The Fall of the current Heavyweight Division

The last 10 years of HW boxing has been great

You know tihngs must have been bad when Toe man Vs Robot in 2011 was a big deal and got casuals excited. It's a damn shame Toe man ducked Fury in 2012 because it would have been a big coming out party.

 

The last 10 years was arguably more exciting than the 10 years that proceeded it, with the Klitschko dominance.

 

That's about the way it went.

But I don't think the Fury/Joshua era ranks with 70's and 90's decades. Yet during that time, many people said it surpassed one or both of those eras because of the size differences, strictly.

 

I didn't say it did. It was a fine decade, though, that has essentially ended for most of them.

Time for the 20-somethings to make their own mark.

 

The only threat to Itauma will be Teremoana, I think, and even then, I think he gets outboxed by Itauma. Too many angles, too quick. He still needs to impress against better opposition, too, but I think he will. Hrgovic is limited, Justis Huni is packing one of the worst glass mandibles in the division, Torrez is too defensively poor, Jalolov is more interested in knocking out University students at the Olympics, and Jai is too small to move up. It's not going to be a deep or competitive division in 2/3 years, and it's definitely entering a downward cycle.

 

Some well-matched fights can still be made but mainly because some of the top few have deteriorated by similar amounts.

Fury-Joshua for instance, could still be a well-matched fight, even though both are now far from their best. But why will it happen now when it hasn't happened year after year after year?

 

That's actually an interesting debate. Not which era is the best or whatever, but why eras are considered great.

I would argue that the actual skill level of the boxers is not what makes an era great, even though so many people will point to that as their reason. What really makes eras, in my view, is the competitiveness of the era and stand-out fights in said era. The 90s are seen as a phenomenal era because you had multiple guys vying for the top spot. Lewis and Holyfield mainly, with past-it Mike, old Foreman, Moorer, and Bowe scattered around in there. You had great fights, some memorable rivalries/trilogies, and eventually got a guy at the top in Lewis. The 80s is considered a weak era by most, but is it really because of the skill level of the guys around at that time? Or was it just because Holmes was clearly head and shoulders above the rest and he was disliked for being boring/not Ali/whatever?

This Fury/AJ/Wilder/Usyk era is close to the best in competitiveness, I think. The problem ended up being the way the business is nowadays with us missing some more of those big fights. If Fury and AJ had banged it out, if Wilder and AJ had had a barn burner, if Fury had fought some more contenders instead of coasting? I think this supposedly weak era would actually end up being considered one of the best ever. You had the young up and comers knocking off the old king in Klitschko. You had multiple guys going for the crown. You had a banger of a trilogy between Wilder and Fury. You had upsets like Ruiz over AJ. You had a gang of dudes right below the top having great fights like Whyte, Chisora, and Parker. And then you had an ATG come up from Cruiser and run the whole lot when no one thought he could do it. Got our first Undisputed fight in 25 years which ended up being an all-timer of a fight.

 

The really good news is that there is a young heavy out there who looks like he could be the future....his name is Ike Ibeabucchi, and he had a good win tonight.

 

It's such a nice thing about this forum that in any random thread you might find gems like @Dubblechin and @Cyrion just posted. I wonder how many of these I am missing by not reading everything

 

The era is winding down.

I almost feel like Usyk needs to beat Wilder before retiring just as a final farewell.

 

Agree that the last 10 years have been entertaining. The quality of fighters won't stand the test, but the match ups will.

One reason I think many are keen for Moses to be chucked in now, against Usyk, is because the future for him doesn't look good for the dollar, in terms of sellable opponents. We may have a Wlad dominance type scenario 05-15

 

Top heavyweights don't usually "step aside."

It's up to the young guns to move them out.

If they can.,

 

I'd rather see him fight Parker and Kabeyal.

Depending on how he looks after that, maybe a Wilder swan song.

 

In my perfect world it would be Itauma, Kabayel, Parker and Wilder.

 

This is why I don't want to see Itauma fight Usyk. A win by Itauma could be devastating for him motivation wise. If he has any kind of chin then his biggest nemesis is going to be himself for the next 11 or 12 years.

If he gets to that level of domination, we will find a Mike Spinks for him to fight for a huge money fight.

It would be way better to let him chase what Usyk has done if he is that good. Otherwise, I think it is trying too hard to create the next Mike Tyson, in the bad sense.