Would boxing be better off without the jr and super divisions?

Good topic. I do think it gets a little convoluted especially at the lower weights. One division that I am glad was added is Cruiserweight. It is traditionally not a popular division with the general public but for hardcore fans it has been good for the sport especially nowadays with with current size of heavyweights.

The gap in size between 175 and modern heavyweights is to great.

 

Not really as fighting should be as fair as possible, the closer we can get them weighing something like the better IMO.

 

I would lose Straw, Jr. Fly, Super Fly, Super Bantam, Super middle and Cruiser. Most of these were created to simply further line the pockets of the alphabet orgs. It was never meant for the betterment of boxing. I would keep jr. light, jr. welter and jr. middle for their deeper historical value. Cruiser, I felt, helped create the monster heavyweight who spends more time at the free-weight gym and the pharmacy. Back in the '70s we had heavies who were trying to get lighter to work on speed and stamina.

 

I respectfully disagree with your thoughts on the Cruiserweight division. Sure we had much smaller Heavyweights in the 70's but that was the same case for other sports as well. Look at NFL lineman from the 70's compared to now. How about the NBA? Athletes are bigger and stronger now without question. The Cruiserweight division of today has some has some really good fighters in it that have the speed and power of the guys from the 70's. It just is not a popular division with the general public.

 

I can agree with you to a point. But if the goalposts weren't moved, thus creating the monster heavyweight, would the faster 200 lber still dominate? It is very possible. Thus, no need for the cruisers (and no need to visit the pharmaceuticals). It would be simply heavyweight. Again, this was not for the betterment of the sport, this was to create more sanctioning fees.

 

No. All that needs to change is the number of belts.

 

I think so. But I don't think there's ever been a time where there wasn't arguments over weights and other nonsense.

It's hard to say because it's not really been tried, before those divisions existed the limits of the main divisions were much less fixed

 

Do you really believe that guys like Lennox Lewis, Bowe, Klitscho, Joshua etc don't belong in a separate weight class from guys like Marciano, Dempsey, Louis, Frazier, Patterson, Ali? Those guys are all 6'5 or more and are naturally bigger men. I'm not saying that there isn't super heavyweights that have used steroids but those guys are without question naturally bigger men. To me having a Cruiserweight division gives us a division that puts an emphasis on the speed and power combination that we saw back in the golden age of the sport. Sure we have guys every once in awhile like Uysk that have the talent to compete against much bigger men but for the most part, guys that are 6'1 or less that walk around at 210 or so are at an extreme disadvantage against a 6'7 250 pound Fury or Joshua.

I for one want to see guys like Docotos and Breidis competing on an even playing field.

 

Even now, with 17 weight classes, people complain about some being bigger than others. It is what it is.
Boxing has to reduce the number of weight classes AND reorganize how weigh ins are done.
Do the weight pass. Do rehydration tests. 30, 14 and 7 days before weigh ins.

 

I agree with both these points.

People have always complained about the weights being a mess and I can't stress enough how much I want them to get rid of at least 2 of the belts.

As for weights, they could get rid of all Super/Junior divisions but there's 2/3 I think there's an excellent case for keeping. Minimumweight can stay based on getting rid of LFly, that way there's a clear name for the bottom division and easy for casuals to recognise. The next is Super-Middleweight, as the weight gets higher obviously diminishing returns and each individual punch has a bigger effect. I say keep this division based on somebody's safety. For example, if they can't make middleweight properly, they move up, they'll then be undersized against guys a stone heavier when it starts to become more dangerous. Same logic applies with Cruiserweight, although after about 190lbs they diminishing starts to even out to a more fair playing field.

So for me, they should really only keep 3 of them and even then I wouldn't be overly arsed if they ****ed them off too. What they SHOULD do is go back to same-day weigh ins.

 

It is hard to say. Would Pryor have been as good a fighter at 135? 147 was too high for him. So who knows. I think boxing would be best with one title that is for sure. Imagine the competition level at that point and winning multiple titles in many weights?

 

The additional divisions are positive overall. It does make it easier for fighters to win multiple belts. It’s not a big deal.

Too many fighters today still boil down to lower weights and rehydrate to much higher weights to get an advantage. There is no reason to do it these days with all of the classes but you know why they do it. A 10 or 20lb+ advantage can be dangerous, especially at lower weights. I still think they should enforce a max weight limit differential of 10 lbs at all weights except HW. Same day weigh-ins like the amateurs would solve this problem. I know there are several good reasons to oppose this but fighters should fight at their natural weight. Lots of different weight classes these days so there is no excuse.