In the historic land of heavyweight glory, few fighters threw out the discipline of the weight scale to challenge the top fighters of their day — and despite their size, some made it to challenge for the heavyweight title. One such customer was Buster Mathis, a huge heavyweight who challenged “Smokin” Joe Frazier in 1968 for the NYSAC heavyweight title since heavyweight since Muhammad Ali’s being stripped of his crown in 1967. The hulking 6’3 295 lb Mathis collapsed from the brutal Frazier attack, succumbing in the 11th round at the newly minted Madison Square Garden.

Another “Fat” heavyweight was a character from New Jersey named Tony “Two Ton” Galento. Talk about a bar bruiser—Galento was all slugger and little science, but he did manage to garner a crack at the heavyweight crown against Joe Louis in 1939. The smallish 5’9 “, 240 lb Galento fought some of the toughest fighters of his era, such as Max Bear, Lou Nova and Arturo Godoy.

Another “Fatboy” was an obscure West Coast sailer named Willie Meehan. Meehan was known as Jack Dempsey‘s kryptonite—a tough, four-round fighter who just had Dempsey’s number. In 1917, Dempsey had two wins, two losses, and two draws against Meehan—all four-rounders. In later life, Dempsey always acknowledged that Meehan was his toughest opponent.

Several heavyweight boxers have been known for their larger physiques throughout boxing history. Here are other notable ones:

• Andy Ruiz Jr.: In 2019, Ruiz shocked the world by defeating Anthony Joshua to become the heavyweight champion. He weighed around 297 pounds for that fight.
• Claude Humphrey McBride, the 6’4 “, 360-pound heavyweight, was found by Midwest promoter Pat O’Grady and was considered the Butterbean of his day. After defeating contender Terry Daniels, McBride challenged Buster Mathis but was overcome by the latter’s experience.  
• Salvador Farnetti: Farnetti is known for his extreme weight, peaking at 342.5 pounds. He had a brief career with only 21 fights.
• Kevin Karusa: Karusa peaked at 346.5 pounds during his short professional career.
• Jarrell ” Big Baby” Miller, 6’4 “with unlimited weight” potential, has scaled past the three-hundred-pound meter a few times. Of the men on this list, Miller seems to carry the weight well for his size.
• Eric “Butterbean” Esch: Known for his massive size, Esch weighed close to 400 pounds at his peak. Despite his weight, he found great success in the ring, winning multiple world titles.
• Dustin Nichols: Nichols reached a peak weight of 450 pounds and had a record of 5-14-0.
• Antonio Johnson: Johnson weighed 380 pounds during his career and had a record of 7-3-1.