Len Harvey vs Georges Carpentier

[davie]

At:
Flyweight -
Featherweight -
Lightweight-
Welterweight -
Middleweight -
Light heavyweight -
Heavyweight -

Can't be many more fighters started there careers at flyweight in their early teens and carried right through every weight class, even Langford never competed at the 2 lowest weight classes.

Does anyone know enough about these 2 remarkable gentlemen to hazard a guess at how they'd have faired at various weights

[elmersalsa]

The great Georges Carpentier was France, European and World Champion at 175lbs. He was also European champion in 4 different weight classes, I believe. That is a hell of a resume.

[Ambling Alp II]

Interesting topic. Certainly pretty rare for a fighter to go all the way from flyweight to heavyweight.
Impossible to say what would have happened at the early stages of their career when they were teenagers.

Overall, I guess I would lean towards Carpentier.

[BitPlayer]

It said he was 68 Ibs on his debut, I get he was 12, but even then that seems low.

[Ambling Alp II]

That does seem low. However, if he was short (for his age) and skinny, it's possible.

[cfang]

I would lean towards harvey being able to outpoint Carpentier. Carpentier had that really sneaky right hand that would take down much bigger men but he was beaten by and large by almost all the best men he faced. His best fight may well have been to go 15 round with joe jeanette in like 1914.

Len harvey was a great boxer and I think he'd have been able to avoid that right hand and win on pts.

[littlepug]

Not quite in that league but south African Dingaan Thobela won title fights of various description at super feather, light, welter, middle and supermiddle and that includes world titles at light and super middle. His last fight was for a regional title at light heavy but he came in overweight !

[davie]

I knew both men fought at various weights, but it wasn't until recently that I realised they had gone right though the entire spectrum of boxing weight classes, In Harvey case starting well well below the minimum weight as a young boy and all the way to fighting men as big as Larry Gains and winning
And in Carpentiers case, meeting big men of the calibre of Gunboat Smith, Joe Jeanette and Jack Dempsey

I find that fascinating and has given me a little project to find out more about these remarkable athletes