With Wilder's collapse last night, Joshua's loss to Ruiz then a mediocre win in the rematch and Fury's inconsistent performances is the heavyweight division comparatively weak historically? As further proof you had Washington and Martin fighting a title eliminator bout. Since Wladimer K. aged out around 2015,16 I think this era is very weak . Personally I rank it very low
Better than the immediate following of the post Lewis era, imo. 2005 Chris Byrd Hasim Rahman James Toney Lamon Brewster John Ruiz Monte Barrett Calvin Brock Wladimir Klitschko Samuel Peter Nicolay Valuev 2006 Wladimir Klitschko Oleg Maskaev Samuel Peter James Toney Shannon Briggs Serguei Lyakhovich Lamon Brewster Nikolay Valuev Ruslan Chagaev John Ruiz 2007 Wladimir Klitschko Samuel Peter Oleg Maskaev Ruslan Chagaev Nikolay Valuev Sultan Ibragimov Serguei Lyakhovich Vladimir Virchis Tony Thompson Alexander Povetkin 2008 Wladimir Klitschko Vitali Klitschko Ruslan Chagaev Alexander Povetkin Nikolay Valuev Sultan Ibragimov Samuel Peter Oleg Maskaev Juan Carlos Gomez Alexander Dimitrenko Outside of Vitalis appearance in 08, him aside Id group for group take Fury, Usyk, AJ, Ruiz and Wilder over this chapter of the post Lewis era.
Pointing out other times the division was weak doesn't make this one not weak, though. As I've been preaching for pretty much the whole time I've been on here, going on 14 years, HW just flat out sucks, p4p/compared to its neighbors south of 200lb. Always. In the distant past it had some glory days, but it has in truth rarely if ever been the best division in the sport (as far as deep/stacked with high-level talent who all fight each other)...just the most consistently popular, because casuals.
That's just it, people confuse a division having parity with it being good. To be good you need all of the following components, not just one or two: front-loaded with at least a few guys that rank among the best in the world pound for pound (say top 40 at least) depth of quality down the rank-and-file - this important aspect is often overlooked. If the #12 guy is a bum, the division isn't great. parity, no big gaps in quality between those division leaders and the r&f. HW ticking all boxes has historically happened precious few times.
That's my reasoning when I disagree that this is a great era I think it's great in the sense of potential matchmaking possibilities and the lack of one dominant figure.
It's a great era because you have exciting fights and fighters. Lots of interesting matchups. I watched Chris Byrd versus Davarral Williamson. Those were dark days.
Well yea, how often has the 105 pound division been the strongest or among the strongest divisions p4p? Rarely, if never. At that point, though each division respectively sitting on opposite ends of the spectrum you are dealing with men who are many standard deviations smaller or bigger than the average man. Therefore, the talent pool is undoubtedly shallower.
Agreed, straw has always been down there at the bottom of the heap along with HW. Probably in large part for the reasons you've stated. Tough, athletic men weighing the same as female runway models is rare. Tough athletic men weighing over 200lbs is common - but 90% of those guys play team sports.
'The heavyweight division is at a historically weak level' has been said just about the entire time I've followed boxing and my bet is it was being said before then too. Obviously there's been stronger eras than others and the untrammelled drug use of the nineties may also skew things, but the overall trend is upwards, not least due to improvements in preparation and the coming of the superheavyweights.
Also, tough athletic men over 200+ pounds are rare. It's just that if you do fit that description you probably already have a first class ticket towards a football or basketball scholarship anyways. Not only that, but being a natural athletic 200+ pounder and not a big bloated gym weightlifter who pumped iron to get there is rare. It's a false size, not natural.