Having watched and followed heavyweight boxing live in the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and now the 20s ... I'd say this era will end when Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Usyk move on ... and we'll likely view it from 2015 to 2025 or so. And, even though we're only about six years into this era, I'd say it could end up being as good as the 90s. But, right now, the 70s and 90s were better. But this era is very good. We've had a lot of exciting fights at the top of the division. People tend to say "Ali, Foreman and Frazier" ... the 70s is a little overrated. And I remember the last three years of the 70s wasn't all that great ... with Leon, Kallie, Duane, Evangelista, Ledoux, etc., populating the top 10. Same with the 90s. The 90s started strong, was dead in the middle, and finished strong. But there was a point when Bruno, Botha and Seldon and all held titles AT THE SAME TIME. That "ain't" good. Wilder was a strong champ to start 2015, Fury beat Wlad in 2015, Joshua started winning belts in 2016 ... Usyk has some now ... the Fury-Wilder series has made heavyweight boxing a popular topic of discussion again in the U.S. and excited even casual fans. Other than the six-month "blip" when Andy Ruiz won belts ... there has usually been at least two if not three strong heavyweights at the top during this run from 2015 on. And there still are right now. That's good. It sucks when the division is represented at the top by beltholders like Seldon, Botha, Byrd, Ibragimov, etc. Those years "suuuuuuuuuuuucked." They were like if Joseph Parker was the best heavyweight NOW. Think of how brutal that would be. This division is fine. And the next few years will determine if it's been a great one. People are certainly interested, if nothing else.
Thanks, but Byrd wasn't a very good champ at all. Byrd arguably lost the decision to Fres Oquendo. Byrd arguably lost his draw with Andrew Golota. Byrd-Davarryl Williamson was excrutiating. More boring and even more forgettable than Parker-Cojanu. And if Williamson landed a couple more punches, IF ANY AT ALL, he could've won. When you're squeaking by Oquendo and Williamson in title fights no less, and you can't OUTBOX "that" Golota, you're not "very" good. Throw Oquendo and Byrd in a hat. Not that much difference. Anyway, these champs are better for the whole sport and the division by miles than having Chris Byrd at the top.
If there was one title, it would be a pretty good era. As it is, with no unified champ in 20 years and the talent spread thin, it pretty well sucks. You have Usyk and Fury, then Joshua, then a huge fall off to Wilder and Ruiz, and then some hangers around like Whyte and Parker. Meanwhile, good young guys like Sirenko, Makhmudov, Jalalov, Wallin can't get fights. Gassiev can't stay healthy. Pretty well sucks.
It is the Fury-Wilder-AJ-Usyk era. As with the recent eras the issues are caused by the top guys not facing each other often enough and too many belts. We also have an issue with mediocre guys being recycled whilst too prospects are getting frozen out. How many times are the likes of Chisora, Whyte and Parker going to get recycled?
Has the potential to become the best era. It depends on the attractive matches. We never watched the fight Anthony Joshua - Deontay Wilder ( while they were undefeted ). So the era becomes weaker.
This is what I think too. The top 3-4 guys (Fury, AJ, Wilder, Usyk) all have attributes that would have made them successful in any era. There's a steep drop in quality after these guys ... most of the heavyweight division is trash right now. That said, even a dumpster fire can be entertaining and there have been a lot of fun fights. People are fighting each other again and the era is worth watching.
