this whole "Size doesnt matter" thing has to stop.

[NakiFan]

It does guys, it just does. Anyone saying that Jack Dempsey or Rocky Marciano could beat Lewis or the klitschkos is a ****ing idiot. If those bigger guys were slow, immobile bums with no skill then yeah, the smaller guys have a shot but they aren't. All those guys are on a par ability wise, but the latter 3 have massive size advantages.

This is why we dont have Chad Dawson vs Vitali Klitschko guy.

[Verstyle]

Size matters but doesn't always. Dawson vs Vitali? Bad comparison.Haha. At least get the weight close to the same.

[RightCross94]

Size matters but can be overcome. Simple.

[sonnyboyx2]

It does guys, it just does. Anyone saying that Jack Dempsey or Rocky Marciano could beat Lewis or the klitschkos is a ****ing idiot. If those bigger guys were slow, immobile bums with no skill then yeah, the smaller guys have a shot but they aren't. All those guys are on a par ability wise, but the latter 3 have massive size advantages.

This is why we dont have Chad Dawson vs Vitali Klitschko guy.

RIDICULOUS... you have posted this thread so as to try to imply that your idol Lennox Lewis is greater than any fighter who does not match-up to him in size which is laughable... you have failed in your attempts to try and prove Lewis had the chin, skills, ringcraft and other attributes to beat the greats of yester-year now your last resort is his size.... Yet Lewis biggest nemesis was fighters who was smaller than himself, Butler 5`11 went 5rds Tua 5`10 went the full 12rds, Ocassio 5`11 went the full distance, even a heavily sedated Tyson went 8rds with Lewis, both men who poleaxed Lewis with a single punch was only 6`2 and considerably lighter.. 99% of the great fighters of the past fall into the size bracket that cause Lewis huge problems.. so i claim that it is you who is the ******* idiot not the guys on here who tell you over and over again that size is a disadvantage and meaningless... if size and weight was huge factors then Nicolay Valuev would be champion for life at 7`2 and 330lbs, Ewart Potgieter who fought in the 50s would have been undisputed champion because he stood 7`3 and 290lbs, John Cully 6`8 , Mike White 7`0 the list of these big guys is endless through out history, they all get beat by the guy who is 6`2

[mickey malone]

Well Valuev can't fight for ****, so how did he become a 40 odd fight world champ with only 1 narrow defeat?... Simple, because of his size...

Would Primo Carnera have been champ if he wasn't such a lump?... Er... No... And he was eventually bashed up by the smaller Max Baer, as was Jess Willard by the smaller Jack Dempsey.. Willard is another one who would never have been champ had it not been for his size...

To put things into perspective, throughout history the size argument nearly always favored the smaller guys.. That's where the saying, 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall' originated..

It was generally agreed that fighters over 16 stone were too slow and heavy to win the title..

The argument got turned on it's head, with the emergence of Lewis, Bowe and now, the Klits.. These were/are all 18 stoners who can fight and move..

So yes, times are changing & size is NOW becoming a big advantage... This isn't to say, that a guy like Tyson can't come along and turn it all on it's head, but he'd need to be at least 15 stone! So, history does suggest that Johnson, Dempsey, Marciano, Langford, Fitszimmons, Tunney etc & possibly even Joe Louis would have needed more bulk.. I'd conclude, that size does matter & Dempsey at 17 stone would have run through walls...

[Spartacus Sully]

Would Primo Carnera have been champ if he wasn't such a lump?... Er... No... And he was eventually bashed up by the smaller Max Baer, as was Jess Willard by the smaller Jack Dempsey.. Willard is another one who would never have been champ had it not been for his size...

Well in primos defense it seems like during that fight they forgot the whole after a knock down go to the opposite corner of the ring. Or was baer trying to wrestle carnera?

Any ways size dosnt matter as im pretty sure marciano and dempsey would have both pwned lewis. probaly on a stoppage as their punches would have been breaking facial bones, cracking ribs, and tearing flesh. where as lennox might have rung their bells once or twice but nothing that actually inflicted lasting damage.

big guys these days lack top speed in their punches.

[Bigmacpoper]

RIDICULOUS... you have posted this thread so as to try to imply that your idol Lennox Lewis is greater than any fighter who does not match-up to him in size which is laughable... you have failed in your attempts to try and prove Lewis had the chin.

Simple question,how many times was Lewis knocked down compared to how many times Joe Frazier was knocked down?

[mickey malone]

Well in primos defense it seems like during that fight they forgot the whole after a knock down go to the opposite corner of the ring. Or was baer trying to wrestle carnera?

Any ways size dosnt matter as im pretty sure marciano and dempsey would have both pwned lewis. probaly on a stoppage as their punches would have been breaking facial bones, cracking ribs, and tearing flesh. where as lennox might have rung their bells once or twice but nothing that actually inflicted lasting damage.

big guys these days lack top speed in their punches.

Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd & Buster Keeton were a lot faster than the cast of Friends to...

To say that Lewis was too slow to hold off 13-14 stone fighters is fantasy..

[TheGreatA]

I tend to think that the 180-190 pound heavyweights can't really deal with modern great super heavyweights (Lewis, Klitschko brothers, maybe Bowe) but I don't see any reason why the 200-220 pound heavyweights such as Ali, Foreman and Holmes couldn't.

Dempsey and Marciano would still beat down a Jameel McCline/Chris Arreola though in my opinion. And they wouldn't be overmatched against the likes of Ali and Holmes in size.

[Kid McCoy]

For those who think size is not a factor I would ask this: when was the last time a Rocky Marciano-sized heavyweight dominated the division?

The heavyweight division has changed in recent years. The days of the typical 6'1" 190lb heavyweight are gone. If Jack Dempsey came along in the past decade, there'd be no Gibbons and Carpentiers to fight (even Firpo would be smallish by today's standards). He'd be up against men substantially larger than himself in most every outing, unless he stayed at cruiser, and men a lot better than Jess Willard. That it's been decades since anyone Dempsey's size tore through the heavyweight division the way he did in his prime tells me he'd be up against it. Not saying he couldn't do it, but it would be that much harder.

Size is obviously not the only issue, as throughout history smaller fighters have overcome bigger ones, but it is a factor. A good big man generally beats a good little man in the lower divisions, yet once they get past 200lbs that golden rule seems to be disregarded. The Lewis, Bowes, Klitschkos etc are not mere lumbering oafs, but actually have good skills, know how to use their assets and are a grade above most previous superheavies in the division. At their best they'd be difficult for anyone to beat, let alone a guy conceding 50lbs in weight and 5-6" in height, which is why it's been so long since anyone that size ripped up the division.