the hardest hitters i ever met were in the 150~160s
they had crazy acceleration/explosiveness and could hit me faster than i could see it, so it hurt more
one guy cracked our boxing coach (a light heavy) so hard, he fractured his face (cheekbone)
another guy ended up cutting down to the 130s~140s for amateur tournaments, 2 time golden gloves state champ, knocked out this 6'7 heavyweight in an exhibition
the other two guys were pro fighters who routinely whipped on heavyweights in training.
i've worked with gues that outweigh even me by significant amount, and that doesn't really hurt.
in boxing, one was pro, the other was an amateur champ; both were known for their power
worked with a large number of big men in muay thai & san shou as well.
you can see it coming & either get the heck out the way or brace for it.
speed kills, especially when coupled with power.
when tyson lost his speed, all of a sudden he looked extremely human - which is why they say he had such a short prime.
the smaller man nullifying a size difference even when both have considerable skill may not be the rule, but it's not as uncommon as you guys are making it out to be; especially when you get to the 185 and above weight classes where people jump up or down on a monthly basis.
not sure if you were saying there's a large difference between 200 and 300 or if you were saying that the difference between those two weights is smaller than the difference between 150 and 250. I can agree with the second statement. The first point is moot, because the 200 and 300lb guy are in the same weight class technically and don't really have any say, history doesn't seem to support this theory either. I'll give you 2 guesses as to which guy in
this picture was known for his power, and which guy
wasn't.
When it comes to anderson silva, who walks into the ring very close to 200lbs even on fights at 185; i think it's not going to be that huge a difference between him and your average heavyweight who fights around 230 with no cut.
Brock may be a bit large for him, but brock was running away from mir's standup, which is nowhere near the level of silva.