Will Cruiserweight never be a money division?

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To answer your question, I don't know. But I think there's a guy called Nyika Who's an Aussie based fighter now who fights at Cruiserweight. He's a good up and comer.

 

Yeah it has never been a big money division even though it's a division that has produced some great fights. I remember the build up for Jirov Vs Toney. Every hard-core fight fan couldn't wait for that fight but it was a lost fight to the general public and not a money maker. Hell, the fight couldn't even sell out Foxwoods which is a small arena let alone be a pay per view.

Come to think of it, it is one of the few divisions that has never had a a big time pay per view fight.

 

It's just too close to heavy. Look at Opetaia--people are speculating about a heavyweight run when had had his jaw busted an arguably lost to Briedis. But, he's a good cruiser, so the push is there to get him up to heavy.

 

Cruiser is a journey divison, not a destination division.

 

People enjoy watching giants such as Fury, Joshua, Wilder etc. fighting relatively smaller opponents like Usyk, Ruiz etc. Either the big guy will smash the little one, or the small guy will somehow manage to beat the giant. And the possibility of the latter is more thrilling and exciting.

 

Yes, it is completely fair. That's just how the real world is. A cruiser, who decides to compete at heavyweight, has made his own choice, no one forces him. You could then ask, is it fair, that your neighbor is a boss and earns thrice as you do. Stay safe.

 

Funny, I just want to add, that roughly before 1980, approx. 98 % of ranked heavyweights fighters could have fought in the cruiserweight division. Larry Holmes around 210 pounds, Liston, 210 pounds, Ron Lyle, between 211 to 220 pounds, Ali, in 1967 at the Mildenberger fight, 204 pounds if memory don't fail me. Bonavena, Frazier, Quarry, all of those best weight were under 206 pounds...

 

You are correct. Even guys that were thought of as huge like Sonny Liston were not far from the 200 pound mark. We can say this about every sport though especially football and baseball. I saw an article recently about how the great Washington Redskin offensive line from the 80's had an average weight of 280. Nowadays the average OL is 320. Human beings are simply bigger now than what they were decades ago and with all the hormones and **** our food is injected with, it's no wonder. Then again, I can remember stories from my grandmother about what they had to eat growing up during the great depression. It wasn't much.

 

Haye made nice coin out of it. Filled the O2 vs Enzo. Creamed in the money vs Bellew albeit billed as hw contests.

 

The only ranked heavyweight from the 1970' who probably couldn't dehydrate down to the cruiserweight division was George Foreman. Accordingly his best weight was 229-230, but Saddler made him dehydrate. Foreman was a true superheavyweight. For crying out loud, Ali in his prime, at the Cooper rematc, was 201,5 pounds.... And Ali was considered big for his time in the 60'.

 

Cruiserweight will never, ever be a major money division or stacked with elite talent. Those few times this has actually happened have been rare exceptions that lasted for a few years at most

Simply put, fighters cut weight for every single division in boxing... except heavyweight. This concerns both dieting and water weight. So if you're in a position, due to your bone dimensions, where you need to cut weight to be a cruiserweight, you're simply going to fight at heavyweight, which is vastly more profitable. Even if you've got no hope of being a heavyweight champ, the money between being a contender or gatekeeper at heavyweight is going to be better than 99% of cruiserweights, but without draining weight-cuts. I'm sure there are 175ers and even 168ers who come into the ring at slightly 200+, but no one is going to be a serious force in the heavyweight division at a lean, fully-hydrated 203lbs. Yes, there are historical exceptions, but there is usually a historical content to go alongside this. RJJ probably wouldn't have troubled Lennox, let's be honest. So if you walk around at 220lbs, you're probably going to be a heavyweight

I would also argue that the other side of the equation is true, with 175 being more profitable than cruiserweight. It's similar to guys whose optimum weight might be 130 or 140, fighting at 135 or 147 instead. The days of 8 divisions might be over, but the glamour divisions STILL retain a deep cultural pull. Once again, there are exceptions - in the UK, for example, 168 is probably better known than 160, due to the coincidence of us having generation after generation of super middleweight talent

I'm sure people can pick holes in my reasoning, but the phenomenology is not up for date: cruiserweight, both historically and today, has mainly served as a training ground for smaller heavyweights, raiding pasture for middleweights/light heavyweights, and is heavily populated by either lesser-known boxing cultures or amateurs-first boxing cultures, like Africa and Eastern Europe respectively. I've always thought Povetkin could've been a title holder, perhaps even unified, at cruiserweight, if he dieted a little and underwent a water-cut, but he probably would've made much less $$$ if he did

EDIT: the unofficial existence of the super heavyweight division should, in theory, provide more fuel for the cruiserweight division, but it really hasn't. There have been great cruiserweight champs and even cruiserweights who've had success at heavyweight (Povetkin-Huck, anyone?), but comparing cruiserweight to super middleweight, one of them has been vastly deeper, more often and for longer, and it isn't CW

 

Tbh winning a close decision against Briedis is nothing to be a shamed of. Briedis, even undersized, would give many top heavys run for their money.

 

I agree to an extent. I love the guy, but he has still chosen to spend most of his career at cruiser.

 

The future Tony Yoka of the CW division.