Im a huge fan of teh heavyweight division and Wlad Klitschko, and would love nothing more than for him to unify the division. But on reflecting the situation why do people constantly talk about unification when there arte similar situations in other divisions where there is a fighter who is considered 'THE MAN' but hasnt unified ... for example -- Floyd, p4p no.1 fighter ... nobody is screaming for him to beat Cintron ! ..... Hatton undisputed best light-welter in the world, but nobody is screaming out for him to unify the titles .... you could pick an example in most divisions. BUT for some reason people wont recognise Wlad as 'the man' until he has unified the titles ... i find this kind of hypercritical from so-called boxing fans ...
On the other divisions you can always see who's the lineal Champ. Hatton beat Kostya. Mayweather beat Baldomir, who should have been undisputed (but didn't pay the fee), Pavlik beat Taylor that beat Hopkins, etc. In the HW division, Lennox Lewis retired, so there's no real Champ. However, Wlad and Sultan will unify. I think the winner should be considered the Champ.
Because in a perfect world there wouldn't be at least 4 guys who can all claim to be "the Man" at Heavyweight. I do see your point though.........................all serious boxing fans realize that Klitschko is the top of the food chain.
Yes, but Kostya wasnt unified champ before Hatton beat him, but was still regardded as 'the man' at that weight ... thats my point ..
Kostya unified. The corrupt sanctioning bodies stripped him, but he was still the Champ in everyone's eyes.
The Klitschko vs. Iggy fight should cement who THE CHAMP is. Maskeav and Chageav have held the belts for an eternity and for health reasons have done NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their own inactivity has removed them from any discussion as to who the champ is. Oh wait, in the 1 plus year maskeav has held the belt at least he gave us a much needed title defence against Peter Okello (Oh hell no)!
History has shown that over the past hundred years when there is a strong and dominant heavyweight champion boxing tends to be popular with the fans. Other than a few big money fights boxing is in decline, especially at the club level, and the of lack leadership from a true heavyweight champion might have something to do with it.
I partially agree. -Maskaev has no credibility at all. -Chagaev killed the momentum he had created with wins over Ruiz and Valuev.
Most people only know of the Heavyweights and big name Fighters from other divisions. When boxing is at it's best - it's usually because we have a Real Heavyweight Champ that is known around the world. Most people who aren't boxing fan will watch a Heavyweight Championship Fight between the Real Champ and his challenger - before they would watch a Middleweight Championship Fight. When the Heavies are doing good - the sport does even better. Just imagine what this year could have been if we had some very good Heavies to mix it up.
I stand corrected. Ok, what about somebody like Floyd, who as far as i am aware hasnt unified the titles in any division, but has been regarded as 'the man' in every division he has competed in.
Don't forget about the Lineal title. Mayweather beat G. Hernandez, who had beaten Azumah Nelson. Mayweather beat Castillo, who beat Stevie Johnston and Bazan. Then he beat Baldomir, who should have been Undisputed at 147, though he didn't pay the fees. IMO, the Lineal title is more important than meaningless belts. By the way, Mayweather did unify at 130, or at least he beat other beltholders. He was WBC champ and beat Corrales, who had the WBO belt. Then, at 147, he beat Judah (who had the IBF belt) and then beat Baldomir (who had the WBC belt). The problem at Heavyweight is that there isn't lineage because Lewis retired. People want the belts to be unified (at least two or three) because that will establish a new Champ.
True, Floyd hasn't officially won a unification fight, but as the other poster said, he beat the linear champ, for better or for worse. Now Floyd is not only recognized as the welter to beat, but the best in the whole sport! For now, he seems unbeatable , but you can't say the same for Wlad. The big guy either wins overwheamingly or gets KTFO, you never know what will happen with Wlad. Floyd is a more stable presence than Wlad, and generally is considered "the man". Wlad seems to be the best of a inconsistant and mediocre bunch, but his reign is shaky. In contrast, there seems to be no one who can beat Floyd, even though his opposistion is far superior to Wlads.
Again Asterion i see your point .... How about this scenario then, Calzaghe retires ... Kessler will then be the seen as 'the man' at smw having never beat anybody with any sort of lineage. If Kessler won just one of the titles, he would widely be recognised as the best SMW in the world and i guarantee there wouldnt be as much pressure on him to unify like people are putting on wlad.
For someone to be the champ in my eyes they need to be the man who beat the man ie win the title from the linear champ, since there wasnt an opportunity to do that in the heavyweight division due to lewis retiring, someone has to beat all other title holders in order to create a new "man". Only then will we see progress.
:good I think boxing is not in decline, anymore, and is starting to make somewhat of a comeback. And part of the reason why the sport has been in such a deep lull, is partly due to, as you said, cause the flagship division, the heavies, has no MAN to rally behind. But they are about to start to correct that situation, come February. :good