Who or what is to blaim for the state of the heavyweight division?

Combination of things. I think the alphabet title plays a large role in it, but I think an underestimated factor has been athletes pursuing other sports rather than boxing. One has to admit that the mainstream appeal of boxing has declined significantly. There was once a time where boxing was amongst one of the most popular sports in the world. That status has fallen dramatically where its now relegated under golf on espn.com. Also, several past heavyweight champions (Ali, Frazier, Taylor, Hearns, etc) who we have idolized have developed notable signs of brain damage. This diminishes the appeal of pursuing a boxing career to many.

As a result of this and the overall decline in popularity, the Heavyweight division no longer has the top athletes in the world. For example, look at the 70's. You see a fighter like Ken Norton who looked liked a machine. I mean "no homo", but the dude was ripped. Now, what about his son. His son Ken Norton Jr. (3-time superbowl champ) forego any ideas into entering boxing and choose to play professional football. The heavyweight division has to compete with other sports, such as the NFL, in recruiting top athletes and because the NFL is sooo popular and boxing is not, most kids focus on playing football rather than boxing. Most kids now-a-days rather be Ray Lewis than Lennox Lewis.

 

How about blaming Burger King?

It ****ed James Toney up

 

People have seen over the years what happened to Ali, Jerry Quarry, Meldrick Taylor, etc. The risk vs. reward is greater in other, less dangerous sports. Also, the same old greedy promoters, managers, heck, even fighters. De La Hoya, Hopkins, Mosely, the Klitschkos, are all in the promotional arena now. I'm relieved that Wlad-Iggy fight is going to be on regular HBO. Some fans are being priced out of the sport with rampant pay per views.

 

Excellent post! There's your reasons right there.

 

:rofl

 

You are so correct.

There is less incentive for 200+ lb athletes to go into boxing these days. If you are a stud athlete, you play other major sports. Besides, even if you are good in boxing, there is so much politics involved. Other sports give you a much better chance of getting that big pay day.

 

don king

 

The lack of americans and brits is what's ****ed it up.

The main boxing public don't want to see eastern europeans battling it out.

 

Race is not an issue. The lack of talent is. The best athletes that are 200lbs are growing up following other sports. The fact that boxing has less appeal today than it did decades ago plays a role. Young kids no longer strive to be Ali but strive to be Kobe or Vick.

The money is in other sports.

 

It's an issue amongst boxing fans though.

If Valuev was 'Chad McCheeseburger' and Klitschko was 'Troy Simpson', both from USA, they'd have much bigger profiles and a much bigger following.

 

It's not an issue IMO. If some Russian guy flashed Tyson abilities and was knocking guys out left and right in devastating fashion, he would get a good following.

 

Let me add that i'm not saying race has no effect. I just think it's minimal. If Wlad was American, of course he would get a bigger following in the states. But he has no other top contender to really build up that hype. He's clearly the best HW right now.

 

Its a combination of things, low talent level, postponements, and lack of personality among the top heavyweights. Guys like Maskaev, Vitali, and Chagaev rather sit out for several months, sometimes even years before there willing to fight again. I also think most if not all of the title holders lack personality, Iggy I could barely understand what the hell he's trying to say, Maskaev is a quiet guy, Wlad is boring to listen to, and Chagaev is all of the above. We need a guy like a Tyson or Jones who could promote a fight with his fists and his mouth, which would bring the average guy back into watching heavyweight boxing again IMO.