The HW division is the most glamourous division in boxing because these guys are the most likely to end a fight by KO. They are the biggest and heaviest athletes who are respected because of their Power, rather than their boxing skills. Unless you're a Muhammad Ali, everyone comes to a HW fight to see a KO. Its what is expected. I admire boxing skills as much as anyone else watching boxing. Its obvious the Klitchkos have some of the best skills in HW boxing. That said, it seems inherently weird when I am more excited to watch Gamboa or Donaire fight, rather than a HW fight. It feels like it should be the other way around, with the lighter weight fighters begging for attention and the HWs commanding it.
I find all weight divisions exciting, I always have because I'm a boxing fan. It's not the weight of the fighters that dictates how exciting a fight will be, it's the quality of the fighters and their styles.
I don't think it's weird. Down at FW and BW the fighters are faster and able to fight at a much higher workrate because of their stamina, this lends itself to exciting fights. Plus (and i'll probably get **** for saying this) fighters are much less able to exploit a size and weight advantage at the weights below HW, therefore fights are far more evenly matched and more likely to be dictated by the styles of each fighter.
While the HW division may be the flagship weight of boxing, there will always be fluctuations in what weight is currently the most exciting, and I think it's good, because a lot of the general public aren't too aware of the lower weight classes, which naturally have a very different boxing style.
It's not so much weird as it is boring. IMHO, boxing fans who have lived through the Ali/Leonard/Tyson era have been spoiled by the all around entertainment these ATG HWs provided. Today, we have HWs who only offer a small fraction of the skills and excitement that we have come to expect. Why? I quess we can blame it on the bizness side of boxing, and far less talented athletes. I mean, even the bizness side of the sport considers these guys boring, else they'd be loaded to the Ying-Yang with mainstream product endorsements. No body knows who they are, so they don't.
Lower weights have always been more exciting. If the lower weights today would get the attention the Heavyweights have always had, there would not be all this talk about how "Boxing is dying, and how its losing to MMA".
Actually, the attention to the lower weights shifted and gained momentum after Ali & Holmes, via Sugar Ray Leonard, the small man's Ali substitute. :good
