Why are the highly-ranked heavyweights so reluctant to fight?

Fury has taken the division hostage and set back the calendar. Wilder needed to fight someone this summer but doesn't appear it's going to happen. Don't think it's smart for him to go 14 months off at his age and directly to Joshua.

Joshua/Whyte is not an appealing fight. Usyk/Dubois is a horrible fight. Hrgovic also has gone cold for no apparent reason.

Has been a terrible year for the division. Fury is a PoS.

 

Everyone seems to be waiting on Fury the ****ing greedy belly Manc ****.

 

MONEY, sanctioning bodies, MONEY, promoters, contractual obligations, MONEY, more Belts than that picture of Roy Jones Jr wearing all those belts I saw a few years ago, MONEY, WBA, WBC, IBF and WBOGUS, and Silver, Super, Interum, MONEY. So much more of this crap I’m tired of typing it and MONEY.

 

Or as Mr Holmes once said “Let me cut a long story short, M O N E Y.

 

What we need is a ranking system that rewards wins more than it penalizes losses.

There will always be the money and the politics and the aging fighters clinging to the belt as long as they can but if we actually rewarded fighters for getting in the ring, some of them would. Then we could reward them.

 

Due to greed for big money, fighters like Hrgovic, Wallin, Makhmudov, Bakole, etc. will fight for less money because they want to prove themselves, proven fighters are privileged and protected, if necessary they can fast for years without fighting and nobody will do anything about it...

 

I think they have become lazy. All are rich, with no hunger and no desire to create a legacy.

I'll forgive Ortiz though who must be in his 80's now.

 

Poor promotions, especially for Euro/Eurasian fighters

 

If we just consider the top 4:

- They are all 33-37

- They have all made tens of millions

- They have all been champions with long reigns

Fighting risks the loss of status (which you accrue over a career) but also health (physical and mental, moreso when you've taken a lot of punishment already) and boxers can get bored of boxing, especially after a long career. If the money isn't right, boxers generally won't fight. And as a boxer makes more, succeeds more and takes more damage, he demands more, which makes fights harder to make.

 

The division is stagnated with few exceptions. By not having the top two fight it causes a ripple effect through the rankings. It’s a shame since there are so many good fights to be made.

 

Sanctioning bodies do not penalize inactivity or reward being active. A fighter should be dropped in the ratings the longer he doesn't fight.

 

There are enough casual fans world wide that they can fight mismatches and get paid well for it. Legacy doesn't unscramble your brain.

 

I’ve long said that you should have 6 months to defend your title or get stripped of it. can’t do that? too bad, you can always fight for it again and win it if you’re that good

the amount of whining that Fury did when the IBF ordered the mandatory after he beat Wlad, you can bet he’d finally get his arse in gear if the title was taken away from him