Is the Heavyweight Division getting better?

They don't need to reach that level, but there should be more guys a level below, and then a steady line down.

 

Yeah, but you don't know anything about boxing.

Throughout history the champ of the previous era lost to the next in line.

Johnson- Jeffries
Louis - Marciano
Liston- Ali
Holmes - Tyson etc

Vitali was the first guy to break that trend when he lost to the previous era's champ.

Wlad was in the unique position where he didn't lose to the champ of the previous era , he lost to a shot perennial contender of the previous era:rofl

The Klitschko era was tried and tested and it Failed

 

Agreed. The klitchko era is a bum era. The k brothers never really faced hard competition.

 

And how does talent become "proven"? Many thought Gatti and Ward were genuinely elite-skilled after seeing their trilogy -- when in fact they were just fringe contenders. Some people confuse good match-making for boxing skill.

 

I dont know anything about boxing? I know Jeffries and Louis were not the champs when they lost to Johnson and Marciano. I also know they were a shell of thier former selves when those losses occurred. On top of that I know that your whole post really has nothing to do with the discussion at hand. Therr are plenty of things to slam boring ass Wlad with. But as much as you may not like it the guy has worked himself into an ATG spot through his dominence and longevity. Is the era weak? Sure. Can you blame Wlad for that? No. But since I dont know anything about boxing why dont you remind everybody of your boxing pedigree. Where you've trained, who you, etc. I mean is there anything more to you just showing up on a boxing website every day and spouting naseless BS?

 

Johnson handn't a legit claim of being the champ while Jeffries was farming. Shell or not -he still had to beat him. Passing of the torch i should have put it.
Vitali touched the torch but he couldn't take it. Ray Leonard can't claim dominance or longevity and he is in the ATG list not in his division - but the p4p ATG list.
Dominance and longevity means nothing if you haven't beaten anybody and atg's don't kill off their divisions like Wlad done to his

 

Gatti actually had skills, he just didnt have the discipline in the ring more times than not and reverted to brawling. Who thought either of those guys had great skills though? People on boxing websites? And talent is proven by consistently showing positive attributes and abilities while frequently taking on top fighters. Wlads skills are unquestionable even though his era is weak because he has shown them time and again. But lets get into the 70's and discuss someone like Jerry Quarry. He also took on the best consistently and showed trendous skill, he could just never get to the top because the era was much tougher. This can be said for quite a few contenders in that era. There are far less guy today who show these attributes.

 

Yes it is ! :good

 

Im still trying to figure out what any of this has to do with this thread. And no, Johnson beating Jeffries didnt make him the champ, beating Burns did. Jeffries was out of the ring for SIX years and had to lose over 100lbs. Beating and rusty, shot fighter who was away more than half a decade does not make a fighter a champion. That kind of thinking is so twisted its laughable. And you want to say I dont know anything about boxing? Tell me again about your background in this sport.

 

B and C level guys fighting each other is competitive, but the quality leaves a lot be desired, if you prefer enjoy watching the Stivernes and Wilders of the world fight each other and exchanging belts every few months to seeing all the belts held by ONE champion, that's your choice

 

Dino must be a masochist:think

 

No, I don't think the heavyweight division is getting better unless some of the more talented cruiserweights move up. At best the heavyweight division is treading water but in all probability it is deteriorating.

 

An American has a title now so yes, it is one of the greatest era's of all time.

 

An American has been holding the title for nearly 10 years now.

 

The HW division has looked good for years, but when you have a dominant champ in a division, people tend to say its a weak era.
Now there are some names of interest that Wlad hasnt beat coming along, it has gained interest. If Wlad at his age were to beat Fury, Wilder and Joshua with ease, people will then not rate them or the division.
If Wlad were to retire and not fight any of them and they all fought each other with mixed results, then I imagine people will say its the new tough HW division.

Look at how in the 60/70s people made out it was this HW golden age, but that in my opinion was because fighter A may have beaten fighter B but lost to fighter C, only for fighter B to beat fighter C if you get what I mean. Then a dominant champ appears and people say an era is weak.

Look how people say Hopkins as a dominant MW champ fought in a weak era, yet I think that era is tougher than todays.
Look how people say Calzaghe as a dominant SMW champ fought in a weak era, yet I think that era is tougher than todays and consider how Frochand Ward who are considered as the top SMWs, best win is a faded Calzaghe opponent years after Calzaghe had beaten them.


The HW division has been good for a while. Look at how Povetkin has performed, yet was beaten convincingly by Wlad in a tough fight to watch. If Wlad were to retire and Povetkin was in the mix of tough close fights, Im sure people would say the division is good and tough