GREATS Who Had Phenomenal REACH

[Brockton Lip]

body got any technical things about the advantages of such reach,..... and does it necessarily mean they should have a killer punch, but most of them are true dynamite hitters,..... am I on to something, or is it already common knowledge ??..

Good thread. Longer reach seems to give them a lot of leverage or torque which increases their power. And for your earlier question about a short fighter with a longer reach; that can be effective because it allows them to still box from far enough away while being a smaller target and avoiding close range uppercuts. The opponent will have to punch down typically which will create openings for the shorter oppponent.

[McGoorty]

Floyd Mayweather- ht: 5'8" reach: 72"
Marco A Barrera- ht: 5'6" reach: 70"

Floyd Mayweather (4 inches*) --- Barrera (4 inches*)......... very good man.. keep 'em greats coming.

[rorymac]

Floyd Mayweather (4 inches*) --- Barrera (4 inches*)......... very good man.. keep 'em greats coming.

Jess Willard? 6 foot 6 with 6 foot 11 reach?

[rorymac]

Jess Willard? 6 foot 6 with 6 foot 11 reach?

And nobody has mentioned Paul Williams yet

Edit: Just looked at the first word in the thread title

[McGoorty]

Good thread. Longer reach seems to give them a lot of leverage or torque which increases their power. And for your earlier question about a short fighter with a longer reach; that can be effective because it allows them to still box from far enough away while being a smaller target and avoiding close range uppercuts. The opponent will have to punch down typically which will create openings for the shorter oppponent.

I won't pretend this thread isn't Darcy inspired, 7 inches extra reach, and he's very thick set in his build. Couple that with very quick feet and Chin,.... etc..... He was extremely hard to hit cleanly, and could land punches at a range where his opponent can't even reach him. His foot speed allowed him to get to where he really wanted to be,---- up real close and personal like...... Despite all that reach, Darcy was a great in-fighter and he could hit very hard with very short punches too, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In those days the champions had to be good in-fighters, and good on the outside when needed,.... but most fights then ended up at close quarters.......... So my next question is, why are so many of these guys with great reach, ALSO GOOD AT CLOSE QUARTERS and CAN STILL HIT HARD THERE AS WELL........... Hearns again seems to fit this bill, he had a great short uppercut.

[McGoorty]

Jess Willard? 6 foot 6 with 6 foot 11 reach?

Willard (5 inches*),.... mate, you are doing great,..... You are rigidly complying with RULE #2. ( lucky for you,... the penalty for breaking RULE #2 is...... DEATH.... Bwoooo-Ha-Ha_ha HAHHHHHHHHHHHHH.... ). RULE #2....... OHHHHHHH

[dan_cov]

Struggling to think of 'greats' that haven't already been mentioned....

Gerald McClellan was barely 6ft with a 77" reach!

I know the great Marvin Hagler had a long reach for a shorter guy, very deceiving.

[dan_cov]

Just checked Haglers stats.

Height - 5′ 9½″ / 177cm
Reach - 75″ / 191cm

[McGoorty]

Keep em comin

Just checked Haglers stats.

Height - 5′ 9½″ / 177cm (5 and a half inches*)
Reach - 75″ / 191cm

RULE #2 compliance... 5 stars.

[BattlingNelson]

Sam Langford. 169 cm with 183 cm reach.