Safe Side Of The Ropes

On November 7th, Britain’s David Haye will challenge WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev in Germany, with the former cruiserweight kingpin hoping to belie the age old adage surrounding good big men and good little ones. “The Beast from the East” will not only outweigh the braggart from Bermondsey by some 7 stones, at 6 foot 3, Haye will be giving away nine inches in height along with seven inches in reach.

Prior to Haye’s intriguing yet daunting Nuremberg trial, here are five examples from history of fighters who overcame significant size deficits to triumph in heavyweight title bouts.

• Joe Louis W KO 1 Buddy Baer World heavyweight title 9/1/1942

Louis and Baer had met in 1941 in a wild and enthralling punch up. The towering Baer (brother of Max) had knocked Louis out of the ring in the opening round of their first encounter before Joe clambered back and turned the tide, winning via disqualification after Baer’s handlers protested that the champion had floored Buddy after the bell to end round six.

The rematch took place eight months later by which time Buddy had gained almost a stone in weight, coming in at 250 lbs to Louis’ 206 ¾. In a bid to evade the panther like attacks of the champion Louis, Baer, the loftier man by four inches, attempted to tuck his chin in behind his lead left shoulder as he advanced, without a great deal of success. A right cross buckled Buddy’s legs, sending him down onto the seat of his pants for the count of nine, after which the “Brown Bomber” backed him to the ropes, exploding overhand rights and follow up right uppercuts off his face.

A thumping wallop sat Baer down again for another nine-count but his bravery in rising would count for nothing, Louis terminating matters expertly at 2:56 of the opener with a mighty right uppercut. After congratulating the champion in his corner, Baer almost collapsed again, his handlers helping the tottering leviathan onto his stool. It would be Baer’s final fight.

• Chris Byrd W 12 Jameel McCline IBF heavyweight title 13/11/2004

Byrd and McCline were close friends who put aside their kinship temporarily to tussle for Byrd’s IBF heavyweight title on a Don King promoted card, which also featured peers such as Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman, Andrew Golota and John Ruiz.

At 270lbs, McCline had equalled Primo Carnera’s record as the heaviest man to fight for a heavyweight title, tallying the same mass the “Ambling Alp” had scaled in his 1934 title defence against the great light heavyweight champ, Tommy Loughran (Valuev would trump the pair just over a year later, weighing 324 lbs in his title winning triumph over John Ruiz).

Utilising his 56 pound weight advantage, “Big Time” McCline floored Byrd in round two with a thumping counter right, however the plucky little speedster from Michigan beat the count and went on to repeatedly outscore his gigantic foe. Despite a six inch height advantage and an eight inch edge in wingspan, McCline could not pin Byrd down long enough in order to make his punches tell. Byrd, really a manufactured heavyweight with very little pop in his fists, proved to be the stronger fighter over the second half of the fight, McCline’s form falling away somewhat after a spirited third round. It was a close run affair and the verdict hung on the final session, one which the tricky Byrd won clearly to register a 115-112, 114-113, 112-114 split decision victory.

• Max Baer W TKO 11 Primo Carnera World heavyweight title 14/6/1934

Carnera, the much maligned Italian giant, took the heavyweight championship from Jack Sharkey in June 1933 yet remains a figure of derision. A former circus strongman, “Old Satchel Feet” as he was cruelly labelled in some quarters, was looked upon as both a protected and exploited fighter, with many of his victories viewed as questionable or suspicious.

After successful title defences against the Spaniard, Paolino Uzcudun and Tommy Loughran, Carnera was matched with the much smaller Max Baer in Long Island, NY. Carnera was 53 ¾ lbs heavier than Baer at 270 lbs and stood 6 feet 5 ½, three inches taller than the “Livermore Larruper”.

Baer, seen by many as a wastrel, fought like a man possessed, at first scuttling away from his lumbering opponent before steaming into the bigger champion and winging in nitro-glycerine right hands. The son of a butcher, Baer employed many of his father’s skills in dismembering the huge ox of a man in front of him. Landing frequently with arcing overhand rights, the swaggering challenger chopped away round after round with only Carnera’s courage keeping him in the fight. Primo took a frightful hiding, knocked down eleven times in all before referee Arthur Donovan, at the big man’s behest, called a halt to the bout at 2:16 of the eleventh round.

• Ruslan Chagaev W 12 Nikolay Valuev WBA heavyweight title 14/4/2007

Haye can take heart from the fact that the “Russian Giant” has come a cropper previously, against a far smaller man in his sole defeat, a points loss to the Uzbek, Ruslan Chagaev. Chagaev, despite giving away a smidge over 90 lbs in weight and a whopping eleven inches in both height and reach, boxed a well ordered and calculated fight, offsetting the enormous size discrepancy Valuev enjoyed over him.

Circling the outskirts of the Stuttgart ring, Chagaev presented the champion with a constantly moving target, never allowing Valuev time to set up properly before landing quick, eye catching shots and then moving out of range. Interestingly, Ruslan elected to move to Valuev’s right throughout the contest before launching hard overhand lefts at his stalking rival. These stamina sapping tactics inevitably began to drain the little man’s reserves, allowing Valuev to come on down the stretch, closing the gap somewhat.

Pressing forward, Valuev managed to fire off some decent combinations in the late rounds however too often he’d neglect to throw punches after cornering his southpaw opponent. Judges Hector Hernandez and Chalerm Prayadsab scored the bout 115-113 and 117-111 respectively for Chagaev, with the third, Stanley Christodoulou unable to split the pair, scoring it 114-114.

• Jack Dempsey W TKO 3 Jess Willard World heavyweight title 4/7/1919

Willard, the cowboy from Kansas had dethroned the legendary champion Jack Johnson in Havana, Cuba in controversial circumstances (Johnson later claimed that he had thrown the fight). After only two bouts in the four years which succeeded the Johnson victory, Big Jess took on the savage former hobo Jack Dempsey, the “Manassa Mauler”. At just 187 ½ lbs and standing a mere 6’1”, there were those who doubted the challenger’s chances of victory against the imposing 245 lb and 6’6 ½” champion.

Dempsey, a ferocious fighter, blazed into Willard from the first bell, administering one of the most protracted and cruel beatings ever seen in a prize ring. The neutral corner rule had not yet been implemented, which allowed Dempsey to stand over his fallen foe, laying into the defenceless champion as he attempted to rise with pulverising and vicious punches.

The assault was mercifully halted after three rounds of sustained violence, Willard showing tremendous valour despite crushed ribs, lost teeth and multiple fractures which had left him thrashed to within an inch of his life. Willard would later accuse Dempsey of having loaded gloves, such was the damage inflicted upon him that day, however such allegations were never proven. “The Pottawatomie Giant” had been slain and a new era of heavyweight boxing had begun.