Should professional boxing introduce the "super-heavyweight" division?

Hell no. Maybe when the top HWs are ALL huge giants at 6'6" and over 255 for a LONG SPELL, then maybe consider it. But that's not the case.

 

Agreeing with everyone here. That's what Bridgerweight is already for: For all its faults, at least it's there for guys at 225 or under who don't feel competitive against guys who have 50 lbs. on them.

And when you have relatively smaller or lighter heavyweights like Kabayel, Torrez, Itauma and of course Usyk -- not to mention Wilder before Fury (and Steward) showed everyone the gameplan to beat him -- defeating much heavier guys, it sort of underscores the lack of need for a Superheavy division.

It seems we have a consensus.

 

Same w "bridgerweight" - no thanks.

 

Wilder was also a small HW (comparatively) who had success for a period and obviously Usyk - the "middleweight" - just dominated the giants AJ and Fury four times in a row.

Weight and size absolutely matter but theyre clearly not absolute. There is speculation that humans have an optimal frame for boxing and very few people think it looks like Fury or AJ or Valuev and many people think it looks like Ali or Holmes or Usyk, etc.

 

Frank Gilfeather, a Scottish boxing coach and former amateur who fought Ken Buchanan, is very popular on social media these days.

Frank stated that one reason he picked Usyk to beat Fury is because Fury struggles to throw powerful combinations. He can throw maybe 2 or a maximum of 3 shots before he has to reset himself.

I agree. Fury is a terrific fighter and his movement and coordination for a man of his size is amazing but clearly his size limits him to some degree, particularly in throwing combinations.

Ali, Holmes, Usyk etc. have the perfect combination of height, size and movement.

 

I'm pretty sure it's just that there way more Usyk sized guys than 6'5+ guys. If you look at the number of top 6'5+ HWs compared to how many there are in the world you see they are overrepresented at the top

6'5+ boxers

Joyce
Dubois
Joshua
Fury
Zhang
Bakole
Hrgovic

6'5 is 6x rarer than 6'3 in the US. Despite that, there's more 6'5+ guys than 6'2-6'4 guys

 

Usyk has shown that exceptional small men can still compete but that is a once in lifetime level fighter.

 

No it shouldn't.

Usyk has proven conclusively that you don't have to be a behemoth to dominated this division.

For years everyone said where the next guy who's 6'3 200 pounds and cleaning house, well we've had him. His name is Usyk.

 

There are legit boxing experts, Breadman from bscene for example, who have gone on record suggesting the best HW frame is 6-6'3"

 

I'm providing analysis based on statistics. 6'5+ 6x rarer than 6'3+ yet most top heavies are 6'5+. That implies 6'5+ has a large advantage

Top heavies:
Chisora (6'1)
Usyk (6'3)
Parker (6'4)
Kabayel (6'3)
Joyce (6'6)
Dubois (6'5)
Joshua (6'6)
Fury (6'9)
Zhang (6'6)
Bakole (6'6)
Hrgovic (6'6)

7 to 4 6'5+ 8 to 3 6'4+ 6 to 5 6'6+

 

Eventually there will have to be a larger division. The NFL just drafted a 400+ pound guard; nor that long ago 250 pounds was considered big.

Will there be effective 350 pound HW's someday? Maybe. Would they be too much for a 225-250 pound HW? Probably.

 

We barely have anyone decent in the HW division, what is left for a newer one.. it would be pointless as bridgerweight

 

220 lbs is big enough to beat any other man on earth. youre big enough to carry the power needed to crack any skull, but small enough to move quickly and for long periods of time without emptying yourself out.
same reason you dont see professional pitbull fights at 100 lbs. because plenty of guys could pit their 80 lb bulldog against you and wreck your dog, who is too slow and doesnt have the wind for a fight to the death. boxing is not just a contest of strength. its a contest of everything.

 

The heavyweight isn’t thin enough. Lets split it in two so there are less fighter

 

Or it implies talented smaller heavyweights are draining down to cruiserweight or wasting their time like Opetaia, Hunter, Riley, Huck, Bellew, Briedis, instead of fighting at their natural weight which is 10 or 20 pounds above the cruiserweight limit, which is heavyweight