How has the heavyweight division become so inactive?

I dont know about internationally, but in america, it's because of one thing...the dollar menu

 

I think it's at least partly this **** cycle: The talent is so thin that the individual fighters have less of a need to stick out in the crowd, know they'll get a shot easier than in a rich division's era, do NOT need to risk that shot against another top guy, so simply don't do it. Look at Adameck, one of the ballsiest and hardest working of the bunch and he's fighting a Grant now for the height, instead of a Dimitrenko. And Arreola got a McCline out of retirement, when in a richer time he'd have had to fight a Solis to get there...leading us to Solis, and THE CYCLE OF **** CONTINUES. Why would Solis have to risk his perfect record on a top guy if he's already going to be in line anyway?

 

It's been this way for a long while...HW's are big $'s for even B-/C level fighters and cash cows get protected, especially 'delicate' ones...

Very little talent in the division other than the Klitz bros...The 'talented' young lions are fat and won't train consistently...They're delicate....

 

haye certainly didnt didnt stick to his side of the bargin by clearing out the division

 

David Haye has been too tired to fight until lately, and is having severe contract issues.

 

What contract issues are those? You mean the slave contract he signed with Sauerland, after praising this contract as "very fair" and "so easy to negotiate" for the Valuev bout?

 

im a haye fan, he was brutal at CW. But since moving up and winning his belt he has gone very quiet, which doesn't make him look good after his claims..

 

Fighting 1 fight a year against a inactive 39 year old. He must be tired lol

 

it is money and politics blah, blah, blah... Considering the amount of **** i keep hearing about superior training and nutrition you would think these guys could manage six fights a year. The time when a mans record would nearing or past triple figures are rapidly vanishing into history.

 

Right now, of the top 50 heavyweights on BoxRec, only 5 have a fight scheduled.

And there is only ONE heavyweight fight scheduled that's between two top 50 heavyweights - Wilder vs Helenius.

The other 3 top 50 heavyweights that are scheduled (Balogun, Sanchez and McKean) are all scheduled to fight soft opponents.

The division would be more interesting and make a lot more money if the fighters were more ACTIVE and they had more competitive matchup. Bad promotion is causing the division to stagnate, and boxers get fatter and slower after many months without a fight to prepare for.

 

The division does suck at the moment.

The 2 top guys seem to be on the way out. Usyk is 35 and Fury 34, Fury is off the rails and Usyk's country is at war and neither are very active.

Joshua who for so long carried the division while Fury was suspended and rebuilding looks mentally broken after his 3rd loss and while still in his prime may have already peaked.

Wilder is only now just coming back and we don't know what he has left after Fury.

So the top 4 guys seem to be distracted or coming back from bad multiple losses and the next gen are either being exposed like Yoka or struggling badly in fights they were expected to win easily in Makhmudov and Hrgovic.

Joyce is the last man standing from the class of 2016 and is the only one who looks like he could even possibly be a threat to the top 4.

 

Big two, really. But yeah, in 2016 you have Joyce and in 2022 you have Jalolov, that's about it.