Tag: Bob Fitzsimmons

Little big men: The lightest heavyweight champions of all time

Oleksandr Usyk is considered a small heavyweight in an era of behemoths. The 6-foot-3 Ukrainian weighed in at a career-high 221¼ pounds for his fight against 240-pound Anthony Joshua this past September, when the former cruiserweight champ earned a …

Oleksandr Usyk is considered a small heavyweight in an era of behemoths.

The 6-foot-3 Ukrainian weighed in at a career-high 221¼ pounds for his fight against 240-pound Anthony Joshua this past September, when the former cruiserweight champ earned a unanimous-decision victory and three of the four major heavyweight titles.

Usyk’s official weight would’ve made him one of the bigger champions in the first 60 years of the 20th century, when fighters not much heavier than present day light heavyweights were competing for the heavyweight championship.

From James J. Corbett to Jack Dempsey to Rocky Marciano, men who weighed less than 200 pounds ruled the sport’s glamour division.

Who weighed the least among heavyweight champions?

Here are the 10 lightest fighters who have won the title since John L. Sullivan ruled the division more than a century ago. Their weights when they became champions are listed.

We go in reverse order.

Little big men: The lightest heavyweight champions of all time

Oleksandr Usyk is considered a small heavyweight in an era of behemoths. The 6-foot-3 Ukrainian weighed in at a career-high 221¼ pounds for his fight against 240-pound Anthony Joshua this past September, when the former cruiserweight champ earned a …

Oleksandr Usyk is considered a small heavyweight in an era of behemoths.

The 6-foot-3 Ukrainian weighed in at a career-high 221¼ pounds for his fight against 240-pound Anthony Joshua this past September, when the former cruiserweight champ earned a unanimous-decision victory and three of the four major heavyweight titles.

Usyk’s official weight would’ve made him one of the bigger champions in the first 60 years of the 20th century, when fighters not much heavier than present day light heavyweights were competing for the heavyweight championship.

From James J. Corbett to Jack Dempsey to Rocky Marciano, men who weighed less than 200 pounds ruled the sport’s glamour division.

Who weighed the least among heavyweight champions?

Here are the 10 lightest fighters who have won the title since John L. Sullivan ruled the division more than a century ago. Their weights when they became champions are listed.

We go in reverse order.

Degrees of Separation: Linking Anthony Joshua with first British heavyweight champ, Bob Fitzsimmons

Degrees of Separation: Linking Anthony Joshua with the first British heavyweight champion of the modern era, Bob Fitzsimmons.

Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.

In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.

We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”

Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.

Bob Fitzsimmons (left) is pictured in his 1897 fight against James J. Corbett. AP Photo

In this installment of the Boxing Junkie feature, we decided to link heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua of the U.K. to the first British heavyweight champ of the modern era, Bob Fitzsimmons.

We succeeded in 11 steps even though Fitzsimmons last fought in 1914, more than 100 years ago. Note: Fitzsimmons was born in England and spent his early years there before his family emigrated to New Zealand.

Joshua defends his titles against Oleksandr Usyk on Sept. 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London (DAZN).

Have a look:

Bob Fitzsimmons fought …

Jack Johnson, who fought …

Bearcat Wright, who fought …

Max Baer, who fought …

Joe Louis, who fought …

Rocky Marciano, who fought …

Archie Moore, who fought …

Muhammad Ali, who fought …

George Foreman, who fought …

Axel Schulz, who fought …

Wladimir Klitschko, who fought …

Anthony Joshua

***

Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!

Read more:

Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder

Degrees of Separation: Linking Filipino greats Flash Elorde, Manny Pacquiao

Degrees of Separation: Linking Japanese greats Fighting Harada and Naoya Inoue

Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ

Degrees of Separation: Connecting Canelo Alvarez with Mexican legends

Degrees of Separation: Linking the Mayweathers

Degrees of Separation: Linking Manny Pacquiao to Pancho Villa

 

Degrees of Separation: Linking Anthony Joshua with first British heavyweight champ, Bob Fitzsimmons

Degrees of Separation: Linking Anthony Joshua with the first British heavyweight champion of the modern era, Bob Fitzsimmons.

Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.

In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.

We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”

Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.

Bob Fitzsimmons (left) is pictured in his 1897 fight against James J. Corbett. AP Photo

In this installment of the Boxing Junkie feature, we decided to link heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua of the U.K. to the first British heavyweight champ of the modern era, Bob Fitzsimmons.

We succeeded in 11 steps even though Fitzsimmons last fought in 1914, more than 100 years ago. Note: Fitzsimmons was born in England and spent his early years there before his family emigrated to New Zealand.

Joshua defends his titles against Oleksandr Usyk on Sept. 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London (DAZN).

Have a look:

Bob Fitzsimmons fought …

Jack Johnson, who fought …

Bearcat Wright, who fought …

Max Baer, who fought …

Joe Louis, who fought …

Rocky Marciano, who fought …

Archie Moore, who fought …

Muhammad Ali, who fought …

George Foreman, who fought …

Axel Schulz, who fought …

Wladimir Klitschko, who fought …

Anthony Joshua

***

Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!

Read more:

Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder

Degrees of Separation: Linking Filipino greats Flash Elorde, Manny Pacquiao

Degrees of Separation: Linking Japanese greats Fighting Harada and Naoya Inoue

Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ

Degrees of Separation: Connecting Canelo Alvarez with Mexican legends

Degrees of Separation: Linking the Mayweathers

Degrees of Separation: Linking Manny Pacquiao to Pancho Villa

 

Ageless wonders: Greatest performances by fighters 40 and older

Here is a list of the 10 greatest performances by boxers 40 or older.

Manny Pacquiao joined an exclusive fraternity when he defeated Keith Thurman by a split decision to win a major welterweight title in July 2019.

The ageless Filipino icon had turned 40 the previous December, which made his remarkable performance one of the best ever among fighters who are at least 40 years old.

How does it compare with other great performances by those 40-plus? Here’s a list of 10 that stand out, in order of magnitude.

Note: The Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence Jr. fight on Aug. 21 in less than a month away. This special feature is just one of many that will be posted in the coming weeks.

Ageless wonders: Greatest performances by fighters 40 and older

Here is a list of the 10 greatest performances by boxers 40 or older.

Manny Pacquiao joined an exclusive fraternity when he defeated Keith Thurman by a split decision to win a major welterweight title in July 2019.

The ageless Filipino icon had turned 40 the previous December, which made his remarkable performance one of the best ever among fighters who are at least 40 years old.

How does it compare with other great performances by those 40-plus? Here’s a list of 10 that stand out, in order of magnitude.

Note: The Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence Jr. fight on Aug. 21 in less than a month away. This special feature is just one of many that will be posted in the coming weeks.

Oleksandr Usyk shows off bulk in Instagram photo

Is Oleksandr Usyk evolving physically into a legitimate heavyweight?

Is Oleksandr Usyk evolving physically into a legitimate heavyweight?

The former unified cruiserweight champ, who is 6-foot-3, weighed 215 pounds for his heavyweight debut against Chazz Witherspoon — a seventh-round knockout — this past October in Chicago.

For that fight, he was a small heavyweight. However, some have taken a look at the photo Usyk posted on Instagram Friday (see below) and have concluded that he’s using his time off to bulk up.

One could argue that he has heavyweight guns in that image, although he didn’t exactly have an biceps issue before now.

One could also argue that he remains a cruiserweight from the waist down, perhaps in the mold of pioneer Bob Fitzsimmons. Maybe he’s still working on his legs.

Either way, the image is striking. Usyk looks strong. And we know he has all the ability in the world.

We’ll see how this plays out as Usyk continues to fight as a heavyweight. He was scheduled to face Dereck Chisora on May 23 at O2 Arena in London but that fight was postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tiny but mighty: Shortest heavyweight champions ever

Boxing Junkie presents in the special feature the shortest heavyweight champions of all time.

Boxing Junkie recently presented a list of the tallest heavyweight champions of all time, with the 7-foot skyscraper Nikolai Valuev at the top of the angular heap.

Now it’s the little guys’ turn. In this special feature, we give you the shortest men to hold one world heavyweight title or another since John L. Sullivan opened the modern era when he was recognized as champion in the mid-1880s.

Only eight men under 6 feet have won the sport’s greatest prize in 135 years and no one has done it since the 5-11 Roy Jones Jr. beat John Ruiz in 2003.

Note: The heights used for this feature come from BoxRec.com, the official record keeper for professional boxing.

Here is the list (by height, or lack thereof).

 

NO. 1 TOMMY BURNS

Height: 5-7
Active: 1902-20
Record: 47-4-8 (35 KOs)
Reign(s): 1906-08
Background: What Burns lacked in height he made up for with quickness and pluck. The French-Canadian, whose real name was Noah Brusso, defeated bigger men by moving inside to inflict damage and then getting out quickly to avoid it. That’s how he beat the sub-6-foot, but heavier Marvin Hart to win the heavyweight title by decision in 1906 in Los Angeles. Burns made several defenses and then took his championship belt on a successful world tour, finishing his title run with eight consecutive knockouts. Disaster loomed, though. Following him on much of that tour was Jack Johnson, whose goal was to lure Burns into the ring. Johnson finally convinced Burns to fight him on Dec. 26, 1908 in Sydney. A $30,000 payday for Burns, the most ever earned by a boxer to that point, made it impossible to say no. Police halted Johnson’s slaughter of Burns, who officially lost a decision. He still has the distinction of being the shortest heavyweight champion.

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Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ

In this installment of Degrees of Separation, we link Tyson Fury to the first U.K.-born heavyweight champion, Bob Fitzsimmons in 11 steps.

Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.

In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.

We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”

Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.

In the first installment of the new Boxing Junkie feature, we connected heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder to the first heavyweight champ of the modern era, John L. Sullivan.

Now, in third installment, it’s the turn of lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who faces Wilder in a rematch on Feb. 22. We link “The Gypsy King” to the first U.K.-born heavyweight champion, Bob Fitzsimmons, who won the heavyweight title in 1897 and last fought in 1914.

And it took us only 12 steps, which isn’t bad given the century-plus between the fighters’ careers.

Check it out:

Bob Fitzsimmons fought …

Jack Johnson, who fought …

Jess Willard, who fought …

Jack Dempsey, who fought …

Jack Sharkey, who fought …

Joe Louis, who fought …

Rocky Marciano, who fought …

Archie Moore, who fought …

Muhammad Ali, who fought …

Larry Holmes, who fought …

Ray Mercer, who fought …

Wladimir Klitschko, who fought …

Tyson Fury

 

Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!

Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder