Gerald Mccellan had the frame to go all the way to heavyweight?

[Joey Giardello]

You see alot of fighters in this era like tarver, adamek and guliermo jones who were middleweights and lightheavyweight at the start of there career going all the way to heavyweight and haveing succes.

I was thinking how high up the weights could of mccellan went he was 6 foot 1 with shoulders and back like a cruiserweight, he punched like a heavyweight and he use to spar heavyweights when he was a middleweight. Could mccellan went right through the weights like team mates tommy hearns and michael moorer??? and had success like moorer and hearns?

[The Surgeon]

Originally Posted by Joey Giardello

You see alot of fighters in this era like tarver, adamek and guliermo jones who were middleweights and lightheavyweight at the start of there career going all the way to heavyweight and haveing succes.

I was thinking how high up the weights could of mccellan went he was 6 foot 1 with shoulders and back like a cruiserweight, he punched like a heavyweight and he use to spar heavyweights when he was a middleweight. Could mccellan went right through the weights like team mates tommy hearns and michael moorer??? and had success like moorer and hearns?

He'd have been a good fighter and a championship level guy up until CW i like to think, he seemed rangy and broad enough to carry the excess weight but at HW he'd have been rumbling with Tyson Lewis Holyfield ect i dont like his odds there man

[jabsRstiff]

McClellan would have maxed out at 175.

[Clegg]

He wasn't as skillful as Hearns and although he hit very hard, and although his chin always seemed good, relying on those attributes would not be a good idea as he went up in weight.

[Turbo B]

Physically, he had the frame to do it…

I just don’t know how his power would translate when he’s banging on natural HW’s -- combined with the fact that he’d be planting his feet a lot more and he wasn’t exactly hard to catch himself.

[TheGreatA]

He had the frame but not the kind of skill or style to compensate for size disadvantages. Michael Moorer was bigger than him and it was difficult even for him to turn from puncher to boxer when he could no longer dominate opponents physically.

[New England]

for a long time i had a picture of don king, tyson (in his prime. very fit,) mcclellan, and steward together as my background on my computer. he looked very slight compared to tyson in terms of his bones and his muscles. different size of guy in terms of the build if you discount dimensions.

the g man was a big guy who cut a boatload of weight for his fights at MW and SMW, but i don't think he would have ever made for a HW

he had a very small waist
he had a good chin against MWs and SMWs, but he certainly wouldn't have been durable by any stretch against HW.


i do think he had the style to head perhaps even to CW
thinking of the CW today i wouldn't assume any of them to simply overmatch a boxer of mcclellan's size and class. in fact i think he'd do well at CW today if he had some time to get big and get his speed and timing at the weight.
perhaps it's because cruiserweights generally are not very good.
the g man would knock lateef kayode out cold.


he had a terrific, stand alone type jab
and decent footwork.
his problems came from being all offense.

if he worked on moving and being more defensive im confident he'd make a decent CW at least.
maybe walk into the ring at about 190.

[Mugwump]

McClellan certainly had the potential to move up the weights. His physique left plenty of room to spare for extra mass and his power would undoubtedly trouble anyone up to Cruiser. Perhaps even a few of the smaller heavies.

Gerald was also a fighter with some pretty severe limitations. Fortunately for him his punching power didn't permit opponents too many opportunities to expose them and he could always rely on a very sturdy chin. But enormous power can also be a curse. It's very easy to start believing your own press and bypass core skills in favour of swinging three-dozen haymakers a round. Which is precisely what McClellan did toward the end of his short career.

As has been mentioned he had a solid jab which used in conjunction with his trademark chopping overhand right formed a potent weapon. But in the Jackson fight and certainly the one against Benn it was very noticeable that he was using it less and less. Worse still he either had no uppercut (surprising for a big puncher) or was reticent to use it.

But by far his biggest weakness was his defence. The precise point in time and circumstances surrounding his brain injury are unknown but I think it's reasonable to claim his defence (which was never anything special) began to slip toward the end. Both Jackson and Benn (especially) seemed able to catch him at will. Now it's bad enough getting caught repeatedly by two of the biggest punchers MW/SMW has seen in recent history. But shipping the same from guys ten or twenty pounds heavier is an open invitation to the cemetery.

Like others in this thread I doubt he could stake out a lengthy career at HW. A Roy Jonesesque smash-and-grab mission against someone of John Ruiz's calibre - sure. But five or six fights at the top against genuine big hitters such as Lewis, Golota - even Tua? Not a chance.

[AntonTheMeh]

Originally Posted by jabsRstiff

McClellan would have maxed out at 175.

this. I'd some point you have to consider more than a fighters physical attributes to project how far up in weight he would have gone.