When was the last time Heavyweight boxing had such a strong top 5?

Why is Povetkin so highly regarded on here by some when Wlad was much better and he gets constantly criticized. Povetkin was solid no doubt, but he wasn't some world beater and I'm not convinced he beats Wilder or even AJ. Whyte is one of his best wins.

 

Of course he beats Wilder. That is why the Wilder camp faked a PEDs scandal, refused to fight him, were sued and lost millions.

Look it up.

 

None of the top 15 really fight up and comers, Chisora included. This way the promoters keep the guys at the top protected, only having to face recycled old shot guys.

 

Wlad us severely underrated in here. At least until Brits say he was prime at 40 to build up Fury.

 

Feed Anderson to Hrgovic sort that out. Or Javolov

 

Better yet have Anderson-Pulev, Hrgovic-Whyte, Jalalov-Parker, Dychko- Hunter, Sanchez-Helenius, etc. Start clearing out dead wood and giving the younger fighters a shot.

 

The 1990s were stacked with talent. And there were great fights on a more regular basis.

Tyson
Holyfield
Bowe
Foreman
Ruddock
Morrison
Moorer
Mercer
McCall
Ibeabuchi

I would call today's top 5 "respectable" at best. There haven't been enough fights between all of them... yet. Hopefully that will change. Hopefully Fury and Usyk will fight, possibly more than once. Hopefully AJ and Wilder will fight, AJ and Fury will fight, and Wilder and Usyk will fight. THEN we can talk about this era being great.

Do you remember "the four kings"? Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, and Roberto Duran. That was an exciting era in the lower weight classes very much because they were all phenomenal AND they all fought each other a bunch of times.

 

Oh dear god.. Shot and inactive AJ, mummy Joyce, taco champ Andy.

 

A very good thread. Indeed, the heavyweight division has been stacked up since about the mid 2010s. The six fighters mentioned in the OP are all solid and a few of them will surely be ranked amongst the best in about a decade from now.

Now for the comparison. The previous era was the Wladimir era (and not the 'Klitschkos' era as it is commonly believed) from 2006-14. This period had three good fighters:

1. Wladimir
2. Vitali (past-prime but still good)
3. Alexander Povetkin

I don't think there is one other boxer who can even be described as 'good'. Chagaev was probably the best of the rest, but he was just that and nothing else. In short, this was a very shallow era.

The era before that was roughly between the late 90s to the mid 2000s. We can say about 1998-2005, after the retirements of Foreman and Bowe. This era often goes unmentioned and is wrongly clubbed together with the previous and later periods. This period had some magnificent fighters:

1. Lennox Lewis
2. Vitali Klitschko
3. Wladimir Klitschko (pre-prime)
3. Evander Holyfield (past-prime but still good)
4. Chris Byrd
5. David Tua
6. Ike Ibeabuchi

The above lineup of heavyweight pugilists is quite formidable and has better depth than the current field. But you could argue quite the opposite. The era before this (1990-1997) was certainly superior. Just look at the names:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Riddick Bowe
4. George Foreman (past-prime but still good)
5. Mike Tyson
6. Michael Moorer
7. Ray Mercer
8. Tommy Morrison

It is hard to find any era that had this much depth with one possible exception of the period 1970-1978.

 

Povetkin is rated as he is because he's one of the best guys to never get #1 at HW. He had a lot of good wins over 15 years of being rated in the top 10.

Beating Whyte at 41 and being up on the cards at the time of the KO vs Joshua at 39 helps his case to a lot of people, too.

Wladimir gets less positivity due to the "intelligence is a gift, genius is a sin" mentality. He was the best in the world for a decade, and how easily he did it made people hate him and underrate his opponents. Besides the fact that he's a non-westerner.

 

Holyfield
Bowe
Lewis
Moorer
Mercer

 

looooool

 

The comical part of it is that even thought you are right, paradoxically, so is OP. The division, sucks...AND its better than it has been since Lewis retired.

 

From the top 10 in 1996, you could pick 5 very good (or even great) heavyweights. Debating whether those 5 (1996) or the top 5-6 in 2022 are better can involve nostalgia, but it doesn't have to.

 

2009 Ring Magazine year-end ratings

Wladimir Klitschko, Champion

1. Vitali Klitschko
2. Alexander Povetkin
3. Eddie Chambers
4. Ruslan Chagaev
5. David Haye

I think this is an arguably a better field. Ruiz isn’t that good, he needed 3 KDs to narrowly outpoint a geriatric Luis Ortiz. Both K bros brutally stop him no doubt, ditto for Povetkin and Haye. Chambers would likely decision him. Wilder is 37 and it’s still unknown what he has left post-Fury, the Helenius fight ended too fast to show us anything. Joshua is a mental wreck with zero confidence. He might be able to beat Chambers and maybe Chagaev but he’d likely get stopped by the rest. Fury and Uysk are the only standouts currently but they wouldn’t go undefeated against 09 group.