question for the experts: can a big guy be dangerous on the inside (up close)?

Well a tall guy can offcourse be good one the inside, but why should they risk when they can stay on the outside and jabb , which is a lot safer. Yes tua, tyson, frazier,marciano are examples of good inside fighter. But they have to fight on the inside because they can out jabb their taller opponents. If you have too do something youl will be good at it.

Dude...erybody know Hopkins fights from the outside, that's y he is called the most defensive minded fighter in the game. Okay, but I never said he didn't fight from the outsid. If you look at my original post all I said was, "Hopkins - A tall Middleweight is good on the inside." and he is good on the inside..

Actually fighting Roy from the outside would be a dumb decision. I seen parts of that fight, it looked to be a tactical fight and was mostly on the outside. He took the Mercado fight on late notice, he destroyed the guy in a rematch. Look at round 10 of the Trinidad fight where he actually has him hurt from beating him down on the inside. Standing down on your punches (on the inside) allows you to hit alot more effectively. Dude...erybody know Hopkins fights from the outside, that's y he is called the most defensive minded fighter in the game.

hmmmm maybe about 15 from every part of his career.....fought Roy on the inside and lost, fought Mercado on the inside and got a draw............boxed Trinidad from safe distances and won, boxed De La Hoya from safe distances and won........Bottom line, jus becuz u CAN fight on the inside doesnt mean that u SHOULD. Actually fighting Roy from the outside would be a dumb decision. I seen parts of that fight, it looked to be a tactical fight and was mostly on the outside. He took the Mercado fight on late notice, he destroyed the guy in a rematch. Look at round 10 of the Trinidad fight where he actually has him hurt from beating him down on the inside. Standing down on your punches (on the inside) allows you to hit alot more effectively.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that. I mean he's broke down fighters on the inside even more effective than he boxed on the outside. How many Hopkins fights have you seen? hmmmm maybe about 15 from every part of his career.....fought Roy on the inside and lost, fought Mercado on the inside and got a draw............boxed Trinidad from safe distances and won, boxed De La Hoya from safe distances and won........Bottom line, jus becuz u CAN fight on the inside doesnt mean that u SHOULD.

but much better commanding the fight from a distance. I wouldn't go as far as to say that. I mean he's broke down fighters on the inside even more effective than he boxed on the outside. How many Hopkins fights have you seen?

Hopkins - a tall middleweight is good on the inside.. but much better commanding the fight from a distance.

What is the relationship, if any, between the size of the fighter, in terms of height and/or arm length, and how effective they will probably be on the inside? are there any heavyweights over 6'4" who are exceptional inside fighters? and if anyone has time, what is the ideal size for a heavyweight? i happen to think that right now riddick bowe size is the best - 6'4" with long arms, good versatile medium size. Like most people are saying the smaller guys do better on the inside. It is really out of necesity and the larger guys will have trouble working on the inside because of the dimensions of their arms and the height of a shorter opponent. And because it just makes sense to train on keeping the shorter guys away with longer punches. If the opponent is relatively the same size (ala Lewis - Klitschko) then uppercuts are going to be effective but hooks will still have trouble landing. Sorry don't know. The ideal size for a heavyweight seems to be somewhere around 7'4" and 280 lbs. At least that's the way the weight class is going. If you look back at old school heavyweights they were around 6' and around 190 and up. Now it seems like the lightest you can be is 220. I think the ideal is to be fast and tall and not necesarily as heavy. 6'4 does sound good and lean and strong at around 220. Well that is my 'expert' ;) opinion.

Hopkins - a tall middleweight is good on the inside..

Bowe was excellent inside fighter but usually good inside fighters are types like Marciano, Tyson and Tua. That's how its always been. and they were small, a great addition are henry armstrong and frazier

I agree with DC, I also feel that physical dimensions of the fighter have a lot of carry-over into in-fighting.

Bowe was excellent inside fighter but usually good inside fighters are types like Marciano, Tyson and Tua. That's how its always been.

I believe dimensions play a big part in what style would be the most efficient for a heavyweight, and for any weight for that matter....Example, David Tua and Mike Tyson both are short and compact, both have excelled in turning short punches with amazing force due to their compact low to the ground solid frames and bases. Michael Grant was known for fighting inside and got knocked out a few times, he was 6'7 wit the longest reach in boxing. Bottom line, if u can drive then dont walk.