BoxRec

BoxRec lists Bob Foster's height as 6-3, but I've seen his height given many times as 6-4.

I've never saw Foster listed at 6' 4". I have a really good article that I will type out, or scan and e-mail to someone so they can upload it in jpeg format for all to read, and it is something that should be read as the writer explains the faults of various writers covering a fight. The fight in question was the 1914 Jimmy Wilde-Sid Smith (I think) and the writer was the referee for the bout and he talks about two, or three other accounts from various newspapers, all of which he states are incorrect and he gives his account of the bout, which is from "Mirror of Life and Boxing World," but it shows how unreliable so much of the past is when relying on just one source, which makes researching boxing sometimes very frustrating, but fun nevertheless...it just makes you dig harder and deeper into the past to try an get a pretty good idea of really happened.

Bob Foster's boxrec height seems accurate. Stats that clearly seem wrong are Jack Johnson's height, Joe Louis's height and Ali's reach.

The errors I mentioned still do not appear to have been corrected. I feel the stats regarding Ali and Foreman are erroneous enough to warrant change.

Nat Fleischer lists Jack Johnson as measuring 6' 0 1/4

Has anyone seem photos showing Jack Johnson standing next to James J. Jeffries? Jeffries is supposedly 6'2 1/2 but he looked around the same height as Jack Johnson in photos of their fight that I saw.

Cojimar 1945 wrote:Has anyone seem photos showing Jack Johnson standing next to James J. Jeffries? Jeffries is supposedly 6'2 1/2 but he looked around the same height as Jack Johnson in photos of their fight that I saw.

Jeffries was pretty old :x :x by then so perhaps he'd shrunk a little!... 8)

is this in the wrong forum?

Rory McCloskey wrote:is this in the wrong forum?

yep!... this is the heights department!... 8)

James J. Jeffries was only 35 when he fought Johnson. Johnson was less than 3 years younger. I woulden't think he would have shrunk at only 35.

Age might be more of a factor in photos showing Jess Willard next to Primo Carnera.

Cojimar 1945 wrote:James J. Jeffries was only 35 when he fought Johnson. Johnson was less than 3 years younger. I woulden't think he would have shrunk at only 35.

Age might be more of a factor in photos showing Jess Willard next to Primo Carnera.

I hear that Jeff had severe lumbago :x :x :x by that time that gave him a pronounced stoop. Sometimes it was so bad his wife had to carry him out of bed in the morning . Luckily she was a big woman!. ...

Oddly Jeffries also looks shorter than Fitzsimmons in one photo I saw.

Cojimar 1945 wrote:Oddly Jeffries also looks shorter than Fitzsimmons in one photo I saw.

Jeffries back problems started early in his career which is why he fought out of a crouch!. 8)

I also noticed that Oscar Bonavena's height was changed from 5'11 to 6'1. He looked shorter than 6'1 in footage of his fights that I watched. Anyone care to explain the change?

Cojimar 1945 wrote:I also noticed that Oscar Bonavena's height was changed from 5'11 to 6'1. He looked shorter than 6'1 in footage of his fights that I watched. Anyone care to explain the change?

He grew! 8) . He was a late developer!. :x ...

I'm trying to be serious here. I understand that it is hard to get stats exactly right but some boxrec stats seem incorrect enough to enough to require change. Two inches is significant--what if Evander Holyfield had been 6 ft 4 in and Lennox Lewis had been 6 ft 3 in or Sonny Liston had been 6 ft 3 in?

Cojimar 1945 wrote:I'm trying to be serious here. I understand that it is hard to get stats exactly right but some boxrec stats seem incorrect enough to enough to require change. Two inches is significant--what if Evander Holyfield had been 6 ft 4 in and Lennox Lewis had been 6 ft 3 in or Sonny Liston had been 6 ft 3 in?

Seriously I understand your concerns!. I doubt Bonavena was 6 feet 1. I'm surprised noone else has answered your questions.
Boxrec does do a great job generally and many facts such as height etc can never be fully substantiated one way or the other especially when regarding fighters who are no longer with us!...

Hello Cojimar,
From the Tale of the Tape of Frazier-Bonavena II and the Ali-Bonavena fight, Bonavena is listed as 5-11. Hope this helps.

dnahar32 wrote:Hello Cojimar,
From the Tale of the Tape of Frazier-Bonavena II and the Ali-Bonavena fight, Bonavena is listed as 5-11. Hope this helps.

Then he grew!... 8)

Why doesen't boxrec correct the error?

Cojimar 1945 wrote:Why doesen't boxrec correct the error?

Try asking John Shep... but it may be that they belive that the current height is the correct one.