Zhang is 41 Chisora is 40 Joyce turns 39 this year Wilder is 38 Usyk is 37 Fury turns 36 this August Joshua turns 35 in Oct. Parker is 32 Hrgovic, Sanchez and Kabayel are 31 Ajagba is 30 Dubois 26 Anderson is 24 Would you call this a good era of the heavyweight division? I don't,,,,thoughts?
Heavy has been in the shitter for quite a while now. In fact, there's a good analogy to be made with a dog turd baking in the sun. Hard and crusty at the top, and stinky mush all the way down after that. The very best of the division are genuinely good. But there's a rapid drop off after the top 4-5. The moment is ripe for a young athletic guy to come rampaging through like Tyson did.
age is of what consequence? older gen but healthier for it. put out a cohort 70's or 90's heavies in their pomp and most of the best fighters of their eras were in their 30's. just as a random year from the top of my head when the title was divided i just thought 1997. looking at the ring heavyweight rankings. Evander 35, Lennox 32, Akinwande 35, Mercer 35, Witherspoon 38, Tucker 38 even the other guys Golota, Moorer, Bowe were 28/29. and you could argue moorer and bowe were completely spent forces. and young pretender david tua is 25....this looks shockingly similar to the list of current scene with dubois entry. eh, yeah they are older but joyce, wilder, zhang are 3 completely different styles who don't look old for it.
That isn't the complete era though, it's missing other names (now semi or fully retired) who gave us some great fights. Talking Haye, Chagaev, Ruiz, Whyte, Povetkin, Pulev, Miller. It wasn't all bad. The next era looks worst. Huni, Pero, Wardley, Torres, Anderson, Itauma, Abakarov, Dubois, Fisher, Conto, Hovhannisyan, Petrovski...... Who are we looking at here being the face of the heavyweight division come 2030?
also...quality wise. i agree it has been a drop. but in comparison to the mid 00's and bruv... Wladimir Klitschko Oleg Maskaev Samuel Peter James Toney Shannon Briggs Serguei Lyakhovich Lamon Brewster Nikolay Valuev Ruslan Chagaev John Ruiz out of that lot....who is sticking around now. Wlad and Lamon, maybe Chagaev? love Toney but after peter 1 he was also spent.
big difference with this newer generation is the amatuers and pro game work side by side each other. so you could see a real interesting turn around with olympians and world titlist calling each other out it means we will see less fights on records. which means we will see better fights p4p. but someone like torrez needs proper 25-0 record on the road to get accustomed and actually learn the game. he is wayy to green.
The division is a bit gummed up when one of the big cash cows, AJ, will not take on legitimate threats. If you best win in 5 years is Otto Wallin and you're considered a cash cow, the division is suffering. Give Hrgovich a shot.
Yes, it's obvious most of the current top HWs are getting on. Of course mid-late 30s isn't as old as it was 1 to 2+ generations ago. This might partially be due to boxers not fighting as often as the did back in the day. Would you call this a good era of the heavyweight division? I don't,,,,thoughts? It's been a good era. The top HWs today would defeat the smaller HWs of generations ago. Nostalgia for the past (and other factors) runs deep. As a consequence of what I stated above about fight frequency, many fans are critical of this era b/c many top match ups haven't happened. Have you considered that it's the HWs following the Usyk/ Fury/ AJ/ etc. era like DDD & Anderson that might be part of a weaker era? Hopefully some top young HWs will emerge taking us into the latter 2020s & beyond.