Ring Magazine web article on modern super heavies.

There was a time when heavyweights came in three basic body types

1) Lean and mean: Usually stood about 6'1 and weighed 185-195. Examples; Charles, Dempsey, Johnson, Louis, Tunney

2) Short and squat: Usually under 6' and usually a huge puncher. Examples; Frazier, Marciano, Tyson

3) Classic big man: Usually stood about 6'3 and weighed 215-225. Examples; Ali, Baer, Foreman, Holmes, Jeffries

Now we have a new body type - the super heavyweight. Usually stands at least 6'5 and weighs at least 240.

But for all the talk of a need for a new weight division, we have had Spinks, Moorer, Holy, Jones and Toney all successfully move up from a lower weight class to win at heavyweight. Now we have David Haye whose name could be added to that list in a matter of days.

Haye defeats the Klit brothers and all this talk will be silenced.

 

we also have another new body type

fat

 

But Haye seems to lack a top chin, IE Dempsey to relly pull it off. Sure it might be silenced for a while like Brewster koing Wlad. But the movement Wlad got back up on top, the talk came back.

Sure if Haye wins, it would only silenced it for a while. But when Wlad and VK start winning again, it will be like we need a new divsion.

 

No, chances are the kid with championship potential didn't get to the gym in the first place and is working construction somewhere. I can't think of any HW champs that would've projected to go pro in any other sport had they not picked up the gloves. If they hadn't picked up boxing, we simply wouldn't have heard from them in an athletic sense because sports like baseball, basketball, and football have been attracting talent for decades and there was still a strong base of US heavyweights. It's simply a convenient excuse to scapegoat other sports as the reason, but those have stayed the same. The variable that changed was the exposure and reputation of boxing in the US. As the mainstream prestige and popular exposure of boxing went down and getting into gyms became less accessible, the talent pool shrunk. Had those variables not changed, you'd still see a bigger pool of US heavyweight boxers today even with the NFL, NBA, and MLB.

Larry Holmes would've never been able to play in the NBA or NFL, but that wouldn't have stopped him from whipping their asses in the ring. If it were that easy a transition, we'd have seen a failed NFL or NBA prospect with that level of athleticism but without the skills to last in that sport transition successfully into boxing right now, because at least half those guys don't graduate college. We haven't.

So, as it stands, the best heavyweights right now aren't from here and people have no choice but to constantly **** talk it and make excuses because the Heavyweights on top now ain't the ones they're used to. It's a little naive to believe that white foreigners on top doesn't have at least something to do with the disgust some people have in talking about the Klitschkos, because that's also something alot of fans have never seen in their lifetimes. There's still a perception that it's not about how good they are, but how none of our best black athletes are there to win so they're just champs by default. That's also why we always see the NBA and NFL brought up as the reasons for the "talent drain", and never other sports like baseball, hockey, tennis, soccer, etc. It's just a thinly veiled sign that people want a Great American Black Hope to take the titles back. It's not Dirk Nowitzki or Jared Allen people talk about when they throw the hypothetical NBA or NFL guy who'd be a great fighter out there, it's Dwight Howard, Lebron James, and Julius Peppers. There's still a stigma that white guys can't fight.

 

No more weight classes, please! Thank you. :nut

 

David Haye with size dimensions of 6'3", 215 lbs, may yet prove to be the best heavyweight around. This remains to be seen however. I do tend to agree somewhat with Suzie in that 6'3" 215 seems to be a good size for some of your best heavyweights.

 

Ok, when Haye gets ko, I want a riot compare to the one that was stage in 1910 when Johnson whips Jeff lol.

 

I'll tip my grill over after I empty it to get things started.

 

Just saying in 1910, the WHITEs riot when Jeff was ko. It was crazy.

Now the Blacks can riot when the great America Black Hope gets ko.
Amazing how things turn around right??

Wlad been koing or beating black hopes left and right, Rahman, (The Jeff of this era)
Thompson, Brewster, Peter.

 

Sorry about the size of this post.

The Ring Magazine top 10 heavyweights aside from the Klitschko brothers and Dimitrenko

The circus act:

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7 feet tall, over 310 lbs

Ruslan Chagaev:

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6 feet tall, 225 lbs

Alexander Povetkin:

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6'2, 227 lbs

Eddie Chambers:

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6 feet tall, 220 lbs

Chris Arreola:

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6'3, 230-240 lbs (now 255)

David Haye:

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6'3, 215 lbs

John Ruiz:

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6'2, 225-240 lbs

Other notables:

Denis Boytsov

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6 feet tall, 220 lbs

Sultan Ibragimov

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6'2, 220 lbs

Sam Peter

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6'1 240-260 lbs

JC Gomez

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6'3, 220-230 lbs

 

I would knock Vauly off and put Holyfiled. I think Holyfiled is in the top ten now base off of him getting robbed.

 

I agree that Holyfield beat Valuev but then again I think that Larry Donald and John Ruiz also beat Valuev.

 

I agree. Fighters like Bowe, Lewis, Foreman, Holmes, Lewis, Ali and a few others who weighed between 210-240, and who's height ranged from 6'2" to 6'5", are the more or less the ideal dimensions. Granted, Wladimir and Vitali are very good heavyweights, but not as good as the the previously mentioned names. Giant sized men like Willard, Carnera, and Valuev have usually proven that excessive size does not produce better results.

We should also consider that that there are still a number of decent heavyweights like Chagaev, Haye, Chambers, and Povetkin who are not monsters in size but account for much of the top 10 picture right now...

 

MENDOZA,

Holyfield was not exactly in his prime when he fought Lewis. He was 37 and past it, yet was still competitive in the second fight