post-Klitschko heavyweight era

it sucks. Basically a thin crust of talent over a thick soggy turd.

 

Hopefully we will find out in the next two years. Too many fights have been missed at this point and we need three or four of them to come together and answer some questions while they are still fighting at a high level.

 

If we don't get any of the decent fights in the next few years then it's been a big letdown.
Not sure what the next generation will fetch to the table but I hope their more willing to fight each other.

 

How it compares to previous eras, 90s and earlier - I'll leave to more knowledgable members - but it was definitely more competitive and fun to follow than the Klitschko era.

I remember Kathy Duva making a point regarding Klitschkos, which was that They never made any effort to build up their rivals. They were only focusing on themselves, holding on to their belts - and with big stadium fights in Germany, They never bothered to invest in undercard. There was usual nothing of note.
HBO also went away from Heavyweight boxing for a while. Maybe there just wasn't much talent around... I remember when Seth Mitchell was the new hopefull and rematch with Jonathon Banks was one of the worst fights in history of HBO.

Matchroom, with Joshua and PBC with Wilder, Frank with Fury - knew They needed to build up opponents for their stars to create big shows, so We could watch some good fights between Heavyweight contenders on undercards and stand-alone shows. Whyte and Parker had very eventful careers. Takam, Chisora fought everybody. Joe Joyce had a fun short run recently etc. Don't think there were many fighters in Klitschko era who fought as many fellow contenders.

Maybe part of it was the fact that British and American fans are a bit more demanding? There was an anecdote I heard from a friend who talked to German about his experience going to Klitschko fight.
- How was it?
- Man, amazing. A lot of music, lasers and amazing pictures during enterance. Then Klitschko knocked the guy out.
- ...and who was Wladimir fighting?
- Ehm... I don't know.

 

IMO we need to first define what the Post Klitschko era is. And there are two scenarios:
1.) After 10 years and 22 fights, Wlad lost his belts to Tyson Fury.
2.) Wlad lost to AJ in the next fight and retired.
If scenario 1 is accepted then in the post Klitschko era the fight AJ Vs. Wlad one of the best HW fights.
We watched a good fight AJ Vs. Ruiz 1, which could not be said for the rematch.
We watched the trilogy Fury Vs. Wilder and all 3 fights were exciting and high quality.
Povetkin lost to AJ, then gave his last word and knocked out White.
And many more good fights can be listed.
AJ and Wilder also contributed to this HW era and the sickness of THIS HW era is that they didn't fight each other, as well as Fury and AJ not fighting. Same as no undisputed champion, but that's a fault of every HW era.

 

Although the fighters haven't been of 80/90's quality, the matchups could've been great. The top 10 guys should have fought each other multiple times, akin to 90's era

 

There's been some better drama then the Klitschko era. The AJ losses, the Fury/Wilder fights, Usyk. Any combination of AJ/Wilder/Fury/Usyk/Zhang fighting each other could redeem it a bit.

 

It had its moments but there were definitely some disappointments.

 

Joe Louis weeps

 

I might surprise everybody by going ageist the grain here.

There was less difference between the top four in this era, than there was in the Klitschko era, and perhaps even the Lewis era.

If those men had wanted greatness, more than they had wanted an easy fortune, then there was a route to it.

Now you can argue that this fighter or that fighter got exposed, but the point is that they waited around until somebody exposed them.

If Fury, Joshua, and Wilder had faced off, or even argued about the terms for a year before signing, then you have a top era.

When it comes to getting beaten, it is best to trade up in competition.

For example Joshua loosing to Fury or Wilder, hurts his legacy less than losing to Ruiz.

He can even go on to lose to Ruiz later, and if can be more easily dismissed.

There are still options today.

Fury could fight Usky, or either one of them could fight Zhang, and at least we would get a big fight.

People sometimes say that the 30s was a weak era, but just look at the heavyweight fights that you got between 1930 and 1935.

 

You mean 70’s/90’s quality.A lot of the 80’s heavyweights were pizza delivery men.

 

Who were the top 2 of the Klit era? We don't know because they wouldn't fight each other.

 

As others have said, this era had a lot of potential, but too much ducking went on for it to be considered a great era. Here's hoping we get some of those big fights in the next couple of years before it's all said and done.