Why is welterweight usually so strong?

[VG_Addict]

The welterweight division is usually one of, if not the strongest divisions in boxing historically. So many great fighters either started out there or moved up there. Both Sugar Rays, Floyd, Pacquiao, Hearns, Whitaker, Napoles, ODLH, Trinidad, just to name a few.

Why is this? Is it because welterweights are around the average size for fighters?

[jimisawesome]

The average male is about 5 9 in the US and the top welterweights are in that 5 6 to 5 10 range. So you have by far the biggest pool of potential fighters around Welterweight.

To give an idea on how fast the pool of potential talent starts to shrink. 5 9 is 50th percentile for height just 3 inches taller at 6 feet you are at the 82nd percentile and 6 2 in the top 5 percentile. So welterweight should draw from a pool of about 50 percent of the male population.

[Willy Wanker]

The average male is about 5 9 in the US and the top welterweights are in that 5 6 to 5 10 range. So you have by far the biggest pool of potential fighters around Welterweight.

To give an idea on how fast the pool of potential talent starts to shrink. 5 9 is 50th percentile for height just 3 inches taller at 6 feet you are at the 82nd percentile and 6 2 in the top 5 percentile. So welterweight should draw from a pool of about 50 percent of the male population.

Very good post.

[Marchegiano]

Average is average for a reason. Like 10k years of human history we were survivors. **** was rough and only the best built could survive.

Man is getting bigger on average overtime, but, Man is not adapting to a bigger frame or evolving in anyway to be larger. If we had signs or evidence of that it'd be very, very big news. What we have is better medical and better infrastructure that allows us to support people types that used to be death sentences.

Think about the other end of it. We have much more healthy and thriving dwarves or little people than ever before as well. No one ever assumes we're evolving into smaller beings because of it, because it's pretty obvious how we have more little people now; infrastructure and medical.

A large man requires a large amount of food, can not travel as far, can not restore energy as quickly, and can not move as quickly. This used to mean death. Pretty much until the 20th century and even then in the early 1900s being big was quite a pain in the ass still.


I am a HW fan. I mean like to the point where I'd rather watch a mid level HW fight than a high level WW even though I know the WWs will be much more impressive. I like the danger of the HWs. There's lots big dudes gain us average size mugs don't have, but, don't ever forget who the baddest human being of all time is. It was us who slayed the Mastodon and workouted the Short Faced Bear. We wrestled the Sabertooth and kept the Giant Sloth as our pets.

Also, there's from 686BC to 385AD in ancient boxing history, where weight divisions are even considered. Average sized owned those years.

Then from 1722-1920 again the average size owned those years.

There's guys like Sullivan who were kinda big I guess, at least for this convo, but right after him you get Bob answering back and if you look to the otherside of the colorline, the main dude Sully doesn't have on his resume from than era, like Godfrey, not so big. Also, with Sullivan as champion come time limits in boxing, and with that the creation of p4p.

The story of weight divisions itself actually favors the average size, 5'9"ish 150ish is pretty common the entire time boxing had no time limit. 686BC to 1888 when Sully changed the game. From 686bc-1888ad there is no time limit and from 1722-1888 weight divisions are informal outside of HW which had no max OR min. 1888-1920 HW still has no min or max.

Let me break that **** down. WW used to be HW, the small guys used to use their energy reserve against larger opponents because boxing had no time limit. So they could just stay away and take advantage of their slowing opponent hours into the fight. This advantage is natural for smaller men. Wladimir Klitschko ain't running from one nation to another in Africa. Them dudes that do that are skinny for a reason. Dragging out fights came with a few obvious costs, people don't want to sit and watch a six hour fight, boxing is illegal and the longer the fight the biggest the chances of getting caught, and the best reason for putting a time limit is the first major killer in boxing was exhaustion. These WW were killing HWs with activity.

Time limits get put on boxing and all of a sudden the little guys don't want to play with the big boys anymore. This is the birth of formalized weight divisions. WWs want to fight WWs because they can't hurt a HW in time. There's a few, and by a few I mean like Bob Fitzsimmons, who continue to press on for a HW title. Jack Johnson's defense with Ketchel and such. In that era the smaller guys were struggling more than ever before so the next generation went ahead and put a 175 min at HW. Thanks to the Walker Law and the NYSAC. We've never seen a 150 HW champion since because it's quite impossible.


So, honestly, it's really only from 1920 to 2020 (giving it to them) that the giants have dominated....and that's being ******* as **** because the small guys of the division did well until like the 60s.....even today the small guys of the division do well. They're much larger than average sized men but they have to be to be a HW anymore. I can't really say there's ever been a time in boxing when the large end of the HW division outright dominate the smaller end. Frazier was a smaller sized champion. Tyson was short too. Haye for the k2 era....CW with the WBA HW title.

Anyway, my point is WW is badass because that size human has like all the brags in human history. Even if HWs is funner, WWs, MWs that whole area of men, like 130-190, which yeah that is a big range but so is 686BC-1920 and so is 200-260lbs, they're the dudes who literally carried this planet on their shoulders. Most capable form in human history.

[KingHippo]

There's also the fact that it's one of, if not the most recognizable divisions at the moment. This incentivizes top fighters to either stay or move up there.

[techliam]

Today’s division would seem to go against the grain, as I agree it is a historically solid division

It doesn’t seem so long ago when the same division had Mayweather, Pacquiao, Marquez, Cotto, Mosley, Margarito, Clottey, Bradley and Maidana.

Today, it’s pretty dead. 40 year old Pacquiao is still roosting at the top, and the only two fighters capable of even reaching 80% of the peak of the last generations welterweights (Spence and Crawford) wont be fighting due to promotional divides. Really sad to see.

[DARTH SILKWORMS]

The top 4, of the original 8, divisions have historically been the money divisions. Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight and Welterweight. Like the other poster mentioned, if you look at the average in shape American male, once they cut weight, Welterweight is going to be the best fit out of the 4 money divisions, so you end up with a lot of talent there.

[techliam]

The top 4, of the original 8, divisions have historically been the money divisions. Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight and Welterweight. Like the other poster mentioned, if you look at the average in shape American male, once they cut weight, Welterweight is going to be the best fit out of the 4 money divisions, so you end up with a lot of talent there.

This is true, at least from a US perspective.

I would argue it’s important to remember that other divisions have been dominated by smaller fighters from nations where the money or interest isn’t there. I think that’s equally as important

In terms of the money division, the Heavyweight division has nearly always been the premier division. In fact, it’s really only post-90s where I can remember that not being the case. Even now, I think the money is starting to gravitate towards the top, as the Oscar/Floyd/Manny revolution starts to fade further

[4truth]

It's traditionally a big money division. If you are good at 135 or 140 you are going to try real hard to move to welter. If you are already at welter, you are going to fight tooth and nail to drain down, if need be, to remain.

[Joe Beamish]

The body size of the welter suits the sport of boxing. Good balance of speed and power.