Another weight division ?

I had the same thoughts Mark...See my detailed exposition on this topic on another excellent boxing web site, & the comments + my explanations below:

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Weight divisions are immaterial. Pay attention.

 

Who is not paying attention Seamus? I have paid close attention in many threads. If you mean to indicate the opinion that divisions make no difference above a certain weight, I disagree, size does, & this would reinvigorate a rooting interest, in the underdog especially.

I would also stop the sanctioning of multiple champions within any division, making far less champs overall. But allowing a couple extra at the highest level, including to fight outside of their class & keep their division title if they lose at a different weight, would encourage risk taking & excitement.

Though guys naturally over 200 would not be forced to fight Superheavyweights around 6' 6" & above 240 to have a title. This seems fair.

 

It is the exponentially greater # of belthoders, not a couple more divisions, that is the problem. True the biggest guys being great is rare-though no more so than excellent "regular" HWs. And the Klitchko's have dominated for years, in large part due to their size + skills, while there is potential for more dominant giants.

And the interest created by adding these cross-pollinating divisions up top is the main benefit for boxing.

 

Super cruiser? It's got a ring to it! I smell greatness.

 

Pro boxing should have 10 divisions like current amateur boxing.

 

Much of the weight class inflation is at the lower end of the spectrum- do we really need 5 weight classes to span 13 lbs?

Realistically, the higher range should look something like this:

-175
-190
-205 (or 210)
-Heavyweight

In general population terms, there's a lot of 'tweeners between the current light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions that'd fit perfectly in between. The average weight of a male in Western countries falls smack in the middle of 175 and 200.

25 pounds is a heck of a scale up from 175, and doesn't really fit given that classes are split by 6,7, and 8 pounds leading up to 175. These increments are more manageable and fill a void in the sport, which really shouldn't have any given how many current weight classes there are.

I know boxing is glued to its history and any reshuffling creates a wave of bitching in backlash, but these weight splits make more sense than the current model.

 

I think CW should have stayed at 190lbs if you're a natural 195-205lbs you can cut to get there but if you're 215+lbs like some of these CW's you should be at HW. No need to add another divison.

 

That makes sense Rock! Perhaps we could conflate some of he 3 & 4 lb. splits early on, but while it is generally good to have historically continuity, not at the price of fairness & rationality. Rock's splits are one way to do it, as would adding a SHW class.

Seamus-& KFC man-id you read my link? Super-Cruiserweight has a nice ring to it, & I suggested Bruiserweight.

Saying I have the right to my opinion is self evident, don't know why it would even be written. CW has limited popularity now, though with the top divisions optionally battling each other as I proposed, this could be different.

Rock you are right one that we should not accept tradition when it does things like 5 weight classes spanning 13 lbs., & where most folks weigh there is a large gap.

I would just add that if the average western male was as lean & fit as the average boxer, they would be no more than Middle Weight nax,, maybe Super Welterweight. In America te average man is 195, if he was not overweight it would be 170 max, if lean like most fighters clearly less.

 

Lebedev vs G.Jones
Wlodarczyk vs Chakhkiev
Drozd vs Masternak
Huck vs Arslan I
Makabu vs Kucher

All of these were spectacular CW bouts last year some of them FOTY material but most fans dont care same way when Jirov, Toney, Mormek, Bell, Haye, Adamek were doing it. Has nothing to do with lack of quality its just some irrational bias alot of fans have and that wouldn't change by adding another CW division ffs.

 

You may well be right Vysotskyy. Yet I cannot tell if you read my link where I proposed contests between the top divisions. If CW, BW, HW & SHW could fight each other, then the audience could become engaged, they have both the larger guys battling & a potential rooting interest in the smaller man against him. Perhaps a matter of liking the underdog or someone more conventionally sized.


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This.