THE Heavyweight Scene and why it SUCKS..MY THEORY

boxing just sucks right now

the drop off in skillsets since the early 80s has been clear, it's just that it's the most apparent in the least skilled division of all time: the heavies

 

I dont think there has necessarily been a drop in skillset throughout boxing since the 80's. There are far too many superbly skilled fighters throughout the 90's and 2000's to let that theory stand up.

Having said that there is quite blatantly an utter dearth of talent at HW. Has been since the late 90's. And even the two standouts of the 2000's, ie the Klitschko's have very basic skillsets in comparison to the great 90's HW's. Not saying they are necessarily worse, but they are very basic. Very effective, but basic nonetheless.

I think the 2000's HW's just lack athletes. Plenty of squat Eastern Euros with decent fundamentals, but lack the size, physical power, speed, reflexes, explosiveness and fluidity to actually be a top top HW. Comparing them to the 90's contenders, sure the top 90's guys clearly have significantly better skillsets, but what set them apart I think was a combination (or even 1 or 2) of the athletic qualities I listed to complement those skills.

HW boxing has historically been dominated by athletic champions, with real raw physicality (be it speed, power, agliity, movement) often giving them the edge. The only real non 'athletic' dominant champion is Holmes.

The fundamentals are still there, but the athleticism and size is not.

 

4) the champion is a cautious defensive fighter who stinks out the joint in every fight.

 

I give props to Chambers in that he's actually taken on more guys than some people in his division. Hasn't worked out though for him getting a fight since Wlad beat him. Don't know if that's due to Chambers or he can't get a good fight.

We seriously need to get some microphone recorders on these promoters' phones in this sport to figure out who's scared and who's actually trying to set stuff up.

 

that has nothing to deal with why the contenders underneath refuse to fight anyone of value

the original poster didn't mention him but Povetkin's mess as well can be added in there, mandatory challenger for 30 months after beating Chambers and won't take the fight

another one that just had his fight with Wlad was Sam Peter, after quitting on his stool against Vitali and then losing a decision to Chambers, he fought:

Marcus McGee (22-16) - this guy actually has some interesting fights lately, Odlanier Solis' 4th career fight back in 2007, lost to Danny Williams in a decision in 2008, after losing to Peter, he no-contested Shannon Briggs after Briggs had an illegal substance knocking out McGee in the first round, and last month he lost to Hasim Rahman
Ronald Bellamy (14-9-4) - came into the Peter fight with 8 losses in a row
Gabe Brown (18-12-4) - most famous for being a big tub of lard, came into the Peter fight with 4 losses in a row
Nagy Aguilera (15-2) - the guy Tarver just beat in his heavyweight debut

...and that got Sam Peter ranked #2 by the IBF to take over Povetkin's mandatory challenge when Povetkin backed out.

 

This happens i believe, where u have one decade of really good fighters eg (90's), the following decade is normally full of leftovers.
70's were good, 80's were bad, then 90's picked up and 00's are bad again, look now its 2010-11 so things should brighten up. Its the matches that arent being made.
You have the Klits, Haye, Adamek, Arreola, Peters, etc.

Put these guys in the ring together and you got some decent fights. I mean id personally love to see VK chop down the big tree Valuev and KO him, but i know its not gonna happen.

Arreola Vs Peters, 2 fat hard hitters going at it would probably be an exciting fight.

 

It has turned into a team sport.

 

i think its just that athletes that are big enough to be heavy weights and have extreme athletic talent choose to do other sports now a days. as violent as football is... i think people would rather be tackled hard then punched in the face. Also the taller athletes ofter choose basketball. Both football and basketball players make more money on average than an average boxer does... so there is more incentive to compete in other sports then there is in boxing.

 

I don't think Gomez has ever fought anyone worth a crap. His resume is awful.

 

Best fighter I see on there is Oliver McCall.

 

Heavyweight could be really good right now, but the two champs are brothers and won't fight, which is fair. David Haye is a joke, with an awful win over Valuev and a lose-lose situation vs. Harrison. Povetkin is regressing at an unbelivable rate, and Adamek is the only one who seems willing to take on anyone, but outside of those fighters its so weak its almost pointless. The problem is there's no good American Heavyweights, they're all scattered and each one thinks hes such hot **** in their homeland that they aren't coming together on terms.

Any combination of fights between Wlad, Vitali, Haye, Adamek and Povetkin would be exciting, but i've lost all hope for any of them coming together.

 

The ever-growing popularity of the NFL and NBA also had an effect on athletes in the states. The NBA became huge after magic, Byrd, then Jordan. The NFL has always been popular but it has definitely grown a lot in the last 25 years.

People rule this out, but boxing more than likely had a steroid era as baseball did. That too would affect how we look at our current fighters.

 

Having 2 champions creates a situation where contenders are being knocked down twice as fast as they usually would. Things will change when Vitali retires, but it musn't be much fun right now if you aren't a Klitschko fan