Lets be realistic reach is everything

It's a little different though when two guys are in the same natural weight class since the "smaller" guy will be less likely to be pushed around by the taller, lankier fighter since they can make up for it being more compact and strong. However, when you have a size advantage in terms of height, reach, AND weight it really starts to become an advantage like we've seen over the last couple of weeks.

You moron, Hagler had a reach almost as long as Hearns' and Duran fought a very close fight with him. It wasnt that reach of Hearns that ****ed Duran, if hearns hadnt been such a devastating puncher, Duran would have gotten close and broken him down. But because of the power Hearns punched with Duran couldnt afford to take the odd shot as you often do when trying to get in close, and was therefore buzzed early and finished off quick smart. listen bro go rewatch the fight and see how much hearns reach bothered him. his reach allowed him to throw punches at distance and take advantage of his power. seriously

Reach is an advantage, but a good fighter who fights the right fight can overcome it. Duran did not get destroyed solely cause of the reach, that was one reason, but the main reason was that Hearns was fast and hit like a mule. Ali was not the greatest because of his reach, that was one advantage he had but without his chin, reflexes, speed and brain he would never have beeen great. All these fighters you list, have many other attributes that make them dangerous to fight besides reach. If reach was everything, Valuev would be a great fighter and wouldnt have gotten his ass whipped by a 46 year old Holyfield. your right about thats not all they had but they all had good reach which allowed them to become where they are. IF you put 2 great fighters together and one has a significant reach advantage i will definatley back the one with reach.

After watching vitali destroy ariola and mayweather embarrass marquez im convinced if you have a significantly bigger reach you have a enormous advantage in a fight. Vitali out jabbed majority of his opponents because of his reach, mayweather makes all boxer with short reach look second rate .eg hatton and now marquez. mike tyson struggled against guys with long reach. Duran got destroyed by hearns because of his reach. Paul williams is a freak and now no one wants to fight him. Lennox lewis was champ bacause of his reach. Muhammad Ali was the greatest because of his reach. To me having a reach advantage is more significant than any other advantage in boxing. reach isn't everything, but it helps alot

in major fights i belive reach plays a major role. and yes mayweathers reach allowed him to jab and then throw the left hook he could do that from a distance. Thats why pacman and cotto would be better matched against mayweather at least they can use the jab effectively. Look at dela hoya his reach didnt allow floyde to dominate.

Readh and size are incredibly important advantages in a fight, however, there are ways to overcome them. Unfortunately for Arreola, he didn't have the experience to capitalize. If Criss had double jabbed his way in and was a more accomplished inside fighter, he could have conceivably broken Vitali down by the later rounds. His applied adequate pressure to force Vitali to fight at a more brisk pace than he wanted to...that's a good thing. But; he didn't cut off the ring as effeciently as he might have and his hands weren't busy enough. Either way, he showed great courage and great heart and has nothing to be ashamed of...and Vitali showed himself to be the best heavyweight in the division.

Reach matters! just ask Chris Arreola that couldn't find his way in without being popped in the face, or JMM who also couldn't get in with his shorter reach advantage! Reach advantage could quite possibly be the biggest advantage one has in the ring other than speed.

No it ain't. It's an obvious plus if used, but not the be all end all.

Vitalis reach advantage allowed him to throw punches at distance and land aeriola couldnt do that and the constant ammount of punches wore aeriola out thats why they stopped the fight. If aeriola had more reach i think it would have been a better fight for aeriola. Haye has good reach and would have more of chance than aeriola against both klitkos

Vitaly's main weapon isn't his reach but his speed and movement. He dances around his opponents and unloads. Just look at how many punches he threw last night, and connected on Arreola - over 300 punches landed. The guy is a true professional to boot, that's why at 38 he's in such shape.

Reach is an advantage just like being tall, but some boxers dont know how to use their height advantage. Floyd does he stands very straight giving himself a bigger advantage against smaller opponents.

Reach is very important, but it can be overcome. Having longer arms doesn't automatically win you fights.

reach is key for keeping fighters at bay for your advantage like we just saw areola cant get inside enough

Reach is just an obstacle to overcome, like speed, power and other attributes. Its not easy to overcome if someone knows how to use it well. Yeh but its a advantage that almost gurantees a easier victory how many great champs can you mention that had short reach. You say DURAN and TYSON but even they struggled against fighter with longer reach. Duran could cope with ray leonards speed but had no chance against hearns as an example

Would you agree that long reach used well is a bigger advantage than short reach used well though? depends on the style honestly. Tommy Hearns used his long reach perfectly, but the shorter Hagler was still able to shove his way in and wear him down before KOing him. Barkley didnt have a huge reach disadvantage against Hearns, but he still fought small and shoved his way inside giving him a win in the second fight. Dwight Muhammad Qawi in particular was great against tall guys, he destroyed 6'1 Jerry Martin and arguably beat 6'2 1/2 Holyfield the first time around. I think its hard to say sometimes, because generally you just dont see short guys at higher weight classes. its simply not often that guys are in-shape at 5'5 1/2 weighing 175lb+. especially because of the day after weigh ins, its pretty easy to weigh a low weight and be hugely tall. someone like Guillermo Jones was 6'4 and fighting at 147-154lbs once. crazy, eh? so its more likely that we see successful tall guys than successful small guys, if you get what Im saying. but that doesnt mean that the small guy cant have the advantage. trying to counter a quicker counter puncher with a longer reach like Marquez-Mayweather is going to be a big fail. forcing the fight on the inside while bobbing up and down is going to be a win strategy. sounds cliche, but bigger guys have bigger bodies to hit. youd be surprised how a tiny bit of head movement by the shorter guy can make the taller fighter miss. the right hands just fly right over their back, and the left hooks right over their head.

difference is floyd has beaten top fighters he has had the physical disadvantage against the klits havent,not their fault but its a reason for their dominance look what a poorly conditioned uninterested lewis did 2 vitali,i mean damn

Reach wasn't everything when faced against Frazier or Tyson. You need the right head movement.

tell that to Dwight Muhammad Qawi, who was 5'5 1/2 and beat the shit out of Light Heavyweights and Cruiserweights. being short can work to your advantage if you actually fight the right way. Tyson wouldn't have been the same if he had a long reach. The short reach was used to his advantage. Would you agree that long reach used well is a bigger advantage than short reach used well though?

Vitali does that shit all the time to lure his opponents in so he can counter them. And with how far the distance was with his hands down it wasn't like a haymaker would do squat shit because all it would do is hit air. i remmember vitali was real close to em, head poking out, mayweather tauntish perhaps, a stiff jab woulda did me justice, viewing pleasure...

Tyson wouldn't have been the same if he had a long reach. The short reach was used to his advantage.