I was reading a book by Tim S Grover, who was a personal trainer for Jordan, Kobe, Wade and such. In his second book he mentions how he was criticized when he made Jordan do bicep curls, which are useless for a basketball player. He claimed however that when you are looking to gain even the smallest edge against your competition, intimidating physique can have that effect, and thus bulging biceps can in fact be useful. So I began to wonder how much the appearance of a fighter affects the outcome of a bout. Ray Leonard claimed he jumped up and down when going face to face with Hearns so Hearns wouldn't have a chance to look down at him. Also he used an extra wide jacket for the press conferences against Hagler. Peter McNeeley also said he shat his pants when he realized how wide Tyson was. And of course, we remember Foreman's take on wide shoulders. So, do you think physical appearance affects the outcomes of fights on some significant level? Also, can you name fighters who might have benefited from it?
I don't think it'd intimidate many fighters. The phycological edge of not letting Hearns look him in the eye would've been more noticeable than not letting him look down on Leonard. When I'm told I'm sparring someone, I like when they're taller or more jacked. It's something to aim for, and I'm sure most boxers have a chip on their shoulder like that.
I think at hw, a lot of guys benefited from it (ty fields comes to mind). Less so at other weights cause of the weight limit, but id guess a guys like hurd intimidated a lot of his opponents
I always liked it when guys tried to come across as very intimidating. When the bell rings and you catch his jab in your glove and let your eyes get wide and start sliding back....he thinks that you are afraid of him and it makes it easier to walk him on to a punch.
