The WBA won't recognize the bridgerweight division anymore

Common sense prevails

 

Nothing wrong with the BW division

Just not enough fighters in it, sadly

 

Uh, actually, I predicted this.

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/are-the-wba-throwing-in-the-towel-on-bridgerweight.748640/

But yes, it is a shame that they are cancelling the glorious achievements of Muslim Gadzhimagomedov in setting the record for title defenses in this division (at one).

 

What we really need is a division between 175 and 200 lbs, that gap is massive, no one ever needed a Bridgerweight

 

Guess you can say that the WBA burned that Bridge (-rweight)

 

RIP:
https://www.wbaboxing.com/boxing-news/wba-eliminates-bridgerweight-division-effective-immediately

"Gadzhimagomedov will be ranked at cruiserweight, while Arutyunyan will move into the heavyweight rankings."

 

The problem is that the organizations changed the heavyweight limit from 190+ pounds to 200+ pounds. That turned cruiserweight into a division full of dehydrated heavyweights instead of fighters who were genuinely too big for light heavyweight but too small for heavyweight, like Haye and De Leon. If they moved the heavyweight limit back to 190 pounds, I think both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions would flourish.

 

But the gap between 200 and heavy is 224 aka BW, which is fine but it never got popular

 

NO !

It was a ****ing dreadful idea....more belts, more money for the ABC organizations.

I grudgingly accept the cruiserweight division, but bridgerweight ?

GTFOutta here with that nonsense !

 

I get this sentiment, but I still find myself thinking that the gap from 175 to 200 is too much. It should be 175, 190, 210+, or just 175, 190, 190+.

190 means that some of the smaller 175lb guys will be able to move up, while at the same time guarantees that the lazy heavyweights either fight at heavyweight or they trim themselves down and get into proper shape. Guys like Michael Hunter, for example.

I believe most of the current heavyweight crop could easily make 220, which makes me think 210 would be a nice addition if there were still a 190.

It should be:
105
112
126
135
147
160
175
190
210
210+

105 I think has a place in the sport, because some of the guys really are that small, especially with the day before weigh-ins.

 

Upon further reflection I think the WBA isn't doing a great job at the moment and this might be what's best for Bridgerweight. Bridgerweight would be better off with the IBF or WBO as their 2nd sanctioning body. The WBA of this era is not competent enough to pilot a new weight class and did a much worse job than the WBC.

 

The elephant of the room is boxing refusing to change the weight limits of established divisions. This was a better solution than tweener divsions which siphon talent from the original weight classes.

I think BW is a better idea than CW because BW only serves as a HW B league and doesn't effect LHW at all. No one with serious ambitions of dominating HW will go to CW/BW unless they see dominating that weight class as a shortcut to HW. While CW serves as a HW B league that siphons off big LHWs. If LHW's go up you want them to go to HW. No LHW who can make it at HW will go to BW. 225 might as well be the same thing. But plenty will got to CW.

HW's in general could all be lighter but the current collective wisdom is that non HW's cut as light as they can go and HW's bulk as heavy as they can go.