Timeline of the heavyweight division decline.

and your problem is what exactly? Do a top 10 list and let's see how it unfolds.

 

The problem is for the North American fan we, (or at least I) don't recognize many names and if you don't recognize names you feel, rightly or wrongly, that the fighters aren't very good. I couldn't name 7-8 fights that Wlad beat unless I actually studied.

 

After Foreman-Ali in 74, the decade was abysmal. Manilla was the story of two equally shot fighters damn near killing each other. It gets high marks for drama but only because both were so debilitated coming in. Then we get defenses against Coopman, Evangelista and Young and Dunn, a horrible decision versus Norton and the title actually going to Leon Spinks!

With a very occasional blip, the 90's gave us wall to wall great action with the deepest pool of power punchers the division ever saw. Tyson, Morrison, Moorer, Bowe, McCall, Lewis, Foreman (again), Golota, Briggs, Bruno, Ruddock, Rahman, Cooper… It was a giant and fertile crossroads for the division. We got to see the absolute primes of three Greats in Bowe, Lewis and Holyfield.. two faded legends in Foreman and Holmes make historic statements, and the nutty, sometimes brilliant, often disastrous career that was Tyson. Those of us in the know were able to watch the beginnings of the two future greats in Vitali and Wladimir.

 

I'm not buying all the excuse I'm sorry, it's not easy to accept defeat i guess.

 

Very good post!
I may add I thought Young edged Ali too. The late 70s were abysmal.

 

Holyfield had Tyson's number, the better all round fighter.

 

Fight of The Century was amazing. However, one fight does not a decade make.

Manilla was high drama but the fighters were shells of their former selves. Very overrated from a boxing sense.

 

How's that?

 

I don't know about that thesis.

80s
Tyson, Holmes, Weaver, Holyfield, Thomas, Witherspoon, Coetzee, Spinks, Berbick, Page, Tucker, Cooney, Dokes, Bruno, Douglas, Smith. With Teofilo Stevenson never turning pro and George Foreman's early retirement.

90s
Lewis, Bowe, Holyfield, Tyson, Foreman, Ibeabuchi, Moorer, Douglas, McCall, Mercer, Tua, Morrison, Ruddock, Golota. With Felix Savon and Roberto Balado never turning pro.

00s
V.Klitschko, W.Klitschko, Byrd, Rahman, Peter, Sanders, Haye, Povetkin, Chagaev. With Roberto Cammarelle never turning pro. Alright, this is a weaker era.

So far the 10s aren't looking great but they aren't over and we still have six more years to turn things around.

 

Do you even think about what you are writing?

Foreman in the 90's was a harder puncher than Tyson, Ruddock, Tua, Lewis, Morrison and Briggs?