Do you think the cruiserweight division has enough history to be regarded as an important division?

Hi Buddy.
On a personal level and liking, it is my least liked division, I was around at its instigation, didn't like it then, don't like it now, not sure why, ok with LHWs, ok with HWs ( just ok ) middle and welter would be my favs, as to the fighters you named, some started in lower divisions and put on weight to compete in CW, so wouldnt class them as true CWs, so no, not a important division for me.
stay safe dmt, enjoy your contributions as always, chat soon.
Mike.

 

It'll improve after Bridgerweight fills up enough to replace it as the heavyweight-lite division that everybody hates.

 

It will never be a glamorous division like Heavyweight, Light heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight and Featherweight but for hard-core fans like us, it's important. Fights like Qawi vs Holyfield and Toney vs Jirov are legendary and still brought up on this forum all the time.

With that said, it is unlikely that CW will ever have a crossover appeal to the general public.

 

It's a hybrid of light-heavy and heavy without the outstanding aspects of the other two. Not quite as fast paced and stylish as the best at 175 and not as explosive and physically awesome as the heavyweights. It's absolute elite have all used it as a stepping stone to make their millions as heavyweights. I might be a bit biased against it as a Brit though, having seen several Johnny Nelson and Lawrence Okolie ''world title'' fights before and after the division increased it's weight limit. The fact a division altered it's weight limit probably ain't a good sign either.

 

Arguably the worst division apart from the very small weight classes.

 

I like it and a lot of great fighters have come from it who don't get the appreciation they deserve imo. Seems like a lot of older fans hate and i have a feeling its just because they think cruiserweight fighters should be competing at heavyweight and it devalues older fighters who were cruiserweights and their whole narrative about how smaller fighters are better but thats just my hot take

 

Holyfield, Usyk, Qawi, Toney and Jirov. That's actually an impressive list.

I wonder what people born after, say, 1990, that is all they've ever known, think of it.

 

Its a tweener division that took the larger LHWs and deprived HW of its sub 200 pound population. Whether 175-200 is a good size is besides the point its not just adding a weight class its taking away from what was there before. If you split the talent more ways each division will be worse and CW made the 2 biggest divisions in the sport worse. Its track record as a HW feeder division pales compared to 175 and it always will.

Of the tweeners CW is the worst for the sport. At least with the smaller tweeners they are 6-7 pounds and fighters can jump over them. Fighters who'd have fought at MW and LHW will still fight at MW and LHW with SMW around just for shorter portions of their career. CW has all but prevented a whole class of fighters from going to HW who used to go to HW.

Bridgerweight is less destructive to the sport because its not going to draw big 175ers and Bridgerweights who can contend at HW will just go to HW.

 

No.

 

It has improved in recent times, but not a great division historically

How many all time greats have fought at CW? Obviously Holyfield and Usyk, but who else is top elite? Toney?

 

Now it’s classic sized HW’s… not special, no, Jirov’s day with the 190lbs (Marciano weight) guys and during the “day of the weigh in” era or around then, it had potential for the big LHW’s and small HW’s… that was awesome, I can totally see Artur holding duel championships Armstrong style today if that was the case - NOW it sucks, it sucked a bit back then but never reached its potential RIP 190lbs gone too soon.

 

I agree there have been some great fighters from that division, the ones who moved up to Heavyweight and excelled there. Unfortunately, to many, it still seems to be filled with Heavyweights who are afraid to actually compete at Heavyweight. That perception keeps it in second class division territory.

 

If we went with same day weigh in, CW would be awesome. You'd get a division full of Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, (young) Evander Holyfield, (young and ripped like he's never been, the big guy of the division) Oleksandr Usyk, (young and ripped like he's never been, another big guy of the division) Muhammad Ali, (young, always ripped, yet another big guy of the division) Ken Norton, (young and ripped like he's never been) Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes (young, ripped, big), etc. The big guys would graduate to HW, the less big guys would stick with CW. With same-day weigh in, you'd get Beterbiev vs. Frazier, Bivol vs. Quarry, etc.

Might be a more interesting division than HW. You'd get about the best combo of big men, skill, stamina, and power.

Hell, a young Mike Tyson could have made CW.

Ok, history though? I mean, two undisputed HW's came from CW. And the man the MOST associated with undisputed (Holyfield) came from CW, and was actually a natural CW, unlike Usyk. And some of the greatest HW's ever might have started at CW if it had been around back then.

 

#removecruiserweight