BoxRec

Where would you all rate Conn in the history of the light heavyweight division? Clearly no great puncher (although he did rock Louis), but just as obviously a great boxer, and very smart in the ring.

Just one little bit of trivia that's been driving me nuts--does anyone know how tall Conn was?! Here at boxrec his weights for certain fights are listed, but neither here nor anywhere else on-line have I been able to find a height or reach listing on him, so I have no idea how he stacks up against tall/long reach guys like Foster or Spinks in that department.

..i'd rate billy conn very high in the list of lightheavys. he fought and beat some of the top fighters in that division..and did well against some good heavyweights, too.not a big puncher but he was fast and tough...had a hell of a chin. knocked out only twice in his career...and both of those by joe louis. in their first fight he really took a barrage of hard punches by the most devastating comnbination puncher of them all before he went down, and still almost beat the count. in the second fight he was all through and shouldn't count against him. i go along with don dunphy , though in rating him as less than a really a clever boxer. dunphy said he was a street fighter. he was so fast he could move in and punch and move out , but he didn't feint his opponents into making bad moves or do the other things the great technicians do. still, i rate him just a shade under charles and moore.

it is a mystery about his height. even the old ring record books don't list it. just from the films of the louis fights, though, it's obvious he wasn't a long tall guy like foster. i'd guess him to be just under six feet.

Both the Sept. 1 and Sept 6, 1940 New York Times, announcing the Conn-Pastor bout, had "How the Rivals Compare" stats. Conn is described in both as being 6-1½ tall, with a 72½ inch reach.

ric.....i find this surprising, as this is the height usually listed for joe louis...and he appears to be taller than conn. maybe it's just because conn is of a smaller build....but...if billy weighed just 167 for this fight as he claimed, then at 6'1 1/2" he'd look much lankier than he does here.

don't know if it applies here, but jerry quarry once said he :"never saw one of those tales of the tape that was accurate. i think they move them around according to who is fighting who."

Higher than those two clowns who fought on Saturday night...

6' 1 1/2" is surprising, but could be. That 72 1/2" reach sounds about right; slim build, relativley narrow shoulders and so forth. Nice bit of research work there, Ric.

Conn was at least 6-feet.

Jaclem wrote:don't know if it applies here, but jerry quarry once said he :"never saw one of those tales of the tape that was accurate. i think they move them around according to who is fighting who."

That's absolutely right... no HBO broadcast has ever listed the same guy's height the same twice. For example, DeLaHoya's height is sometimes listed as 5'10 1/2", sometimes 5'11". It's no big deal, I suppose... just remember anytime you see a guy's height listed somewhere, just remember that it's usually "give or take" a 1/2 inch or an inch.

Don't be an ass like Jim Lampley and assume that every number put in front of you by a computer is gospel.

The Keed wrote:Conn was at least 6-feet.

Joe louis was 6.2 or under 6.2 Conn if you see the fights with Louis is LITTLE SHORT THAT LOUIS. CONN HEIGHT WAS 6.1 OR UNDER IT.