Why is being a 'insert x' division world champion a compliment?

Well it's not nothing either.

But I largely agree with your sentiment -- the lower divisions are ridiculous in how close they all are, and it seems near meaningless. It's particularly funny seeing the weight divisions in kilos (as opposed to lb), as only 1-2 kg separates them in the lighter divisions.

And don't feel sorry for the heavies -- everyone with any sense knows heavies are the real champions of the world anyway: try placing greats like Floyd in the ring with generic heavies like Christian Hammer or Bryant Jennings.

That said, Pacquiao went from the 112 belt to the 154 belt. That's a huge weight difference, and I think Pacquiao deserves a lot of respect for that. In comparison, moving from 126 to 130 is trivial and I don't care about it.

 

Heavyweights can be outweighed by 50 pounds in their own weight class like fury/Wilder. No need to be a multi division champ when you are fighting the biggest men out there already

 

Think about how carefully fighters go up in weight if they chose to do so and there's your answer. As an example, look how Lomachenko is already starting to look a lot more vulnerable at 135. At 140, he gets killed.

 

6'8" 270 pounds of born and bred fighting man

it's glorious.

 

A Fury fan who actually acknowledges Fury isn’t 6”9. Good job miniq.

 

It gets relative as weights increase and everyone recognises that.

So a guy can be champ at STW, LFLW, FLW and SFLW and he wouldn't necessarily get any more credit than a guy who was champ at WW and MW. In fact he'd almost certainly get less credit.

 

120 to 135 is a more difficult climb than 147 to 160. That's a higher percentage of a man's bodyweight.

 

I see your point however the heavyweight division is still the most prestigious in my humble opinion.

 

Fawning over men's physical stature is not really my cup of tea

 

I don't think that automatically makes it a tougher climb

 

Law of diminishing returns. The bigger you are, the less impact 1 pound weight disadvantage has.

 

Going from 120 to 135 is not only more weight absolutely but also proportionately to the starting weight. Why would going from 147 to 160 be tougher?

 

I get that part of it but it sounds like a theory that only works in a vacuum. Does the historical data actually back that up? I'd be interested in knowing

 

Wilfredo Gomez couldn't even handle a 4 pound climb. When you are a very small man those pounds make a big difference.