How Big Was Carmine Vingo?

Vingos highest weight was 197. He typically weighed in the high 180s or low 190s. I dont think the point was Marciano never having fought a 200 pounder. In fact I think Marciano did fight at least one 200 pounder (I may be wrong) the point was that he never fought a really good 200 pounder and so its hard to guage just how he would have fared against the larger greats like Ali, Lewis, Tyson, the Klits, Holy, Liston etc.

 

I read once that Vingo was 220...But then every other source I've seen put him in the 180s or so. It looks like the 220 was wrong but, yet, it's still hard for me to picture a guy who doesn't have to make any weight, at 6'4, being more likely comfortably under 200 as opposed to comfortably over. But then I think of Bob Foster. He was 7'10 and 112 pounds, rumor has it. A brave, tall flyweight fighting at light heavyweight and even heavyweight...inspirational.

 

Vingo carried his weight pretty well. He seems plenty big in his photos. It should be remembered that HWs actually trained in those days. Marciano walked around a good 20 or 30 pounds heavier than his fight weights.

 

Suckers!

 

Vingo was also very young ... he easily could have filled out over a few years ..

 

Hey, anybody here ever seen Aaron Pryor's son fight?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9adCVQfqk7U[/ame]

 

Jerry Jackson that Marciano fought weighed 254 - Rock KO'd him with one right hand though so my guess is he was pretty hapless although at that stage in Rock's career he probably looked like a polished boxer compared to the incredibly crude Marciano

Pat Connolly I think was in the region of 213/214

Artie Donato who apparently came out swinging for the fences was 201 i think

Eldrigde Eatman was 205ish

Johnny Shkor was 220 - think his fight with Louis is on youtube somewhere?

Big Bill Wilson was 229 1/2

Keene Simmons was a 200 pounder, as were Lee Savold and Rex Layne i think

and you already mentioned the 213lb Joe Louis

oh and Cockell at 205 - although he wasn't a natural at the weight by any means - I suppose he was similar dimensions wise to Tyson 18" neck 16inch biceps 43" chest etc etc and around 5'10"ish - i suppose a lot of the above guys were biggish guys anyhow who fought in an era when most guys would be trying to get down to the lightest weight possible for them - so in theory you could add maybe another 10 or 15 pounds if there were fighting today I time when most like to come in bigger

 

As I have posted before I saw that almost fatal bout between Rocky Marciano and Carmine Vingo at MSG,Dec.30,1949...It remains to this day so vivid an event, because
of the brutal beating that 20 year old Vingo recieved at the hands of Rocky Marciano...
My dad and I had great seats for the fight,second row , side balcony, which was just
above the Ring..i had seen young Vingo on early television before koing an opponent,and I was very impressed with his size and punching power..
I can't recallk Carmine's weight for the bout , but he absolutely towered over Rocky
Marciano...Those halycon days of fights, the fighters were trained down to their minimum
weight, unlike today where bulk prevails..But today Vingo who was husky would easily be a 225 pound heavyweight. No doubt !
Two things sticks to my mind...In the very first round Vingo unloaded a powerful right hand uppercut on the crouching Marciano,that shook Rocky for a nano second..But
Rocky shook it off like water off a duck...
2-At the final knockdown in the sixth round ,brave Carmine's foot was twitching violently
while on his back...It was frightening to see for all of us....

 

OK, this made my day, comparing the Cockell to Tyson.

If I ate cream-filled bearclaws every 10 minutes and drank 5 liters of ale for breakfast, would I also have similar dimensions to Tyson?

 

Seems kinda' like a young Jose Ribalta from circa--1986.... Back when Ribalta fought Mike Tyson on HBO in the summer of '86, Ribalta was like 6' 6" tall and 211 pounds and looked thin for his height...

Yes... Carmine Vingo was pretty tall for the late 40s, but his weight really was not monsterous at all... And although I have never actually seen Vingo fight before, I really doubt that he was a polished boxer with amazing skills and incredible power like the "Marciano Jocksniffers" love to insist upon...

MR.BILL

 

I've never heard or seen a trend where people claim he had "amazing skills". Where are you seeing that?

 

I imagine Vingo would have grown into a solid 210-220 lber. He had just turned 20 years old at the time he faced Marciano.

 

marciano and vingo were both young and raw at that time. it was a prety ambitious matchup by todays standard for fighters just moving into the "main event" bracket.

It is worth noting that this was before the protien shake generation.