Sometimes, everyone here is correct. A bigger man should beat a smaller man if they have equal skill.
But not always.
No one was tougher than Jack Dempsey. But he eventually quit sparring with Harry Greb because Greb would take him to pieces.
Billy Conn versus Joe Louis is another one to check. Little Conn gave the mighty Louis a scare he never quite forgot.
The thing is, smaller men are faster. And, some small men can hit just as hard as a big man.
So, sometimes the assumption that a heavyweight will beat a middleweight can be very wrong.
Speed and fighting styles have a lot to do with it. I am an amateur boxer who has sparred large fighters (180 plus) and smaller guys (135) and under. When i sparred the larger guys, their punches hurt more;however, sometimes, they were supper slow and didnt matter how hard they could hit because they couldnt catch me. The problem with smaller guys is: they typically are faster. The guy I sparred hands were moving so fast, that i can honestly say a lot of them I couldn't see. He cut angles and changed levels so fast he was very hard to hit. Size is a big factor;however, size alone does not mean one guy will win over the other. Tommy Hearns was a welterweight, but I could easily see him knocking out some heavyweights.
If both are trained fighters, whether that be MMA or boxing, weight matters alot because each punch or kick carries the weight and power of the fighter. In other words, a 250 lb man will punch alot harder than a 180 lb man. This does and doesn't apply on the street because untrained people don't understand how to properly strike in the first place.
Point-wise it is conceivable that a significantly lighter boxer could defeat the heavier opponent. However in actual punching power the advantage generally goes to the heavier fighter. This assumes relatively equal conditioning. For a welter weight to take on a heavy weight would be a real mismatch as the punching power would so unequal.
Note that when a fighter moves up in weight class he works out and diets to put on that extra weight (in muscle) to allow him to be competitive.
btw It is said there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.
A good big man beats a good little man every time. David Haye was 220lbs when he beat the biggest heavyweight world champion in history (330lbs). But Valuev is far from a good big man in this example.. If both have the skills and experience than the defining point will be the weight advantage, and it will one way.
Its not a stupid question. A lighter boxer, if well conditioned, could defeat a larger boxer on points or cuts but he would have to be a very good defensive fighter and know how to survive if hes caught.
If they're both well trained fighters than weight matters.
200lbs fighters can knock out just about anyone so that is why they're matched up against anyone heavier. Joe Louis weighed about 200lbs when he knocked out Carnera who was 270lbs of muscle.
A lighter guy even 170lbs can outbox a 200lbs guy, Rocky Marciano built his career this way but if you put a light guy against a 240lbs guy the lighter man won't have the power to get him out of there and he will gas out.
Typically, heavier fighters are more powerful, but slow and uncoordinated. Lighter fighters are faster n have more technical ability but lack the power seen in heavier fighters
I have no knowledge of boxing, so maybe this is a stupid question, I don't know, I'm just curious. How much does weight really matter? Assuming a roughly equal level of experience- does a Middleweight or a Welterweight or even a Featherweight have a chance against a Heavyweight? Or is it like ridiculous to ask? I was just wondering, after all a 200 lbs will fight a 250 lbs, they're both Heavyweights, so why wouldn't a 170 lbs fight a 200 lbs?
