"A good big man will beat a good little man" (boxing)

[WWGD]

Formally, no, because the fact that something hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that it won't happen tomorrow.

Informally, the big guy is going to withstand strikes better and hit harder, so if they exchange at anything like an equal rate the big guy will win. But people do win things with unorthodox tactics that catch their opponent off guard, or just plain get lucky, so I wouldn't see it as a law of nature that the big guy will always win.

I think it may be a statistical law, not a logical one. The little guy has the odds stacked against him. I believe bets in such fights would reflect that.

 

[Ibix]

I think it may be a statistical law, not a logical one. The little guy has the odds stacked against him. I believe bets in such fights would reflect that.

That's just another way of saying that it's incredibly unlikely for the little guy to win. I agree. I would say the odds of him winning are indistinguishable from zero given our current data. However, I would not say that this translates to "it is physically impossible for the little guy to win".

 

[WWGD]

That's just another way of saying that it's incredibly unlikely for the little guy to win. I agree. I would say the odds of him winning are indistinguishable from zero given our current data. However, I would not say that this translates to "it is physically impossible for the little guy to win".

Agreed. Still, in the "augmented reality" of MMA, little guys may win through low kicks that damage nerves of the lower legs. There may be other tactics for open-ended fights such as street fights.

 

[BWV]

It’s like saying there will never be a 5’ starting center in the NBA, because or a 150 pound NFL center as professional fighting requires a minimum level of skill such that any pro heavyweight will have enough boxing skills to employ his size and strength advantage to offset any possible skill deficit with a 150 pound opponent

Same reason why elite woman athletes get beat by average male athletes, or why there will never be a 250 pound gold medal Olympic sprinter

 

[sevensages]

That's just another way of saying that it's incredibly unlikely for the little guy to win. I agree. I would say the odds of him winning are indistinguishable from zero given our current data. However, I would not say that this translates to "it is physically impossible for the little guy to win".

You think that the odds of the little guy winning are indistinguishable from zero? Are you kidding? I am the OP of this thread. I am the guy saying "A good big man will beat a good little man", and even I think that the odds of the little guy beating the big guy are higher than zero. What if the little man is in the lightweight champion of the world, and the big man is 90 years old and out of shape, morbidly obese with a big potbelly, and has no boxing training? Then the little man would be the favorite to win.

 

[sevensages]

It’s like saying there will never be a 5’ starting center in the NBA, because or a 150 pound NFL center as professional fighting requires a minimum level of skill such that any pro heavyweight will have enough boxing skills to employ his size and strength advantage to offset any possible skill deficit with a 150 pound opponent

Same reason why elite woman athletes get beat by average male athletes, or why there will never be a 250 pound gold medal Olympic sprinter

Do you think I have a point in the OP of this thread?

 

[WWGD]

You think that the odds of the little guy winning are indistinguishable from zero? Are you kidding? I am the OP of this thread. I am the guy saying "A good big man will beat a good little man", and even I think that the odds of the little guy beating the big guy are higher than zero. What if the little man is in the lightweight champion of the world, and the big man is 90 years old and out of shape, morbidly obese with a big potbelly, and has no boxing training? Then the little man would be the favorite to win.

I assume he means most other things being equal, the big man has much better odds.

 

[sevensages]

I assume he means most other things being equal, the big man has much better odds.

He said that the odds of the big man winning are so much better that the odds of the little man winning are indistinguishable from zero.

 

[BWV]

Given that Floyd Merriweather Jr is the highest earning boxer of all time , think the premise of heavyweights getting paid better is flawed

 

[sevensages]

Given that Floyd Merriweather Jr is the highest earning boxer of all time , think the premise of heavyweights getting paid better is flawed

Heavyweights have generally made more money than middleweights throughout history. Mayweather is an anomaly. Mayweather would have made even more money if he had beat the contemporary heavyweight champions of the world during his career: Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury. But Mayweather never even tried to beat Klitschko or Fury in a boxing match because Mayweather would get knocked out if he tried that.

 

[sevensages]

Given that Floyd Merriweather Jr is the highest earning boxer of all time , think the premise of heavyweights getting paid better is flawed

Get on Google and ask AI "what weight class of boxers generally make the most money?" See what it says.

 

[mathwonk]

you seem to be asking for very extreme comparisons, but in the general direction of whether a significantly smaller boxer can win, I suggest you watch a film of the Jack Dempsey/Jess Willard fight; but only if you have a strong stomach for seeing the punishment absorbed by Willard, who outweighed Dempsey by almost 60 pounds, (Willard 245, Dempsey 187), and towered 5 inches over him.

 

[berkeman]

Thread is done.