The man on the left is George Foreman (R.I.P. Big George) in the process of decimating Smokin’ Joe Frazier, a boxer of legendary stamina. In their first fight, Big George flattened Joe in two rounds, and looking at George’s massive right bicep, it’s easy to understand how that happened: even a glancing blow from one of George’s enormous fists could end a fight.
Muhammad Ali, pictured above, is clearly in superb condition, but his physique, though impressive, looks delicate and slight compared to that of the mighty George Foreman, however, he beat Foreman by knockout in the eighth round in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle”. Ali even predicted that he would win against Foreman after watching him annihilate another superb boxer, Ken Norton: a man who had broken Ali’s jaw.
Ali openly admitted that Foreman was much stronger than him, and that he himself was not known as a powerful puncher, but even so, he stated because he was faster, and a “scientific boxer”, he would win, and he was right.
Enormous strength is clearly an asset in a fight, but speed and accuracy, combined with an effective degree of strength, beats sheer brawn every time: as Ali said “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can’t hit what your eyes don’t see”.
I think in Game of Thrones the author got that right.
You can be great from the technical point of view with real fighting experience. Then you can be lightweight and kick some hellish big of a guy like The Mountain.
But… one mistake and you are sold. With great technique you can beat a guy who’s fighting only with strength. But if there’s a point in which it is strength test… you are sold.
You will need to be precise when hitting, reaching softest spots, when he’s moving it’s not easy at all. You gotta be VERY good.
In general, big guys have advantage over the small ones, that’s why in MMA people are divided by weight.
I am 6’4” and at the time 276 lbs. I was a power lifter, in the gym every day, all of my free time was in the gym. I had a friend who spent all of his free time training in jiu jitsu. He was much smaller than me, maybe around 5’7” and 160 lbs.
I was also a hockey goalie at the time and had really good reflexes. I also had a knack for sauntering into the locker room of the team we beat and offering up a fight. I have never lost a fist fight and I have been in many.
Now, this friend of mine was showing me some of his moves, and how punching plays a very small role in jiu jitsu. I replied with “that’s stupid, let’s fight” – technically sparring but you get the gist.
Anyway, as soon as we started, I picked him up and tried to body slam him into the ground (padded ground). That’s when he decided to wrap his legs around my neck then ride me like a bull until I fell over and had to tap out.
We went again, and this time I was much more reserved. He slowly walked towards me, and as soon as he got within range I did my signature move. I put my left shoulder forward, elongating the reach of my left arm, and feinted a slap. After he dodged it by leaning forward and to my right, I swung at him with my famous right hook.
He grabbed my inner elbow with his right hand, and my fist with his left hand. He used my full body punch to his advantage, and pushed my hand downwards, pushing my whole body downwards.
He mounted my arm with his right leg and dislocated my arm, taking it straight out of the socket. After he put it back in, we shook hands (left hands) and agreed that he was the better fighter.
So yes, a smaller, weaker opponent who has more experience in martial arts than he will most likely come out on top.
I’m 6’2” and 160 pounds, so I’m tall, but not that built. However, I’ve casually trained jujitsu for several years. About 6 months to a year ago a new guy started to come into the gym, about 28, an inch taller than me, with about 70 more pounds of muscle. He looked about like this, but without the bat:
”Whatcha lookin’ at punk?” Most Jacked Athlete in Every Sport | Muscle Prodigy
This guy could obviously crush me in any contest of strength with little difficulty. Even more, he didn’t ever want to go any less than 100% effort. However, I could still beat him in spite of his physical dominance due to my training. Even more, another guy who trained with us was about 5’7” and maybe 130 lb, and I would watch him repeatedly tap this guy twice his size. It was quite impressive to watch.
So, to answer the question, yes, a scrawny kid with good training can most certainly beat a stronger opponent in a fight.
