I think the mid to late 80's brought a fine crop of Crusiers. 1. Evander Holyfield 2. Carlos Deleon 3. Dwight Qawi 4. Bert Cooper 5. Lee Roy Murphy 6. Anaclet Wamba 7. Ossie Ocasio
Sorry, that list shows you why the division sucked. Holyfield was the exception to prove the rule. Deleon was not without ability but would of been much better IMO as a 175lber, conditioning was not one of his strengths. Qawi was past his best and feasting on poor fighters, although I will concede he did kind of redeem himself from the Spinks demon in the best ever modern Cruiserweight fight (HolyfieldI). Cooper lacked dedication; the temptation to eat plus better money meant he wasted what could of been, by becoming a fat Heavy. Murphy was a very ordinary fighter who, kudos to him, took advantage of the better fighters who were less dedicated than him. I saw Wamba fight Notice (who was little more than a Cruiser himself) and Wamba was awful. Ocasio was a perfectly good boxer, but seemed to lack dedication in a division he could of dominated in pre Holyfield. The division is IMO as strong today as it has ever been, but lacks leadership, like it had with Holyfield.
Seems like a division that's usually had a single defining fighter with a host of other fighters who can't even begin to compete with the #1 in the division.