Boxing: Does size really matter

By Boxing News - 05/17/2011 - Comments

Does size really matter?

By Van Dunn: On March 1, 2003 the boxing world watch with anticipation as history was about to be made. The match dubbed as “David vs. Goliath” set the boxing world afire as Light Heavyweight challenger Roy Jones Jr. attempted to become the first former Middleweight champion to win a Heavyweight title in 106 yrs, a feat which was first accomplished by Bob Fitzsimmons in 1896.

Jones entered the ring weighing a mere 193 lbs as compared to an intimidating 226 lbs spotted by the WBA Heavyweight champ John Ruiz. Ruiz not only had a thirty plus pound weight advantage over Jones, he also had a sizable 3 inch height, and a 4 inch reach advantage over Jones as well.

Any casual observer, who was not a follower of the sport, would have looked at this fight on paper, and easily notice the obvious advantages for Ruiz, and concluded that Roy Jones Jr. was a dead man. But in reality, this was a match made in heaven for Jones as he realized that his superior skill level and not the size of Ruiz would be the determining factor in this fight. Roy Jones Jr, after all, was one of the most celebrated and gifted fighters that this era had ever seen. His cat-like reflexes, and lightening quick punches were among the stuff that legends were made of, and Jones had became quite a legend himself with holding 7 titles at one time, alongside riveting wins and thrilling knockouts over the likes of James Toney, Virgil Hill, and Montell Griffin. Jones style and charisma was in stark contrast to that of John “The Quiet Man” Ruiz. Ruiz was a heavyweight fighter with a somewhat awkward style of fighting that could offset his very limited skills as a boxer. Unlike the agile Jones, Ruiz was a flat footed, come forward fighter with little or no head movement. His game plan was always to make a fight rough by rushing end, grabbing and holding his opponent, and then surprising them with sneaky and sometimes hard punches. Ruiz’s boring style was painful for any fan to watch as the most exciting fight that he was ever involved in was a first round, nineteen second KO and vicious beat down inflicted upon him by David Tua. Again, the size of John Ruiz was the least of Roy Jones Jr. concerns because John Ruiz was just not that good, and Jones was more than willing to exploit his skills against Ruiz, and take the Heavyweight title away from him, and that is exactly what Jones did. At the end of the fight, Jones sat atop the boxing world by becoming the WBA Heavyweight champ. But his success was quickly made an afterthought as Jones accomplished his desire of making history by winning a paper title, but he never bothered to match his skill against the legitimate linear Heavy weight champ in Lennox Lewis. Lewis would have not only towered over Jones in size and height, but the gap in skills, which had been miles apart when Jones fought Ruiz, would not have been so glaringly obvious with Lewis. Roy Jones knew this, and that is why he never thought about fighting anyone else with a title in the Heavyweight division, and that is why his fight with John Ruiz was his first and last fight as a Heavyweight.

Fast forward to the here and now to the great Manny “Pac-man” Pacquioa, a fighter who has burst on the scene of boxing with a loud and thunderous boom. Pac has brought as much excitement and enthusiasm to the sport as Jones did himself. His amazing victories over Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Erik Morales are eye popping and staggering. His speed and underrated power are enough to give fits to just about any fighter put in front of him. As great of a fighter that Manny Pacquiao has been, and as much of a national hero that he has become to his homeland, it seems like a funny thing happened on the way to the coliseum. Pacquiao has begun to match his superior skills in speed and power against much bigger, but older, and well past their prime fighters, and it is starting to become a disgrace to the sport.

When Pac fought Oscar De La Hoya, many in the sport including myself, thought that this was bad for Pac, because Oscar was just too big for Pac to tango with, but fight night proved to be a different story, as Oscar’s size was the least of Pac’s concern. Manny proved all that he needed to prove by fighting and whipping Oscar De La Hoya, so there is no need for him to continue with this meaningless campaign in fighting bigger guys in weight, height, and size, but whose skill levels have dropped far below the negative. While Pac has began to come under increasing scrutiny for fighting these type of fights, at least one name has come up that has put a jolt in the hearts of Pac fans worldwide. Sergio Gabriel Martinez is a fighter with skills. Sure he is a “big” middleweight, but didn’t Pac just fight a ‘big” middleweight in Antonio Margarito? Didn’t Martinez say that he would be willing to fight Pac at 154?

Team Pacquiao and his fans may say that Martinez is just to “big” for Pac to fight, but is it actually about size now? Hasn’t Pac been all to willing to prove his greatness by fighting bigger guys? The average Pac fan would laugh this off by saying, “yeah right, I bet you want Pac to fight both of the Klitschko Brothers.” To that I would say, no, because that would be like watching Jack Johnson almost decapitating Stanley Ketchel. Who really cares about size, when skills are what matters the most?



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