The Myths of Heavyweight boxing

You see, we are experiencing an exercise in hypocrisy here.

Not directly from you, but I will use your post to make a point.

My claim : Tyson Fury is big/strong/hits hard enough/has enough stamina to be a dangerous heavyweight to just about anyone.

Counter argument: he does not float like a butterfly, his technique is flawed and he lacks balance.

My retort: It doesn't stop Tyson Fury from being a dominant heavyweight.

Response from the crowd: Doesn't matter, who cares about success, its all about TECHNICAL SKILL

Then I mention Solis: quite possibly the most technically sound heavyweight today, and arguably the best pure boxer in the division, and mention he is elite.

Counter argument: he does not dominate, his technique doesn't matter, he is not elite.


MAKE UP YOUR MINDS ****ERS. You either admire technical skill, in which case Wlad/Solis/Chambers/Haye/Pulev/Povetkin are a SOLID group of 6 elites OR you admire ability to just smash through people in the ring, in which case Wlad/Fury/Pulev/Stiverne/Wilder/Haye fit the bill perfectly, and are elite.

If you want the whole package, i.e you want superb technical skill, very good stamina, great punching power,ring generalship and amazing footwork, then face it people, you will HARD PRESSED to find more than 1 person like that PER DIVISION.

The only people that come to mind that are complete like that are Old school Pac (no longer fits the bill), old school May (no longer that either), old school Roy Jones, current Rigo and Loma, and thats that. No one else, with a possible exception of GGG.

My claim that heavyweight is a strong division and its just being judged unfairly still stands, until I see detailed analysis rather than pure emotion.

 

Povetkin was a gold medalist in 2004 olympics and he went on undefeated 24-0, captured wba title and only lost to ANOTHER GOLD MEDALIST in Wladimir Klitschko. To this day that is his only loss. I'd say that's something special.

 

The problem is people don't judge boxing: they judge how the boxing is presented to them.

Rigo is an AMAZING boxer. I haven't missed a single fight of his and I have all of them in hd quality, I plan on showing them to my son. But the man is barely selling any ppv's and if you ask an average american, Rigo's name won't be mentioned as one of the best in the world (hell, broner was on ring magazine top 10 when rigo was not, and that was after he beat Donaire!!!).

Floyd sells so much because americans are conditioned to believe he is the best. That's why he calls himself tbe, its an old psychological trick that works on the weak minded (And if replies so far are any indication, that is the majority of the posters here). Ali did the same thing, called himself the greatest and waited for the crowd to pick it up.

Anyone remembers a song : "Who, Mike jones" ? the entire song was just that line, repeated, and it worked. Short attention span plus years of conditioning brought on by the advertisements on tv did their part, and an average fan can't notice the subtleties of boxing.

 

That fight was a stinker, no argument here. But who looked good against Wlad in the last 10 years? And he faced literally the who's who of the hw division. Haye was the only one to make it out on his own 9 toes.

 

Lets think "what if" for a second. What if the other olympic gold medalist (Wlad) wasn't in the picture. Do you see anyone that would have prevented Povetkin from becoming a world champ, and possibly even undisputed? I can only name Haye to be honest. Povetkin didn't become great because the other olympic medalist was even greater, and there is no shame in that.