The division would be weaker than its ever been.....it's not that Wilders that bad or Joshua's that bad but right now they've lost 4 of their last 6, 5 if you include Wilders first fight with Fury. Whytes been smashed. Lost two of last three. Povetkin is gone. Ruiz nearly lost to Arreola....Ortiz is an old exposed guy. Joe Parker? Already lost to Joshua. Lost to Whyte. He's doing nothing. Wilder and Joshuas most recent wins (Pulev and some other guy) are nowhere. Pulev lost his last fight FFS. Hrgovic is very very average. I thought Zhang beat him yesterday.. Zhang is also poor. That leaves Sanchez from Cuba. And Joe Joyce, who basically already lost to Usyk in the Super Whatevers. Not good.
This may sound a little harsh but nobody has really given a shit about the hw since Tyson retired. Now days it's a spectable(championship fights) like the superbowl where casuals tune in to hopefully see a brutal knockout. I doubt Cuban born Sanchez or Herzgovic have a big fan base other than nationalistic fans tuning in to watch their country men... you'll always have those type of fans like the Aussie fans that flew half way around the world to watch Tzsu fight in Vegas. My point is that you'd have a hard time finding boxing fans that follow the HW division closely as they do other talented stacked divisions like 147 and 135. Probably for the reasons you pointed out. No dominant champ that stands out, average fighters who's careers are going nowhere fast. No excitement.
Yeah but there was always anticipation.....of something ...now there's literally 2 fighters and 1 fight I remember Tua, Lewis, Rahman, Holyfield, Tyson, Vitali, around 1999 and people said that was not great.
Well, Well, Another Klitschko APOLOGIST Thread…Figured One was Coming Soooon! Sans Fury/Usyk, the Division Would STILL Be More Watchable Than it Was When Your KLIT Licking Ass was MOST Interested in the Division… Joshua-Wilder Won’t MEAN Shit, But Motherfuckers WILL Watch, UNDOUBTEDLY…Just As They’ll Watch Ortiz-Ruiz, Wilder-Helenius… Just Like They’d Watch Wilder-Ruiz, Joshua-Ortiz…Or Whyte-Wilder…Or Other Fights… “Noice” Try at Pushing a LAME Ass Agenda Though… REED
Thats a pretty weird thread. For sure if you remove the 2 best fighters (or at the very worst, two of the three best), the division will suck massively. But theres nothing (bar fury coke fuelled twitter drivels) to suggest it will happen anytime soon
Take Lewis and Holyfield out in 1999 and the division explodes into relevant fights. Tua, Rahman, Grant, the distinct possibility that Tyson wins the title, Roy and Toney are emergent by 2002, 2003. Byrd, Klitschkos, Ruiz, Johnson. A huge raft of meaningful fights - with the US audience still interested - present themslelves. 4, 5of the above went on to be champions. All the underclass today are badly exposed already. Mostly by the champs. In many cases by each other. They're not just falling apart at the upper reaches, they've fallen apart trying to get there. Joe Parker is a top 10 contender with two losses to two other top 10 contenders. Andy Ruiz is a FORMER CHAMP with a loss to.... JOE PARKER Today the chances of a Parker vs Ruiz rematch? Pretty slim. In 1999, guys were ready to assume the mantle. I remember big glossy articles in Ring Magazine about who it might be. In fact, they would go on to prove themselves in big fights. Byrd beat Vitali, Vitali went hard with Lewis, Rahman beat Lewis, Ruiz and Toney beat Holyfield etc. Today, the second biggest fight in the division is Loser Leaves Town. Just think about that. Literal has beens. Helenius vs Wilder is an elimination bout for one half of the Loser Leaves Town Lollapallooza. Will people watch? Of course. People will watch a demolition derby. But from a boxing viewpoint its winner gets a reprieve and loser leaves town. Certain dummies can't distinguish between meaningful bouts and exciting bouts. They're all exciting but they're all damaged goods. There's no King in Waiting. Maybe like Tyson in '86 somebody will just emerge but i dont see it.
WVlad and VIT-Uuuuuh-LEE Wouldn’t Be Shit Without Your Incessant KLIT Licking… And Even Without Fury/Usyk, the Division Would Be INFINITELY More Watchable Than When Your Love Interests Ruled It… More Importantly, You KNOW This to Be True… REED
It’s a KLIT Licking Thread… The Irish Incel LITERALLY Has to Manufacture Ways to Insert Them Into Boxing Discussions… Simple As… REED
But yeah the heavies have been generally diabolical for years and there isn't much light in sight. The cruiserweight limit and weight draining hasn't helped the cause tbf, it's made cruiser an interesting division but further depleted the competition among the big lads.
Yeah REED, chill bruh. It's not that deep. Irish wasnt disrespectful in the way he opened the thread; plus, yeah the division is extremely weak outside of the top 4. We all know you beef with Irish, but if you wanna do so, just take it over to Fracture. He didn't instigate anything in this case.
It's all good Reed thinks I'm playing out an old beef. He won't let it go of course..he'll insist to the death that it's about Klitschko's. But it's nothing to do with Klitschko's. Vitali was loooong retired by 2016 and Wlad loses to Fury, there was no sense at all of vacuum....Wilder, Joshua, Fury, Joseph Plonker, were all still undefeated....the division was invigorated briefly. Even less of a vacuum when Joshua beat Klitschko. There was a feeling that AJ Vs Fury or Wilder were massive fights to be made. When the LL Vs Holyfield fight looked like it was never going to come off and then after the disastrous draw, Ring went and said that if Lewis and Holyfield just disappeared the Division would be able to pick up immediately where they left off. Specifically Tua, Byrd, Ibeabuchi, Rahman etc. Could that happen today?. Not a chance. Not a hope. Total retreads, damaged guys, and never-weres etc....
Hw is terrible and has been for years. Weird mix of skilless but athletic fighters and (reasonably) skillful but ponderous fighters.
This is a sort of inverted depression. If the two best guys retire, we don't get the next best 8 guys, we get the 8 worst guys, with many of the questions about them already answered.
Heres the thing, the top 2 are brilliant. I can't remember a time where both the top two threatened to walk away simultaneously and had zero interest in the rest of the division. The rest are fucking brutally bad, deluded, not interested, have.....weight issues etc.
Curious to see if the ponderous Slow Joe Joyce could just slowly march forward and out-last a exhausted Usyk in a 12-round pro fight
I don't think Usyk is brilliant. He would definitely be a contender in any era but he would not even be a paper champion, bare a fortunate set of circumstances, in a deep era. Fury would be at, or very near, the top no matter the period he fought in. I don't think he would be cream of the crop but his size and mobility could carry him to a win or two against ATG.
He's my guy now. I think he can wrest control but the issue is this:- can he apply the same dour pressure he does with everyone to a Usyk or Fury? He's level-headed, clearly has and trusts his own chin and has monotonous clubbing power. Right now I think he'd be no worse than 50-50 vs AJ and Wilder.
Perhaps USYK is not "Great" , as in ATG. But he's shown the best hands since Holyfield and he's the best Cruiser-Crossover since Holyfield. He'd have stopped Haye. Done a bette job with him than Wlad or Valuev.
Slow Joe Joyce, i think in my mind, fights at such a slothy pace, that he actually has a full 12 round gas-tank unlike AJ, and so I can see a 260 lb Joyce ponderously leaning on Usyk for 10 rounds and getting a come from behind KO in the 11th or 12th round
The thing Joyce Vs AJ does 50,000 in the UK but AJ will never do it. He's had 1 big at British level and Joyce has had 1 too, a better one , Vs Dithering Daniel DuBois
....that have already been exposed or lost to one another, bar Joyce and the Cuban, that's the thing.