Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Old bones Ian
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Old bones Ian »

Ewart Potgieter a South African heavyweight active in the 1950's was 7' 2" tall , he had a couple of fights in UK , think I've got a BN with him hyped in it
paultom
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by paultom »

SeanBrennan wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 10:52
NazNaci1 wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 09:48 Jake Matlala. at 4'10 Light Flyweight and a fine fighter.
That’s a blast from the past, I remember watching a piece on him on Transworld Sport when I was a kid. I remember he always seemed to be fighting Brits too.
Dave Boy McAuley ko'd him with a great one punch knockout,

there was an 8.5 inch difference in height, amazing for flyweights
Last edited by paultom on 30 Dec 2025, 14:26, edited 1 time in total.
Old bones Ian
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Old bones Ian »

5' 4" Avtandil Khurtsidze the middleweight seen here beating Tommy Langford, then getting 10 years for being a naughty gangster
Old bones Ian
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Old bones Ian »

paultom wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:21
SeanBrennan wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 10:52
NazNaci1 wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 09:48 Jake Matlala. at 4'10 Light Flyweight and a fine fighter.
That’s a blast from the past, I remember watching a piece on him on Transworld Sport when I was a kid. I remember he always seemed to be fighting Brits too.
Dave Boy McAuley ko'd him with a great one punch knockout,

there was an 8.5 inch difference in height, amazing for flyweights
That result stands up really well with what Matlala went on to do. Jake beat Clinton, Ampofo, Weir, Cantwell that was just in UK
gilgamesh
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by gilgamesh »

Is Julius Long taller than Valuev? I know Valuev is the tallest ever Heavyweight titleholder, but Long may still be the tallest Heavyweight in general.
Ruthless-RKO
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Ruthless-RKO »

gilgamesh wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:36 Is Julius Long taller than Valuev? I know Valuev is the tallest ever Heavyweight titleholder, but Long may still be the tallest Heavyweight in general.
He was 7 ft 1 in - had 90 in reach

Values was 7 ft exact.
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by gilgamesh »

:TU:
Bercli
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Bercli »

Shane Mallon. He was a 6ft 1 flyweight from Kingston,Surrey back in the late 90's and 2000. I used to call him the tallest flyweight in the world
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by margaret thatcher »

we need the nick ball vs rafael espinoza fight, 5'2 vs 6'1 champs at 126
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by margaret thatcher »

Bercli wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:59 Shane Mallon. He was a 6ft 1 flyweight from Kingston,Surrey back in the late 90's and 2000. I used to call him the tallest flyweight in the world
that sounds very unhealthy
Coco
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Coco »

margaret thatcher wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 15:00
Bercli wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:59 Shane Mallon. He was a 6ft 1 flyweight from Kingston,Surrey back in the late 90's and 2000. I used to call him the tallest flyweight in the world
that sounds very unhealthy
He wasn't 6,1, more like 5,9 or 10

Healthy enough, just skinny

Beat Dean Pithie in the ams
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Taansend »

Bercli wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:59 Shane Mallon. He was a 6ft 1 flyweight from Kingston,Surrey back in the late 90's and 2000. I used to call him the tallest flyweight in the world
I bet he doesn't weigh 8 stone nowadays :lol:
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by SeanBrennan »

paultom wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:21
SeanBrennan wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 10:52
NazNaci1 wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 09:48 Jake Matlala. at 4'10 Light Flyweight and a fine fighter.
That’s a blast from the past, I remember watching a piece on him on Transworld Sport when I was a kid. I remember he always seemed to be fighting Brits too.
Dave Boy McAuley ko'd him with a great one punch knockout,

there was an 8.5 inch difference in height, amazing for flyweights
Wow McAuley was huge for a fly! I was a little early to remember that one, it was Cantwell I remember him fighting. He had one hell of a career, sad to see he passed so young.
Old bones Ian
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Old bones Ian »

Panama Al Brown was 5' 9" when he turned pro as a flyweight, before going on to be one of the great bantamweight champions.
Georges Carpentier was 5'11" and would fight for the heavyweight title , but turned pro as a flyweight was he that tall then though as he was 15 years old at the time.
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by JC »

Dylan Nixon was on the Taylor Esseman undercard

6’ 3” Super Featherweight

https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/1247989
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by margaret thatcher »

a guy like that, is he just naturally insanely skinny? or got some psychological thing where he feels more confident facing much shorter guys? just seems insane someone would be able to get to 127 at 6'3 without having some sort of obsession with being as tall as possible at a weight
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Bercli »

Coco wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 15:07
margaret thatcher wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 15:00
Bercli wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 14:59 Shane Mallon. He was a 6ft 1 flyweight from Kingston,Surrey back in the late 90's and 2000. I used to call him the tallest flyweight in the world
that sounds very unhealthy
He wasn't 6,1, more like 5,9 or 10

Healthy enough, just skinny

Beat Dean Pithie in the ams
Trust me,I spent a lot of time with him,over 6ft. I'm 5ft 9 and he towered over me. He ate like a horse but just could not put weight on
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Coco »

Bercli wrote: 31 Dec 2025, 13:47
Coco wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 15:07
margaret thatcher wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 15:00

that sounds very unhealthy
He wasn't 6,1, more like 5,9 or 10

Healthy enough, just skinny

Beat Dean Pithie in the ams
Trust me,I spent a lot of time with him,over 6ft. I'm 5ft 9 and he towered over me. He ate like a horse but just could not put weight on
Did you box for Kingston?
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by keithmoonhangover »

Georges Carpentier started as a feather and he was 5' 11",
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by margaret thatcher »

6'1 flyweight is insane, going through boxrec, most are 5'3-5'5
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by margaret thatcher »

gullermo jones at 6'4 was a tall cruiser, but it's crazy he actually fought for a world title at junior middle :oo
Old bones Ian
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Old bones Ian »

margaret thatcher wrote: 31 Dec 2025, 17:01 gullermo jones at 6'4 was a tall cruiser, but it's crazy he actually fought for a world title at junior middle :oo
Weird career he had , such talent and should of done more.
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by margaret thatcher »

ya i remember the lebedev fight really well, crazy stuff. lebedev absolutely mangled but still firing away bravely and teeing off with flush shots on jones, jones just smiles back at him. lebedev valiant effort and actually up on the cards
but finally fell with just a couple rounds left

i thought that fight would ruin lebby, but he actually had his best run after
Last edited by margaret thatcher on 31 Dec 2025, 17:47, edited 1 time in total.
Taansend
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Taansend »

Old bones Ian wrote: 30 Dec 2025, 17:56 Panama Al Brown was 5' 9" when he turned pro as a flyweight, before going on to be one of the great bantamweight champions.
Georges Carpentier was 5'11" and would fight for the heavyweight title , but turned pro as a flyweight was he that tall then though as he was 15 years old at the time.
I'm going to guess that the 14 year old Georges was not the same height as the 27 year old Georges.

He might have been, but unlikely, especially given the difference in weight as he was around 100 pounds on turning pro & 172 when fighting Dempsey.
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Re: Shortest and tallest ever fighters for their division

Post by Taansend »

Old bones Ian wrote: 31 Dec 2025, 17:18
margaret thatcher wrote: 31 Dec 2025, 17:01 gullermo jones at 6'4 was a tall cruiser, but it's crazy he actually fought for a world title at junior middle :oo
Weird career he had , such talent and should of done more.
Didn't he fight about once a year for the last decade & didn't lose a bout over many years or something odd?
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