighter at a distance all night long.

In the case of Nikolay Valuev, Holyfield was well past his prime in a fight some people feel he should have won.

Recently I heard an old interview from the 1960’s with Jess Willard. Jess stood approximately 6’ 6” and was the original “Giant.” In this interview he said that he was able to control fights with his straight left (jab) and his right hand.

This is very similar to the style of fighting Emanuel Steward has used in rebuilding the career of Wlad Klitschko. He also had Lennox Lewis employ a similar style later in his own career.

I guess you could label this style, “fighting big.”

In Willard’s case, Jack Dempsey’s infighting ability negated his overwhelming physical advantages in height, reach and weight. The result was a one-sided third round stoppage. Willard had a great chin and could soak up enormous amounts of punishment. He rose from 7 first round knockdowns and never hit the floor again. He was on his feet when the fight was called.

Today, there are only a handful of heavyweights that have any infighting skills to speak of. Chris Arreola has come a long way in this area. Most fighters “rest” more than they fight on the inside. Others simple tie up and hug their opponents until the referee separates them.

Some of the older Heavyweight Champions of the past would have given fighters like Bowe, Lewis and the Klitschko’s a pounding on the inside.

Ezzard Charles is a good example of a terrific infighter. However, if Charles started to absorbing too many shots from the bigger men, they could have worn him down and stopped him. A fighter like a Dempsey or a Marciano liked to glue themselves to an opponent. Their pressure and body punches would have presented a real threat to a Bowe, Lewis or the Klitschko’s.

I don’t doubt a Bowe, Lewis or the Klitschko’s could have knocked a Dempsey or a Marciano down if they caught them with a big right hand. But neither Dempsey nor Marciano were the type of fighter you could knockout with one punch.

Jess Willard may have stood 6’ 6”, but after absorbing brutal hooks to the body, the bent forward, trying to protect his body version was more like – 5’ 10”!

A good infighter and good body puncher has a nice large target in front of him when matched up with a Giant Heavyweight who likes to “fight big.”

Like Shane Mosley recently said in an interview, “A great fighter has develops a style that can adjust to and handle every other type of style.”

When trying to rate and adjust the ratings from Heavyweights from different eras, a fighter's infighting ability would then factor into the equation of how they would do - facing the "modern" big heavyweight.

Many people who don't follow boxing history think that the big Heavyweights of the past couldn't fight. They think they were all a bunch of "Primo's Carnera's." Actually, that's not true at all.

Many very good big men fell under the guns of some great infighters. Even the great Harry Wills finally went down under the smoking guns of little Sam Langford!


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-JJ

Last edited by Jersey-Jim; 07-07-2009 at 01:34 PM.
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