are short boxers wasting time with this sport? (long read)

[Someone88]

there have been lots of successful short fighter.there is no certain build that makes you successful.skill knows no size,color or nationality...

Great post

[juggernautburn]

i read a little more on the subject. and apparently, mike tyson just flat out refused to fight in the clinch. clinching happens, but if you just wait for the ref to break it up, you're not taking advantage of opportunity. clinching neutralizes fighters that hate the clinch, but if you are good at that range, like joe frazier was, you too can be a competent fighter as a shorty. there is a lot i must learn about the game, but tyson and his errors as well as the domination of the klitschko bros has lead many to believe that taller fighters have an insurmountable advantage. maybe even i started to believe it. anyway, maybe we'll see another great short fighter in the heavyweight division some day.

[frosty-g]

I disagree. Size and length isnt the problem here. Its speed and technique.

So what if taller fighter has reach?? A simple parry oughtta fix his jab happiness.

The lankier a fighter is the more dangerous it becomes for them to throw looping hooks and uppercuts and overhands.

So if a shorter fighter doesnt have the speed to take advantage of openings angles and parries provide then its a training issue as opposed to some inherent genetic issue.

you're talking as though training will solve everything and make all men equal sorta thing. yeah, of course you can improve most attributes but some people are just better at some things than others, and worse at some too.
a jab isn't the only thing that a taller fighter uses to his advantage so just jab parrying is not the key to beating a taller fighter.
technique and tactics are key- that is why the klitschko's are so good, not just because they're big. i bet if they were both 5 inches shorter each of them, they would still be damn good boxers but that they would box in a different way.
but i still think that what you are good at and what you aren't plays an important role in deciding what weight you should box at.

[F l i c k e r]

No. Just join the weight class that averages your height. Win.

[RichardP]

Hey **** off, dont matter about hieght.

[The Gambler1981]

They just have to work hard on fighting the way that benefits them, it really helps to be able to make the taller guy miss though and use that time to get to a good spot to do some work before they can start trying to clinch. Also the smaller guy needs to not let themself get clinched up, which is easier said than done but not impossible.

Also aside from just closing the distance, a smaller guy can also move away trying to force the taller guy to give up their height and catch them making mistakes.

It is tough though when a tall guy is real commited to keeping their range and knows how to use their advantages to the fullest while avoiding risks, it is why they call it a reach advantage but it is not a guerenteed win because not all tall guys are all that good at fighting tall.

[Larry the boss]

you have to take advantage of the qualities you have??some tall fighters cant fight tall to save their life and their advantage becomes their disadvantage........

[Tiozzo]

as some have already said, being tall or small has its advantages and disadvantages

of course, a skilled and tall fighter like a Klit will be harder to hit on the chin then your average heavyweight for obvious reasons, but being tall alone isn't good enough

a small fighter fightin out of a crouch can make it a nightmare for a taller opponent to land anything clean

Ray Robinson lost to smaller people fighting small, like LaMotta, Fulmer and Basilio

so if you're tall, fight tall, if you're small, fight small

[STREET CLEANER]

Look at Qawi and Steve Johnston careers. Short fighters and made it work for them

[SupaMexican]

when i think about Margarito, Paul Williams or Kelly Pavlik i think the opposite man.