Has the heavyweight division ever sucked as much as today?

I recollect reading Jeff Ryan bemoaning the state of the heavyweight division in Ring magazine back in 1994 and saying how bad Bowe,Lewis and Moorer were compared to Ali, Frazier and Norton and that Tyson needed to come back and clean up the heavyweight mess.

The 90's are now considered up with the 70's as the richest period in Heavyweight history and in hindsight Ryan was being a nostalgist, moaning *****.

Now I'm not saying this era is anything to write home about and last nights fight was **** and Wach was probably the least skilled fighter I've see contest a title in 25 years but at one point in the 90's the 3 alphabet champs were Frank Bruno, Frans Botha and Bruce Seldon. I'd much rather a fighter of Wladimir Klitschko's calibre ruling the roost than anyone as poor as that lot again.

That said boxing can't take too many more Mormecks, Wach's, Peters or Eddie Chambers getting shots at the title when woefully undeserving of them. Fight fans deserve better than that garbage. There has to be better challengers out there than that surely?

 

Aren't the Klitschkos truly talented, motivated fighters, who had already cut through the division like knife through butter among the lumbering bohemoths in recent years?

 

I agree. What's he really done at the weight?

 

This is largely why I feel frustrated watching the division. It's not that Wlad and his brother are bad...it's that most of the rest of them are. Wach was tough, but right now I could throw a better jab and right hand than that. Honest to God.

We want to see competitive fights. I'm hoping some of the younger crop can give Wlad a run for his money sometime down the line.

 

I believe you mate.

If it weren't for his courage I'd have laughed out loud at Wachs display.

He was so ****ing clumsy and slow I seriously couldn't see how he was still undefeated. Primo Carnera looked like Muhummad Ali compared to Mariusz Wach.

 

And that's no exaggeration!

 

Is Mariusz Wach any worse than Chuck Wepner, J-P Coopman, Richard Dunn ?
He'd probably beat them.


Let's be clear about one thing : a lot of the better, younger crop after really not interested in challenging Wladimir Klitschko !
Remember, Povetkin was a live fighter a few years back and Wlad's mandatory contender yet he has refused to step up to the plate.
Chambers made his challenge but was so demoralized by his defeat he'll never be the same again.
Guys like Price and Fury, if they are even any good, do need more seasoning, but they will be looking toward Vitali IF they want a Klitschko at all, and praying that Wlad starts to show signs of decline as he nears 37 years of age.

 

I don't see putting down the past on size complaints. Those champions were big enough to beat anyone in the world in thier own time and put on exciting fights.

the big fellows now certainly can beat anyone in the world, but they put on dull fights.

By the way, Marciano's era is put down but 5 of his 7 championship fight were against Hall-of-Famers. He won the title from an above-average sized champion for that era in Walcott (about 195 in great shape) and beat a large ex-champion (Louis) on the way up.

**I am a fan of American football which also suffers from giganticism but don't remember in the old days feeling cheated that Bob Lilly was only 260 lbs rather than 360 lbs. Most of us thought 260 was pretty big.

 

I disagree. On the whole, the heavyweight division today is okay. It's just that things are a lot more physical now, and with increased size comes a decrease in speed, manouverability and options.

It's for a reason that the featherweights have a higher skill-level than the heavyweights. You need it more there. A good chin and a good punch does a lot. Compare middleweights to welterweights, and the welterweights look more impressive, if you consider their power and chin equal.

The heavyweight division has changed, and should a superheavyweight-division be created, it would create the appearance of a resurgance of skill in the regular heavyweight division. But at the same time, it would be diluted compared to the current one.

Name five swarmers of note in the heavyweight division in the last decade. With the amount of punchers, their breed is becoming extinct at the weight.

 

atsch

Haye has too much power, speed, athleticism, and slick head movement for Sultan.

 

What was wrong with Eddie Chambers fighting for the title? He's one of the most deserving challengers in recent years, and certainly one of the more skilled.

 

I dont know each era had its share of poor challengers even in the 70's, there was Foreman Ali and Frazier, Norton but also a lot of guys that were worse than today....I think each era has its plus and minuses