Which ones would be the best Bridger weights? In other words who is your top ten for the 224 lb weight division?
I'm a give it a go: Vasily jirov, brought his punch up with him to hw after losing to James toney, who doesn't get a mention because he was a real hw. Davaryl Williamson: touch of sleep weighed about 200 lbs. Monte berret: a small heavyweight, big heart. Evander Holyfield before the peds Deontay Wilder would pulverize this division Michael Moorer might have to cut weight though just like Mike Tyson would. Chris Byrd: Mr pittypat would be a king in this division. Fres Oquendo small hw dirty fighter but great stamina (based off the Clifford Etienne bout) Those who I think could make a splash even from coming from lower weight classes are Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver, el Canelo, and Alexander usyk. Essentially everyone moves up a division or two for this niche class!
Bridgerweight ATG list There is not much difference compared to the Heavyweight ATG list. Again the list starts like this: 1. Muhammad Ali 2. Joe Louis . . .
You'd rank those as the best/greatest below 224lbs? Ahead of Ali, Holmes, Louis, Frazier, Tyson, etc.? Even "after PEDs" Holyfield was well within 224lbs in his prime. If we are talking about a greatest list excluding fighters who at their best typically weighed in excess of 224lbs, then it would mirror my HW top 10, minus Lewis and Wlad.
Excellent thread. My top 10 All Time Bridgerweights include: 10. David Haye 9. Jimmy Bivins 8. Joe Frazier 7. Michael Moorer 6. Deontay Wilder 5. Chris Byrd 4. Ezzard Charles 3. Roy Jones Jr 2. Michael Sphinx 1. Pre-roids Holyfield
No problem & no need to apologise Mike. I see those guys as true HWs too, though of course they all typically weighed under the Bridgerweight limit of 224lbs. Incidentally, I think Bridgerweight is unnecessary. 2 of the best 4 or 5 HWs in the world (Usyk & Wilder) have recently weighed c.210-220lbs. They're proof that if you're good enough at that weight you're big enough to succeed at world level in the open weight class. All Bridgerweight serves to do is to risk diluting the talent pool, though thankfully, to my knowledge, to date there aren't any world class operators boxing at Bridgerweight.
Do you consider these 10 fighters as greater than Ali or are you under the mistaken impression that Ali typically weighed over 224lbs in his prime?
Sure, put Ali up there. I know that no thread on here is complete without the standard Ali worship . Good catch friend
I remember back in the day watching Monte berret vs tye fields. Where would we be able to watch fights like that if the powers that be cut the bridgerweight division like that? It was a marketing ploy to get more sanctioning bodies and belts to make sure more money by fighters paying fees. I mean it's cool and all if babic and those guys want to Duke it out for the title but the heavyweight division at the end of the day is the most coveted spot as champion, not to mention where the monies at. We've seen guys eat burgers to make it up to the glamour division. We've seen peds mongers in the hw division. We've also seen 4 round fighters compete in this divisÃon as well as old classic nostalgic fighters. All to get a piece of the pie.
