The Coward weight class?

Excellently put and my thoughts exactly

 

No offence to anyone out there Lads. But I find it diffucult to call anyone a coward that agrees to climb into a ring and get punched in the head. There are some braver fighters than others, and there are those that manipulate the system for a variety of reasons. But to call a boxer a coward is not my cup of tea. If I have in the past, I believe I was wrong.

 

Also some of the interim divisions are so stacked with talent. Would it have been braver in the early 80s to stay at Jnr Feather and fight the Chacons, Limons, Navarettes, Bozas or move up to lightweight? Who's to say but it doesn't sound like much of a soft option to me.

Was it a lack of courage that saw fighters inhabit the shark-infested waters of the super middleweight division in the 90s facing the likes of Toney, Jones Jr, Benn, Eubank, rather than make the leap to light heavy? I'm sure at various points the Jr welter division was far more formidable than the full fat welters.

At the end of the day, these guys are getting paid to get hit in the head and body. If you can be a champion in a Jr division and earn, say, $250,000 for fighting guys you have a good chance of beating why would you move up and take the challenger's smaller cut rather than the champion's? You're not getting adequately recompensed for taking the risk of facing a guy who a) is bigger than you and more likely to beat you and b) may well inflict the kind of beating that shortens your career and lessens your overall earnings while giving you greater risk of health problems down the road. Case in point. Meldrick Taylor. His management was brave enough to have him try his hand at higher weights and look how that has panned out for poor Meldrick. Taylor could have recovered from the Chavez fight, stayed at jr welter and earned a decent living without getting beaten up and permanently damaged if Lou Duva hadn't been so brave,

You might think that you want the respect of people who will admire your courage if you challenge yourself and move up in weight. Or you might not give two sheets what these people think as they don't earn their living getting hit. The opinions of those who do get hit in the head might matter a lot more and, for the most part, other fighters will understand if you choose to take the easiest path possible to earn your corn. And when I say 'easiest path possible' staying in one weight division, constantly fighting decent opposition is hardly a walk in the park.

I'm with @Clinton (hello, mate). Facing the best men in the world who weigh the same as you can never be described as cowardly.

 

Great post Eddie. I am not surprised

 

I dont think he is saying they are cowards more flavourful speaking i think what he means is historically which divison has been used to hide in the most rather then going up for a fear of losing in a GGG Canelo kinda way not a Hagler to LHW kinda way.

 

Wouldn’t say they’re “supposed to” do that but I definitely have the most respect and admiration for the guys who voluntarily move up to take on bigger men.

 

This.

 

There have been times when the cruiserweight division was something of a soft touch.

Don't think anybody would argue that at the moment though.

 

This was a grievance of mine when it came to Calzaghe. If a fighter is very comfortable at the weight, or if the fighter has enough good opposition there to prove their worth and establish their world-class credentials, then I don't begrudge them staying put in a division for many years, or even a whole career.

But Calzaghe constantly moaned about how hard it was for him to make 168, while at the same time lamenting the lack of big name fights out there for him and his inability to really make a mark with a wider fanbase. All the while there were plenty of good fights up at Light-Heavyweight for him, which would have seemingly answered all his prayers. More exposure, a better calibre of opponent, and a weight which would have been no problem for him. Instead he wasted years in what was a pretty barren 168 lb division until 2006/2007 when it finally came to life a little.

Re: the Norris point. I can see both sides of the argument. Norris wasn't all that big for a Light-Middleweight (hence the ease with which me made the lower catchweight for the Taylor fight) and would have been ceding some natural size to a few of the Middleweights of that time, particularly the big weight cutters such as G-Man. But on the other hand, the guy was considered one of the best in the world, pound for pound, throughout the early to mid nineties, and I think it's fair that some would expect anyone with that kind of status bestowed upon them to at least dip their toes in the higher division - especially when his opposition at 154 often left a little to be desired once you got past the pure names on his record.

 

Thats plausible

 

Correct.

It’s a very good thread, but the title needs editing.

 

Cruiserweight.

It hasn't been around for nearly as long as most of these divisions. But it's always been a safe haven for guys who found the top of the light heavy or heavy divisions during their eras too difficult for them (or they couldn't beat the best anymore).

Guys like Oleksandr Usyk, Mauris Briedis, Michael Hunter, Ossie Ocasio, Glen McCrory, Alfonso Ratliff, Orlin Norris, Leon Spinks ... they were all fighting at heavyweight and then moved down for what they expected would be easier pickings as opposed to beating the champs at heavyweight at the time.

Same with guys like Marvin Camel, Uriah Grant, Dwight Qawi, Bobby Czyz, etc. ... couldn't beat the very best at light heavy so they moved up to cruiser.