tall vs short

[Sam]

yeah - but he had abnormal reach for his height didnt he.... and then ur only talking about boxing....

[Menjo]

what sam said and he was a monster in the ring so any tall guy could pound on him but he would just go crazy or if worst came to worst he could just bite off a limp or two to even the odds lol,

[Sam]

I agree short people have some advantages - but in general... i would bet ont he taller guy [everything else being equal]

[elbows_and_knees]

what sam said and he was a monster in the ring so any tall guy could pound on him but he would just go crazy or if worst came to worst he could just bite off a limp or two to even the odds lol,

That's exactly what he's supposed to do. You can't stand there and let them hit you. you use your footwork to get inside.

As for tyson having long reach - it doesn't matter. Ifyou said that he fights on the outside, THEN it would matter. Like myself for example. I am 5'9 also, but have an extremely long reach. I can fight outside with guys taller than me. Once tyson was inside, the length of his arms didn't matter much.

same thing applies for people other than boxers. I am a thai boxer and deal with leg kicks, knees, etc. same thing applies - get on the inside. I am also a heavyweight, like tyson, which means that in judo and thai boxing, about 90% of the people I fight are taller than me. On the inside, you can use knees - and elbows too - if it is a full thai match. can you imagine if tyson could elbow punch and knee?

footwork is key, regardless of the style of fighting the shorter person is using. That is common sense.

[Sam]

yes but the arms helped him get on the inside....

[wingedsoldier]

you must also take in consideration the variation in strengths and weaknesses. for example, in sparring, i took on a young man (18-20?) who was fast and very tall. as for me, i'm 15, much shorter, but also fast. his height limited space for footwork, but also put me in decent striking distance, but his long reach gave him the advantage defense wise. but our speeds put us at stalemate for most of the fight because we would dodge and weave away from the other's attacks. because of my small size however, i could still make openings that would allow me to regain space for footwork, but meant my stance had to be more firm rather than loose for more random and sparratic movements. if i recall correctly, we had only landed a few hits on each other and when the time was up, it was pretty much a tie. so, our differences in height put us in different advantages and disadvantages. sometimes, it's just how you adapt to the situation.

[Sam]

yes adaption is part of it - but again digressing the ide a is if BOTH people are exactly equal other than their heights..... so in skill, ability to adapt, speed, etc..... would height give an advantage?

[Clarence]

Yeah, the tall guy has a way longer reach

[Menjo]

The one good thing with some people who have long reach, is sometime they're not very quick with their arms and tend to leave them out to long so I can usually push the arm where i want and get some hits in, However a experianced fighter with long reach is another thing

[elbows_and_knees]

yes but the arms helped him get on the inside....

not really. when tyson slipped inside, he just kept his elbows in and his guard up.... His coach at the time taught him something which he called the peek a boo guard.