The poster(theboss) made an excellent point about two World wars culling many millions of Europeans. You also must consider the many millions of people sent to die in those wretched, communist gulags. Many of which were the best and brightest that part of the World had to offer. Yet we are consistantly bombarded with how African American's are more interested in football, basketball, drugs and flash mobs. Wildly shortsighted and patronizing.
Black folk never fought in the great wars? REALLY! I do not think race really has anything to do with the decline . . . these guys just suck . . . period!
This heavyweight era could rank with any other heavyweight era, except for the 60s, 70s and 90s. I think this current era (with Klitschkos, Haye, Chagaev, Adamek, Chambers) would be competitive, or better, than other eras like the 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1980s. The only eras that are CLEARLY superior are the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1990s.
The heavyweights are bigger and stronger but the work rate and speed is down which is pretty standard as you go up in weight classes. Vitali and Wladimir are two of the best big heavyweights ever. Even a prime George Forman was smaller then most of the top heavyweights today.
It is weaker than the 90's but I think what really makes it seem weak is having the two dominants who are just so far ahead of everyone that no one looks forward to fights. If the Klit's werent around and we were having title changes and (possibly) close bouts between the likes of haye, chagaev, povetkin, helenius, arreola etc.. OR if there were any fighters out there that could compete with the Klits then I don't think people would claim it's as weak as we do currently.
There are zero potential HW's in the NBA. That league is as soft as cotton. Only NFL player besides Zbikowski that could maybe be a HW is Brian Urlacher.
if anyone, Ray has the mentality to make it big... boxing training is different from the NFL. NFL guys need weight. Ray would be around 190-210, depending on where he'd want to fight...
Hasim Rahman is a former football player with a bum knee and no where near the mentality of Ray Lewis, but he still ko'd the hw champ lennox Lewis... Would have loved to see an athlete like Shaq step in the ring, same of Wilt Chamberlin or Jim Brown of yester-year, same of Julius Peppers today, or Albert Haynesworth, or any other D-line or O-line athletes playing in the nfl, they average approximately 6'5" 320lbs...OT Bryant McKennie (6'8", 350lbs) was said to have ko'd a prime Shannon Briggs outside a nightclub before he even got drafted by the nfl... We're talking about athletic giants that dwarf the klits and you know they have the work ethic...And they are competitive in a brutal sport, they are tough...And they are fast, quick twitch is a prerequisite...They have endurance, stamina, games are over 3hrs... How about guys with with rocket arms playing qb like 6'6" 260lb Ben Rothlessburger? How about any of the average 6'4" 260lb guys playing LB? Do they have the chin? the punch? IDK, they have everything else and there are a shitload to choose from...
Ahh this is refreshing... I'm so used to "the heavyweight division is weak because the would-be African American champ is in the NBA/NFL," now it's "the would-be African American champ is in prison on bogus charges." News flash: there have always been a lot of black Americans in prison. The NFL/NBA excuse, while still bull****, works better. There are a couple good American heavyweights as there always are, just not good enough to beat the two very best who would give any heavyweight in history a hard night. Chambers could beat any active non-Klitschko, including Povetkin on any other night.