The Ring "Super sighs: Fight against fracturing of heavyweight division"

HMSTempleGarden · Jan 26, 2010

It wasnt easy, but somehow the cretins running boxings for-profit sanctioning bodies men and women gifted with the divine ability to turn wine into water, diamonds into coal and Ricky Frazier into a mandatory have succeeded in turning the word super, a term previously free of negative connotations, into one of the most dreaded words in the English language.

It started nearly a decade ago with the WBAs introduction of the super champion concept, whereby they found a way to give title belts to two fighters in the same division. And it threatens to get worse in the months ahead if the alphabets succeed in creating a super heavyweight division.

The heads of the WBA, WBC and IBF, Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, Jose Sulaiman and Marian Muhammad, respectively (thats the only way youll ever see the seven letters that form the word respect share a sentence with those names), met in Cancun earlier this month to see whether they could more effectively **** and pillage our sport. One order of business was initial discussion of introducing a super heavyweight division.

It doesnt take a genius to see why this idea would appeal to the alphabets: An 18th weight class equals new opportunities to extract sanctioning fees.

But if youre a boxing fan, this idea should hold zero appeal. Those sanctioning fees wont land in your pocket. And the value of what once was the most prestigious title in all of sports heavyweight champion of the world will be rendered almost nonexistent.

We all know hard times have fallen upon the heavyweight division in recent years. But as bad as things are, splitting the heavyweight division in two will make it even worse. It could become so bad that we someday look wistfully back upon the bygone Klitschko Brothers era as something we wish we could recapture.

For starters, consider the talent pool. There isnt enough to properly populate one heavyweight division right now. Look at the RING rankings. Alexander Dimitrenko and Tony Thompson are both still in the Top 10. If you divide the division into heavyweights (presumably with a weight limit of 220 or 225 pounds) and super heavyweights, youre making each division twice as diluted as heavyweight currently is.

Almost everyone agrees that the NBA and NHL have over-expanded and watered down their products, but at least they did so just a couple of teams at a time; they didnt go around doubling the number of teams in the league. Thats approximately what the creation of a super heavyweight division would do from a depth-of-talent perspective.

And following right in line, the addition of a super heavyweight division would destroy the cachet of titles in either weight class. Suddenly, heavyweight would become a second-rate title, given approximately the respect that cruiserweight is given now. And super heavyweight would not inherit all of the prestige heavyweight once held, because there is no history behind the term.

Imagine that youre one of the Klitschkos. If your heavyweight belts are suddenly replaced with super heavyweight belts, then youre no longer a part of the same all-time-great discussions as Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. Every debate about where to rank you among the legends of the division becomes complicated and perhaps altogether moot. Is Vitali Klitschko a Top-25 all-time heavyweight? Well, hes not a heavyweight at all, so can we really have that discussion?

Similarly, if the 220-pound Alexander Povetkin claims one of the new heavyweight titles, can he be properly assessed in the annals of history if he never has to defend his belt against the best big men of his era, namely the Klitschkos?

Theres an argument out there that it isnt fair for 220-pounders to fight 250-pounders, that they dont stand a chance of winning. We heard some of this chatter after Cris Arreola lost to Vitali Klitschko last September (it was a rather comical argument since Arreola was himself a 250-pounder, just not as tall a 250-pounder as Klitschko) and then ironically we heard it again after Arreola was the bigger man pummeling 218-pound Brian Minto in December.

If Minto feels hes too small to compete against these guys, well, its not like anybodys forcing him to fight them. He can go ahead and compete exclusively against guys like Povetkin, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev or David Haye. But hell find that the results are the same. Hell lose to those fighters because hes just not as good as them. Minto is an honest heavyweight who tries hard and can beat some of the B-level guys, but hes not at the world-class level.

History has shown us that smaller heavyweights who are world-class fighters can beat heavyweights who have three or four inches and 20 or 30 pounds on them. How else would you explain Lennox Lewis getting knocked out by both Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman? Or Wladimir Klitschko getting KOd by Lamon Brewster? Or Vitali Klitschko losing to Chris Byrd? Jack Dempsey hammered Jess Willard, and Max Baer brutalized Primo Carnera. More recently, Chambers schooled Dimitrenko. And Haye outpointed Nikolai Valuev despite giving away nine inches and 99 pounds.

The Klitschkos are obviously much better fighters than Dimitrenko and Valuev, but the reason they keep winning isnt that 220-pound heavyweights cant beat them. Its that at this moment there arent any 220-pound heavyweights good enough. We likely wouldnt be having this discussion about whether the Klitschkos are too big for everyone if Ali or Larry Holmes or a prime Evander Holyfield were around right now.

Yes, times have changed, athletes have grown and most 195-pounders wouldnt stand a chance against the Klitschkos. But that problem was already addressed with the creation and later, the 10-pound limit increase of the cruiserweight division. (And youd still have a hard time convincing me that Louis, at about 202 pounds, wouldnt have a realistic shot at upending one of the Klitschko brothers.)

Should we penalize Wladimir and Vitali by inventing this new division just because the current 220-pounders arent good enough to beat them?

Lurking within that question is the solution to this potential super heavyweight problem: As the most powerful and, importantly, the most financially valuable names in the heavyweight division, the Klitschkos need to stand up to the alphabet boys. Wladimir holds two alphabet belts. Vitali holds one. If they refuse to play ball, if they talk to Sulaiman or Muhammad or Mendoza before this thing becomes official and they tell them, Were heavyweights and were not paying sanctioning fees on super heavyweight titles, then theres a good chance this atrocious idea never gets off the ground.

Wladimir and Vitali, the boxing world needs you to step up right now. I dont know exactly where Id rank you among the all-time heavyweights. But its up to you guys to make sure Im at least engaging in that discussion after your careers are over.
Click to expand...

http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1566/super_sighs_fight_against_fracturing_of_heavyweight_division/

BOGART · Jan 26, 2010

HMSTempleGarden said: ↑

http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1566/super_sighs_fight_against_fracturing_of_heavyweight_division/
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this article.

Swarmer · Jan 26, 2010

Couldn't agree more-super heavyweight is a horrible horrible idea.

Jack · Jan 26, 2010

Assuming this tragedy did happen, then where would they stop? Would we have a super super heavyweight division? Honestly, I'm dying to see Valuev put on 20lbs to go and face undisputed champion Gabe Brown. Alternatively, Brown/Butterbean would be epic.

Water down the heavyweights and boxing suffers immensely.

Casamayor122 · Jan 26, 2010

Horrible idea. It wouldn't even stop them from fighting at this new 220-225 weight class if they wanted to.

Log in or Sign up

The Ring "Super sighs: Fight against fracturing of heavyweight division"

HMSTempleGarden Boxing Junkie Full Member

BOGART Boxing Junkie Full Member

Swarmer Patrick Full Member

Jack Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

Casamayor122 Boxing Addict Full Member

Log in or Sign up

Forums

The Ring "Super sighs: Fight against fracturing of heavyweight division"

HMSTempleGarden Boxing Junkie Full Member

BOGART Boxing Junkie Full Member

Swarmer Patrick Full Member

Jack Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

Casamayor122 Boxing Addict Full Member