Reach for the sky! The tallest fighters
Being taller than your opponent allows you the range finding scope of reach and the capability of distancing yourself to a great extent.
One characteristic of taller people is that they have longer arms. Let’s stand up straight, put our shoulders back and look a head and shoulders upwards, to lofty, treetop fighters:
Gogea Mitu:
Not only he is the tallest boxer to ever step into the ring, but he is also considered to be the tallest Romanian person in history, so you can imagine how tall he was! He only fought three times; he won all three bouts by KO in 1935, when he decided to turn pro. His height was 2.24 meters and is an astounding, outstanding part of the Guinness Records.
John Rankin:
Also a tall order, he is the same height as Gogea Mitu (2.24 meters). He fought only once in 1967, weighing 300 pounds and beat Willie Lee by unanimous decision after 4 rounds, who weighed 197 pounds for this fight.
Ewart Potgieter:
South African fighter who was 2.18 meters tall and weighed 352 pounds. He fought 14 times between 1954 and 1957, in that 3-year span, he won 11 of his fights, lost two and drew one. One of his rivals was James J. Parker (the fight ended in a draw).
Jim Cully:
A 7’5″ boxer who fought 6 times in the heavyweight division between 1942 and 1948. From Tipperary, Cully won three of his bouts and knocked out every fighter in those victories. With a lot at stake, in 1942, he chopped, dropped and stopped Butcher Howell to win the Irish national heavyweight title.
Tom Payne:
A new case of an athlete dedicated to another sport who decided to step into the ring. Payne, a 2.18-meter-tall NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks, was jailed and so decided to give boxing a try. He turned professional between 1984 and 1985 and fought five times, winning 3 of them, 2 by KO, and the other two were losses.
