Land of the Heavyweight Giants
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
The late world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, the ‘Galveston Giant’ was shorter than the man who dethroned him in Havana, Cuba, Jess Willard. The Klitschkos, Lennox Lewis, Nikolai Valuev, Primo Carnera, and Mike White are some historical examples of the tall guys who rock and rolled in the heavyweight division, not always with success.
6’10” Mike White held the California State Heavyweight championship, and fought between 1980 and 1993 with a record of 26 wins, 13 losses, and one draw, with 19 knockouts. Against 26-0 future world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, White could not win a round in the 10 rounder. Stoppage losses to heavyweights Alex Garcia and Jorge Luis Gonzalez then ended White’s career for good in March of 1993.
Jess Willard, the ‘Pottowatamie Giant’ from Pottowatamie, Kansas, stood 6’ 6 1/2” inches tall, and fought between 1911 and 1923. The late world heavyweight champion had a career record of 22-5-1 with 20 knockouts. On April 5, 1915, in Oriental Park in Havana, Willard knocked out Jack Johnson at 1:26 of the 26th round of the scheduled 45 rounder to win the world heavyweight title, and defended it by 10 round newspaper decision over Frank Moran at Madison Square Garden less than a year later. He was out of the ring 40 months before Jack Dempsey, ‘The Manassa Mauler’, only 6’1” but a beast on the inside of brutal power shots, knocked down Carnera seven times in the first round, cut Willard to pieces and stopped him in the third to take his title. Inactivity was a factor which hurt Willard.
Primo Carnera, ‘The Ambling Alp’ from Sequals, Italy, stood 6’ 5 ½” and fought between 1928 and 1946, with a career record of 88-14 with 71 knockouts. Carnera won the world heavyweight title knocking out Jack Sharkey at Madison Square Garden in June 1933 in the sixth round, then defended it by 15 round decision over Paulino Uzcudun and Tommy Loughran. Carnera lost the title by eleventh round stoppage to Mike White in 1934, was stopped by Joe Louis in 1936. Inactive from 1938 to 1944 due to World War II, he tried to come back in 1945, winning twice, before three consecutive losses to unknown Luigi Messina ended Carnera’s comeback for good.
Former heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis stood 6’5”, ‘Dr. Iron Fist’ Vitali Klitschko stood 6’7 ½”, and ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ Wladimir Klitschko stood 6’6”. They were all short compared to Nikolai Valuev. Vitali stopped Lennox Lewis when they fought. None of the three fought Valuev.
Russia’s former WBA World Heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev, 50-2 with 34 knockouts, fought from 1993 to 2009, stood 7’0” and weighed up to 333 pounds in his prime. Valuev won ten bouts of 12 rounds by decision, rather unique for a heavyweight boxer of such size to also be such a talented technical boxer, not just a knockout hunter.
It is not likely Valuev would have fared well against a power hitter like Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, George Foreman or Mike Tyson. Valuev would have trouble with clever boxers like Jack Johnson, Joe Lewis, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Valuev might have been a more interesting matchup against Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott, George Chuvalo, Jerry Quarry, Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, Floyd Patterson, Gerrie Coetzee, Mike Weaver or Michael Dokes. Still given Valuev’s size and experience, each bout would be hard to predict. Evander Holyfield was 46 when he fought Valuev and the decision for Valuev that was questionable. Valuev could not beat David Haye or Ruslan Chagaev and then retired in 2009.
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