Evolution of The Heavyweight Division – Then Vs Now
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By Tyler “The Miracle Man” White
The other day as I struggled to get to sleep, I thought about a post I’d seen somewhere on Facebook earlier in the day. In fact, I probably saw it in the RSR Facebook Forum!
That post was one of the great, Rocky Marciano, standing next to one of the biggest Heavyweights of today. You’ll have to forgive me as I cannot remember who he was stood next to, but it was either: Wilder, Joshua or Fury.
It was making me think about how different the heavyweight division is now, in comparison with the 1950’s and every decade in between then and now…
Rocky Marciano was around 5ft 10” and weighed only 85kg (187lbs or 13st 5lbs). However, back then; in those days, that was around the average sort of weight and height for a heavyweight.
When we look at it now though, it’s not uncommon to see guys bordering on 7ft tall and weighing near enough 20 stone.
The evolution in size and weight in the heavyweight division has been colossal over the past 60+ years, particularly when we compare someone like Rocky Marciano to a guy like Anthony Joshua.
Whilst Marciano was 5ft10”, Joshua is a whopping 6ft6” and weighs around 113-115kg (around 254lbs or 18st).
Joshua isn’t the biggest heavyweight out there either, with the likes of Deontay Wilder being that fraction taller and Tyson Fury being almost 6ft9” and weighing closer to 19stone.
Why has there been such a dramatic change?
I guess that thanks to modern technology and infrastructure, human kind has been able to continue to evolve and does so with access to better; more varied food, knowledge and healthcare.
This may very well be a big part as to the reason why we’ve seen such a change in the size of the fighters in the heavyweight division. All thanks to the continuing evolution of man…
That’s not to say however, that there aren’t still a few smaller heavyweight contenders out there. For instance, Alexander Povetkin only stands at 6ft1/6ft2, but even-so, many years ago that would’ve been considered tall for a heavyweight!
Whatever the real reasons behind the dramatic size increases over the years, it’s certainly made boxing in general, more “open”, in the sense that there are more and more weight divisions and therefore, more opportunities to win titles.
Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, that depends on an individuals opinion.
Whatever anyone thinks though, we can all probably agree that it wouldn’t be all that fair to see a man the same size as Rocky Marciano in the ring with a giant like Joshua, Wilder or Fury!
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