BoxRec

Michael Moorer vs Mike White

The former 175-pounder kayos the 6'10" giant who once beaten James Buster Douglas is a fight that comes to mind when I think of this scenario.

Probably the first such match in boxing history was between William Perry and "The American Giant" Charles Freeman in the 19th century. Though Freeman was nearly 7'0" and was incredibly strong and acrobatic, his punches apparently couldn't crack an egg. His skeleton is in the Royal College of Surgeons standing next to "The Irish Giant" Charles Byrne who was 7'7".

I was genuinely hoping that James Toney would have successfully goaded one of the Klitchkos or Valuev into a classic Mutt and Jeff match. Was Valuev in a timeline that would have worked for Toney? I forget, but I know he was tossing barbs out to the K brothers. You'd think that match would have had some financial possibilities.....

But it never happened.

As much as I liked James Toney, I have a hard time imagining him getting the nod over the K Bros......but if the timelines matched up.....I think the Valuev fight would have been a spectacle. Would Roy Jones have been in that time line for a Valuev or K Bros matchup as well? I think it would have been feasible but I'd have to go back to the books to check the timelines.....my memory sucks lately.

Henry, I have to take the lower performer of these giants, and ask the question.....How do you think Toney or Jones would have faired against the Beast from the East?

They would have done a lot better than Tommy Loughran did versus Primo Carnera.... Because Jones and Toney were many times as good as Tommy Loughran was and they could punch harder....

But they still would have had problems... They weren't David Haye.

BoxBuzz wrote: ↑24 Mar 2018, 13:43 I was genuinely hoping that James Toney would have successfully goaded one of the Klitchkos or Valuev into a classic Mutt and Jeff match. Was Valuev in a timeline that would have worked for Toney? I forget, but I know he was tossing barbs out to the K brothers. You'd think that match would have had some financial possibilities.....

But it never happened.

As much as I liked James Toney, I have a hard time imagining him getting the nod over the K Bros......but if the timelines matched up.....I think the Valuev fight would have been a spectacle. Would Roy Jones have been in that time line for a Valuev or K Bros matchup as well? I think it would have been feasible but I'd have to go back to the books to check the timelines.....my memory sucks lately.

Henry, I have to take the lower performer of these giants, and ask the question.....How do you think Toney or Jones would have faired against the Beast from the East?

For me, it was obvious that Jones was never really a true heavyweight. He picked the worst of the top ten, and had some assistance from the referee to lift the title from John Ruiz. The fact that it was only a one night experiment shows that he knew his limitations, anyone else in the division probably would have iced him.

Toney on the other hand, proved time and again that he was capable of beating heavyweights of different styles and abilities: Rydell Booker, Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman, John Ruiz, Sam Peter, etc. and I think he SHOULD have been given a shot at the "Frankenstein Brothers" (as he called them) or even Chris Byrd, considering Toney often quipped that he had the "Byrd Trap" because he claimed he smacked Byrd around in Michigan many times when they were younger. I don't know if he could have beaten either Klitschko, but I do think he could have went the distance.

As for Valuev... Let's be honest... John Ruiz was robbed twice against him, and so was Holyfield... He was a carnival attraction with a modicum of ability who was so damn big it APPEARED that he did more than he actually did. I think Toney would have beaten him, but probably would have been robbed as well. Hell, Kevin McBride was supposed to fight him at one point and I think he'd of beaten Valuev. Very nice guy but let's be honest, the only legitimate victory he had was against Monte Barrett, and he was losing that until the knockout.

valuev was well ahead of barrett. i only saw the 2nd ruiz fight. it was close but i can see a decision for valuev.

liakohvich domination was decent

mcbride was truly awful and even slower then the giant. valuev wouldve beaten him

jamamb wrote: ↑25 Mar 2018, 02:05 valuev was well ahead of barrett. i only saw the 2nd ruiz fight. it was close but i can see a decision for valuev.

liakohvich domination was decent

mcbride was truly awful and even slower then the giant. valuev wouldve beaten him

Watch McBride vs Adamek, he was NOT as bad as Valuev.

mcbride was awful. i have very little doubt valuev wouldve beaten him. valuev never got destroyed by guys like mike mollo.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑25 Mar 2018, 02:07

jamamb wrote: ↑25 Mar 2018, 02:05 valuev was well ahead of barrett. i only saw the 2nd ruiz fight. it was close but i can see a decision for valuev.

liakohvich domination was decent

mcbride was truly awful and even slower then the giant. valuev wouldve beaten him

Watch McBride vs Adamek, he was NOT as bad as Valuev.

McBride was terrible... Mariuse Wach put McBride in a coma with a smashing right... Valuev was beating Barrett handily when he smashed him out as well... Valuev shut Liakovich out, something Andy Ruiz couldn't do.

Every fighter... Has piss poor performances... Every fighter is worse than usual from time to time... Every fighter, even when undefeated against high level competition, has flaws and weaknesses just waiting to be exploited... McBride COULD be in good fights, and do more than what was expected from him... The guys that piss me off are the ones with the titles getting overblown with the passage of time (ie Valuev) because he was absolutely horrible.

You like to cling to your beliefs regardless of what the facts tell you...

Nicolai Valuev's record as a professional boxer was 50-2... He's was never knocked down or stopped in any fight.

The only 2 boxers to defeat Valuev were David Haye who was 22-1 in 23 fights---and the undefeated Ruslan Chagaev who was 22-0-1 in 23 fights... They couldn't knock Valuev out... They both out-boxed him and beat him by majority decision.

David Haye weighed 217 and muscled up for the contest which wasn't super easy for him... Chagaev was a little bigger and weighed 228 and a quarter and fought his best fight ever.... Both fighters would have murdered Kevin McBride.

Don't start telling me that I'm hyping up Valuev or that he's my new favorite... He was a very limited boxer and the Klitschko Bros would have killed him... He intelligently refused to fight them... However, given what he had (size) he did well.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑23 Mar 2018, 23:49 Michael Moorer vs Mike White

The former 175-pounder kayos the 6'10" giant who once beaten James Buster Douglas is a fight that comes to mind when I think of this scenario.

Probably the first such match in boxing history was between William Perry and "The American Giant" Charles Freeman in the 19th century. Though Freeman was nearly 7'0" and was incredibly strong and acrobatic, his punches apparently couldn't crack an egg. His skeleton is in the Royal College of Surgeons standing next to "The Irish Giant" Charles Byrne who was 7'7".

His skeleton use to be on exhibit there until about 10 years ago.
Maybe they put it back on display but I tend to doubt it.

Does Mickey Walker vrs Max Schmeling count ?

You guys named great examples...the first that came to mind wasn't nearly as good. Joe Frazier/Bob Foster...I know he wasn't a giant among HW's (he was a LHW as we all know) he was tall and lanky so that he looked the giant against Frazier...that is...until Frazier hit him.

Caractacus wrote: ↑27 Mar 2018, 15:26 Does Mickey Walker vrs Max Schmeling count ?

That would in many ways considering he started off as a welterweight or smaller.

The Goliath always being much larger then the David.

Frank Bruno v Stewart Lithgo.

Curious little story.........Lithgo If I remember correctly was actually a former jump jockey (not folk renowned for their size) who'd switched to boxing after having filled out too much.

In Bruno's first book I am sure there's a fight picture with Lithgo looking like a proper string bean......he had some height and was a gutsy wee bugger but got bashed-up by the muscular and sizeable Bruno.

Lithgo must have been a brave, brave lad.

BoxBuzz wrote: ↑24 Mar 2018, 13:43 I was genuinely hoping that James Toney would have successfully goaded one of the Klitchkos .... into a classic Mutt and Jeff match.

He successfully goaded Sam Peter (a man who was knocked out by both Klitschko Bros) into two (2) matches....

Fat Boy (Toney) didn't exactly excite or enthrall anybody.... He lost both fights.... tsk tsk tsk

Have you heard the story of Robert Whittaker Vs the Venetian Gondalier?

The standard account comes from Captain Godfrey, it starts on page 58
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/ ... BbAAAAQAAJ

Though I actually found an early newspaper that gave another version.

George Foreman ( 6 ft 4") vrs Dwight Muhammad Quawi (5 ft 6")

Caractacus wrote: ↑02 Apr 2018, 14:31 George Foreman ( 6 ft 4") vrs Dwight Muhammad Quawi (5 ft 6")

Bob Foster v. Most everyone at LHW during his reign.

Mike Tyson vs Bonecrusher Smith was quite a size differential.

David Haye vs Valuev I think holds the record for the biggest weight differential ever in Boxing history actually. At least in a World Title match.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑02 Apr 2018, 14:41 Mike Tyson vs Bonecrusher Smith was quite a size differential.

David Haye vs Valuev I think holds the record for the biggest weight differential ever in Boxing history actually. At least in a World Title match.

That was a 99 pound differential.... Valuev had Monte Barrett by 108 pounds... That's the Title Fight record I believe.

Eric Esch's decision win over 205-pound Dan White was a 170-pound difference... But I'm pretty sure there's bigger difference in weight than that... It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were fights with a 300 or more pound difference...

There was a guy in Eastern Europe who was over 8' tall... He was reading a news stand magazine as he was waiting for a bus... He saw a story about "The World's Tallest Man"... The guy he was reading about was 7'10" or something, I forget exactly, but he was several inches shorter... He bought the publication and called them... They came out to measure him and confirmed it.

Kalan wrote: ↑02 Apr 2018, 15:18

gilgamesh wrote: ↑02 Apr 2018, 14:41 Mike Tyson vs Bonecrusher Smith was quite a size differential.

David Haye vs Valuev I think holds the record for the biggest weight differential ever in Boxing history actually. At least in a World Title match.

That was a 99 pound differential.... Valuev had Monte Barrett by 108 pounds... That's the Title Fight record I believe.

Eric Esch's decision win over 205-pound Dan White was a 170-pound difference... But I'm pretty sure there's bigger difference in weight than that... It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were fights with a 300 or more pound difference...

There was a guy in Eastern Europe who was over 8' tall... He was reading a news stand magazine as he was waiting for a bus... He saw a story about "The World's Tallest Man"... The guy he was reading about was 7'10" or something, I forget exactly, but he was several inches shorter... He bought the publication and called them... They came out to measure him and confirmed it.

OMG! I didn't realize it was that much! Good thing Valuev couldn't move or punch. Kalan - remember when the record total weight was Carnera/Uzceden? (sp?) They are dwarfed by today's boys.

Yeah I remember that.... It was in a 1973 addition of the Guinness World Record Book somebody sent me.

I remember thinking it wasn't very impressive... But the Queensberry Rules were not that old at that time... It's like the NBA or NFL records for years and years... Even the Major League records you think "Hmmm... is that really the record?"

Many Track & Field records are impressive... and Swimming records are impressive.... Those sports have been around forever and ever with millions of athletes worldwide... How anybody jumps over a bar over 8 feet high is interesting because I can remember when they couldn't clear 7 feet... And it's interesting that nobody has long jumped 30 feet... You figure if somebody as fast as Usain Bolt could get a great takeoff and landing that would fall.

In the era following Tunney (1930-1940) there were a lot of "drednaught" heavyweights, though Primo Carnera was the most famous and successful.... Abe Simon (6'5"), Buddy Baer (6'7"), Jose Santa (6'8"), Ray Impelltiere (6'9"), Leon Ketchell (6'10"), to name a few.

Gogea Mitu was possibly the tallest during that era being between 7'2"-7'4", and had a number of exhibition bouts and pro contests; most famously against 6'3" powerhouse George Godfrey whom Tunney ducked.

Jack Dempsey himself fought a giant in "Big" Ben Wray who was 7'2" while training in Shelby, Montana for Tommy Gibbons. Wray was said to be 4-0-0 (4) as a professional, but it took Dempsey roughly 60 seconds to knock out the giant breaking the big man's jaw in the process.

The tallest men that I know of who ever applied for a boxing license was the following individuals: Ted Evans (7'8.5"), Eddie Carmel (7'9"), and Albert Kramer (7'9.5") though the latter could have been 8'0" at his peak height.

Evans is most interesting to me because he apparently did have serious training camps, and did a few exhibitions if I'm not mistaken and his debut was ready to go but then he became ill and died.

Carmel, for all intents and purposes, was essentially riding the bandwagon of the hooplah that was ongoing between Muhammad Ali and Wilt Chamberlain, saying that he was even bigger than the famous basketball player and felt he'd have no problem taking away all of Ali's advantages.

Kramer did go to gyms, and apparently was going to be managed by "Memphis" Pal Moore, but I think the money traveling the world as a circus giant was far more appealing than actually fighting.

If I'm not mistaken, also, the famous Irish giant Charles Byrne (7'7") was supposed to fight but became too ill. That of course was in the bareknuckle era. It'd of been interesting how that'd of went down considering the average man in those times was 5'8" and rarely did you see a man close to 6'5".

The largest all around boxer that I've ever heard of was Carl "The Eclipse" Chancellor. BoxRec has him listed as 6'11.5" but I tend to believe the reports that he was in excess of 7'0". He was well over 450 pounds. Probably best known for his fight with Leroy Jones who was 270 pounds himself.

Then again... For a time when Carnera was champion a French giant named Fernand Contat probably would have been the biggest boxer ever... He campaigned mightily for a fight with Carnera, and he started out the same way as the Italian did fighting in carnivals... Contat was well over 7'8" and weighed (on average) 415 pounds, and he did put on numerous boxing exhibitions.

Ewart Potgieter, of all the giant men in boxing history, arguably was the best overall fighting to a draw with heavyweight contender James J. Parker who was also a pretty sizable man for the era.

Canada's Edouard Beaupre, one of my personal favorite giant cases, was arguably the tallest and strongest man in the whole of North America if not the world during his lifetime (1881-1904) who could lift 900 pound horses and often wrestled matches (including one with Louis Cyr the strongest man in the world for many years at that time). Being a sideshow performer he travelled with prizefighters as well who'd give purses to anyone who could go X amount of rounds with them. Beaupre learned from them as well while on the road.

The tallest man who ever boxed as an amateur, and nearly turned professional was Vaino Myllyrinne of Iceland who is one of the few people on Earth known to have been 8'0" or taller legitimately. Vaino boxed while in the army and was 7'9" at that time, though he'd end up being 8'3". There are many pictures of him with his boxing trainer.

In more modern times before heavyweights truly became behemoths averaging 6'5" and 240 pounds, one of the bigger men in boxing was Jack "The Giant"O'Halloran. He was 6'6" 240, and fought in the 1970s. His biggest fights were against Joe Bugner, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Cleveland Williams, etc. He later became an actor. Unfortunately he doesn't like to talk about his boxing career, and doesn't do interviews about it.