Why are heavyweights slower?

[cv808]

Lol, I had to click to see if this got more that 1 post in before someone said that^.
I love how, online, people ask weird, common sense questions and then act surprised at your surprise.
I think some people just have terrible observational skills.

...heyyy now, I asked a similar question LOL, maybe not as obvious as this guy, but I did ask if it was harder to fight as a heavyweight than smaller weight classes. Like I said, I got looked at like I was ******ed though when I asked the question, but still lol.

[Syphus]

...heyyy now, I asked a similar question LOL, maybe not as obvious as this guy, but I did ask if it was harder to fight as a heavyweight than smaller weight classes. Like I said, I got looked at like I was ******ed though when I asked the question, but still lol.

I'll bite.

I'm 6'4 and walk around at 200lbs. I used to be 230lbs when I stopped boxing and started lifting like a crazy mofo and when I first started boxing I was 6'3 170lbs. Im best friends with an Asian guy who is 5'7 150lbs of pure muscle who boxes too... I'm no expert, but I think I have pretty decent first hand experience with this.

One of the biggest things people have to realize that even if I was a 6'4 bantamweight (lol) the length and leverage alone would make me a lot slower than an average height/weight boxer (skill being equal).

If we're talking rotational speed, imagine a figure skater doing a spin. They start with their arms and legs straight out, and then to generate power they bring them in closely as hard as possible. That's simple physics.

Something similar happens with slipping punches. Even though both a taller and a shorter fighter only need to move their head 6 inches or so to evade a punch, the distance between my waist to my head is much longer than a shorter guys.

The advantage of being heavier is that yes, you are potentially slower, however with the weight generally comes more muscle. Which potentially means more force and a harder impact at the end of our punches.

Look at Tyson. He's a heavyweight but arguably much faster than people smaller than him. That's because he had incredible technique that took advantage of his powerful legs and torso.

There's torque, the stretch reflex, leverage, muscle mass and plain old overall weight to take into account for all boxing techniques. So yes, heavyweights in general are "slow", but when using leverage, distance and timing, a smaller person shouldn't have an easy time against them. If a smaller guy (and by smaller, I mean multiple weight classes smaller) is having his way with a heavyweight, he's probably not using his length properly.

[cv808]

I'll bite.

There's torque, the stretch reflex, leverage, muscle mass and plain old overall weight to take into account for all boxing techniques. So yes, heavyweights in general are "slow", but when using leverage, distance and timing, a smaller person shouldn't have an easy time against them. If a smaller guy (and by smaller, I mean multiple weight classes smaller) is having his way with a heavyweight, he's probably not using his length properly.

My reason for asking wasn't because I didn't understand the basics of weight difference or whether one would generally be slower because it's just fat or muscle, skill is skill, strength is strength. I guess, I asked to understand if whether there was truly any differences in hardship/challenges/strugges between weight classes.

My club, we're small, so it's hard for the guys to find someone in their weight class. You'll see a lot of guys sparring someone who may be a class below or above them.

I'm new to boxing. I finally got to see a full spar session (few of our guys are going to be fighting in two-three weeks) and while maybe weight wise the two guys sparring were of decent proportion, like you said, one was taller. I mean you GET that reach means a lot in boxing, but until I truly saw it in person, it was such an advantage that I was kind of dumbfounded. These are things that a newbie (someone like me who hadn't even watched a pro boxing match before) wouldn't understand until you saw it first hand.

But the smaller guy got inside and did his thing. Unfortunately, hurt the taller guys ribs which was no bueno considering the taller guy has a fight in a few weeks. Had the coaches on edge.

I guess you don't know until you know.

[Syphus]

My reason for asking wasn't because I didn't understand the basics of weight difference or whether one would generally be slower because it's just fat or muscle, skill is skill, strength is strength. I guess, I asked to understand if whether there was truly any differences in hardship/challenges/strugges between weight classes.

My club, we're small, so it's hard for the guys to find someone in their weight class. You'll see a lot of guys sparring someone who may be a class below or above them.

I'm new to boxing. I finally got to see a full spar session (few of our guys are going to be fighting in two-three weeks) and while maybe weight wise the two guys sparring were of decent proportion, like you said, one was taller. I mean you GET that reach means a lot in boxing, but until I truly saw it in person, it was such an advantage that I was kind of dumbfounded. These are things that a newbie (someone like me who hadn't even watched a pro boxing match before) wouldn't understand until you saw it first hand.

But the smaller guy got inside and did his thing. Unfortunately, hurt the taller guys ribs which was no bueno considering the taller guy has a fight in a few weeks. Had the coaches on edge.

I guess you don't know until you know.

I'd say that there's pros and cons to all weight classes.

Average weight and height? You'll have plenty of training partners to choose from! Downside? You have A LOT of competition if you wanna be the best.

Tall and and strong? Bummer... Not too many people to spar with. Upside? You can be state champion after 10 fights (not really, just exaggerating).

You also have to consider country. There's going to be way more big mofos in the West and there's a lot of featherweights in SA and Asian countries.

As far as reach goes, yes it's hard to get in on someone with a long reach but if you DO your little T-Rex arms can throw 10 power punches in 3 seconds.

[Lucky86]

I would just like to add there are exceptions to everyrule. Like someone above mentioned Tyson was just as quick and as a fast light heavyweight, as well when Roy jones as a heavyweight I thought he looked as fast as a good middleweight.

Guys like Tyson Fury or Ali or even Floyd Patterson we’re pretty damn fast but they also direct their energy to being quick over being powerful. But I would
Imagine it takes tremendous conditioning to maintain speed and movement like that when you are 200 plus.

[JabRight]

i want to make clear first I am not a pro nor competed amateur but have sparred plenty in the boxing gym my c9
oach trains a bunch of amateurs and i spar them.
. it doesnt make me an expert but i can only share my experience being a heavyweight at 240. there are pros and cons to being heavyweight. the biggest will always be the power and size factor. heavys should be putting in their roadwork mandatory to keep up their punch volume in the later rounds. dont ask me how roadwork helps in that department but it just does for a heavy. a heavy does not have a huge gas tank he must understand himself and his body to use that fuel correctly and when it makes sense. i find that guys taller or heavier than me are easier to handle than the little guys. little guys have mad movement and stamina.

[GelfSara]

Why do heavyweights tend to be slower? I sparred a 210 lb partner. I myself weigh 160 and he did wear me down with his strength on the inside, but he moved so slow in everything. Movement, punches, and his feet looked really heavy. Does having extra weight affect footwork and agility?

Four reasons, that I am aware of:

1) They often carry excess bodyfat. While bodyfat above the ideal level for most activities (perhaps 6-10% for male athletes, with a good deal of individual variance) has some utility for cushioning body blows in combat sports, it does function as dead weight that does slow movement speed.

2) They tend to have have longer limbs and to be taller, meaning that identical moves need to cover greater distances, making them seem slower when comparing how long it takes to--for example--throw and retract a jab.

3) When comparing apples to apples, relative strength tends to be highest among lighter persons. For example, when powerlifters move up in weight divisions, as their absolute strength increases, their relative strength tends to decrease. See https://www.strongerbyscience.com/wh...e-powerlifter/ for more information.

4) Lastly, some heavyweight boxers carry some muscle mass that is likely relatively superfluous for boxing--for example, huge lats--which, while probably beneficial under some circumstances, slow movement speed.

[AlexKid]

Its impossible for say a 220lb man to move as fast as pacman because he would have too much gut mass holding him back from getting out of bed

[CodeBreaker]

Because of gravity.

[OctoberRed]

Joshua looked pretty fast today with his punches.