Why The Obsession With Heavyweights ?

[Seamus]

There hasen't been a truly exciting one since Mike Tyson was in his prime. The division has more letdown fights than any other by a wide margin. It's had more out of shape fighters than all others combined. And even when the fights are good, they fall short of watching the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Hagler, Duran, Whitaker, Chavez, Galaxy, Chang etc. The skill, speed, stamina found in the lower weights is so vastly superior, that quite often it just makes the HW division look downright boring. And yet we keep getting the same old pointless threads about HW belt holders and fringe contenders who put you to sleep faster than Nyquil.

[Bricks]

Watch even a mid level HW fight like the recent Audley Harrison-Michael Sprott one on a 50 inch High definition TV like i did.......and watch the whole fight.

The outcome will tell you why the HW is king.
Things like that mostly only happen in a HW fight more than other divisions.

When you watch a HW fight ringside it truly is exhilirating and HD on a large TV has truly recreated that ringside feeling especially when the HD signal is good and the referees are trained to stop walking in front of cameras.
That said Dave Coyle was terrible in doing that in the aforementioned match. The idiot ruined the first two rounds and ESPN camerwork is much better than SKYS.

[The Great John L]

Watch even a mid level HW fight like the recent Audley Harrison-Michael Sprott one on a 50 inch High definition TV like i did.......and watch the whole fight.

The outcome will tell you why the HW is king.
Things like that mostly only happen in a HW fight more than other divisions.

When you watch a HW fight ringside it truly is exhilirating and HD on a large TV has truly recreated that ringside feeling especially when the HD signal is good and the referees are trained to stop walking in front of cameras.
That said Dave Coyle was terrible in doing that in the aforementioned match. The idiot ruined the first two rounds and ESPN camerwork is much better than SKYS.

I have an HD projector and a 100" screen, and watching old, fat and slow fighters is even more painful with a large HD picture.

BTW, it's much more entertaining to watch a fight card live and in person, even if you don't have the best seats. Meeting the fighters, trainers, promoters, etc and talking to them isn't really possible with a TV, and the crowd reactions are quite a bit more enjoyable when you're sitting in the arena and taking part.

Unfortunately, there aren't very many of fight cards held any more so sometimes you have to be grateful for the TV broadcasts.

[Seamus]

So watching Audley Harrison on the big screen or at ringside makes him less boring.

[dempseyfire]

I love the lower weight classes, but when a HW fight is good (VERY rare nowadays) it is very good, due to the fact that one punch can change the outcome in a split second.

I disagree about Holyfield being the last exciting HW. IMO it was the average but exciting Lamon Brewster.

Brewster-Ettienne, Brewster-Klitschko 1, Brewster-Meehan, Brewster-Krasniqi, Brewster-Lyakovich . . those were exciting fights to watch b.c of his big punch, awful defense, and tremondous heart. Ever since the eye surgery though he's simply become a journeyman-gatekeeper.

[Bricks]

Watch even a mid level HW fight like the recent Audley Harrison-Michael Sprott one on a 50 inch High definition TV like i did.......and watch the whole fight.

The outcome will tell you why the HW is king.
Things like that mostly only happen in a HW fight more than other divisions.

When you watch a HW fight ringside it truly is exhilirating and HD on a large TV has truly recreated that ringside feeling especially when the HD signal is good and the referees are trained to stop walking in front of cameras.
That said Dave Coyle was terrible in doing that in the aforementioned match. The idiot ruined the first two rounds and ESPN camerwork is much better than SKYS.

I have an HD projector and a 100" screen, and watching old, fat and slow fighters is even more painful with a large HD picture.

BTW, it's much more entertaining to watch a fight card live and in person, even if you don't have the best seats. Meeting the fighters, trainers, promoters, etc and talking to them isn't really possible with a TV, and the crowd reactions are quite a bit more enjoyable when you're sitting in the arena and taking part.

Unfortunately, there aren't very many of fight cards held any more so sometimes you have to be grateful for the TV broadcasts.

lol you havent been to a british fight crowd than! The crowd is full of aggressive lager louts and football hooligans. You rarely get to meet any fight figures let alone talk to them over the drunken chants, plus security wont allow it. Seating in a place like the York Hall was the pits.

Im not saying being there isnt more real. All im saying is that large HD tvs have revoloutionised the sport on TV more so than any other sport.

So watching Audley Harrison on the big screen or at ringside makes him less boring.

Any boxing match is more alive when you are physically a few feet away at ringside. Ditto a large HD TV does bring more of that life into the living room than the old tube ones.

That Last Harrison-Sprott fight was actually a very tense and dramatic affair , not in terms of the action during the first 11 rounds, which wasnt of a decent standard, and didnt feature HWs anywhere near the top 20. But what did make it exciting for the British viewer was, it was the last chance saloon for the former Olympic Gold medalist. At 38 and after 10 years of derision, Harrison was being publicly emasculated piece by piece by Sprott. The last round was to be the final nail in the coffin...and than out of nowhere and with one arm rendered useless, Audley produced a dramatic storybook finish with one punch. All of the audience immediately gasped and sprung to their feet so obviously the people at ringside didnt find it that boring!

[IKSRTFO]

Watching two 250lb guys throw 10 punches and then lean on one another because their tired is not my idea of entertaining. The heavyweight division is not even half of what it used to be. If you really want a difference to compare, watch any Holyfield-Bowe and then watch today's heavyweights after and you will clearly see they're now just a bunch of oversized guys who could get down to 215lbs and thow 90 punches around but are too lazy to do so. At any point in time, choose either the Middleweight or Welterweight division and I can show you an exciting fight.

[The Great John L]

Watching two 250lb guys throw 10 punches and then lean on one another because their tired is not my idea of entertaining. The heavyweight division is not even half of what it used to be. If you really want a difference to compare, watch any Holyfield-Bowe and then watch today's heavyweights after and you will clearly see they're now just a bunch of oversized guys who could get down to 215lbs and thow 90 punches around but are too lazy to do so. At any point in time, choose either the Middleweight or Welterweight division and I can show you an exciting fight.

Ali and Frazier had more energy in the last round of the FOTC than any current HW has in the second round of their fights.

[Cyclops]

lol you havent been to a british fight crowd than! The crowd is full of aggressive lager louts and football hooligans. You rarely get to meet any fight figures let alone talk to them over the drunken chants, plus security wont allow it. Seating in a place like the York Hall was the pits.

I love the atmosphere of a British boxing crowd. It can be very aggressive and it feels like trouble could break out at any moment. In fact, it does break out. In my experience of big fights security is totally outnumbered and wisely let people get on with a lot of stuff they wouldn't tolerate from other crowds, so there is a lawlessness. A lot of people would see that as a negative thing and I guess they would be right, but there is a lot of energy there and it's hard not to get swept up in it. It's very, very exciting to be at a big match over here. However, I have come straight home and found the fight on Youtube before!

Oh yeah, Why the obsession with heavyweights?

Well we all want to know who the best fighter in the world is. Yeah, you've got the p4p guys, but stick Manny in the ring with Vitali Klitschko and Manny's not going to hurt him. That's why they have to use the prefix 'pound for pound'. Vitali lands on Manny and it's all over. So the heavyweight champ is the 'baddest man on the planet.' It's not just because people love a big lump- Tyson was little for a heavy but everyone loved him; Harry Greb was 5'8" but held his own with a lot of heavies- it's the guy that can kick EVERYONE'S arse that people are so fascinated with.

[The End]

I believe people are fascinated with heavyweights because they are considered to be the "baddest" of them all.

An example would be Pacquiao being great in his weight class but a Klitschko would crush him.

[Seamus]

Valuev and Ruiz would take Leonard and Hearns in a fight, but would you really rather watch them.

[Ambling Alp]

I believe people are fascinated with heavyweights because they are considered to be the "baddest" of them all.

An example would be Pacquiao being great in his weight class but a Klitschko would crush him.

Yes, currently the heavyweight division is the "baddest" of them all. :)

[Counter-puncher]

There hasen't been a truly exciting one since Mike Tyson was in his prime. The division has more letdown fights than any other by a wide margin. It's had more out of shape fighters than all others combined. And even when the fights are good, they fall short of watching the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Hagler, Duran, Whitaker, Chavez, Galaxy, Chang etc. The skill, speed, stamina found in the lower weights is so vastly superior, that quite often it just makes the HW division look downright boring. And yet we keep getting the same old pointless threads about HW belt holders and fringe contenders who put you to sleep faster than Nyquil.

good post seamus, i have rejected the assumption that I am supposed to be more interested in the heavyweights.

[The Great John L]

I believe people are fascinated with heavyweights because they are considered to be the "baddest" of them all.

An example would be Pacquiao being great in his weight class but a Klitschko would crush him.

No, a Klitschko would probably jab and clinch through 12 boring rounds with Pacman. Of course Wlad would be admonished by Manny to step it up and finish the little bastard, but once Pacman started throwing punches, Wlad would resort back to clinching.

[zojo]

I'll add a bit of a twist to this.

When two heavyweights weigh-in the day before the match, they will actually weight close to what they will come fight night. What you see with the big guys is what you get. There is a bit more....shall I say....honesty?

Anytime a big fight comes about between a couple of junior welterweights, we obsess over not only what they weigh on the scales the day before, but how many weightclasses they have bumped up from the time they weigh in until they climb into the ring.

A heavyweight will always fight another heavyweight. A Heavyweight will always be a heavyweight.

However, a junior welterweight on the scales may be a middle weight come fight time.

That 140 lbs. belt may be contested by one boxer who weighs 160 against another weighing 145.

[Diamond WEAPON]

Very true Zojo... And people are forgetting that when there's a HW slugfest, there's not much that can match it. Arreola-Walker may not have involved any titles but it was a damn exciting fight, with both guys winging shots that could kill an average joe. Other good examples of exciting fights between big men are Brewster-Krasniqi, Bewster-Liakhovich, Lewis-Klitschko, and Peter-Maskaev.

Another interesting point to ponder is that with the advent of weight draining nowadays you have guys at SMW and LHW who enter the ring weighing as much as many of the old time great HWs. For instance Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson weighed 190 and 188 respectively on fight night.

[Ambling Alp]

Anyway, it's disappointing that there isn't more talk about other weight didvisions. I mean do we really need to have "fantasy" fights about people like Pete Radamcher, Audley Harrison, Chuck Wepner, Bert Cooper etc?

I think that people that are obsessed with heavyweights are missing out. There have been so many great fights and great fighters in other divisions that are far more interesting to watch and talk about than most heavyweights.

It's too bad when someone comes up with an interesting thread about something that isn't about heavyweights it usually gets comments only from a handful of us.

[Seamus]

Reminds me of the time back in the late 80's when a guy I knew told me that Mike Tyson just might be the greatest fighter who ever lived. The time before that he told me he only really watches Heavyweight Championship fights.

[Diamond WEAPON]

Anyway, it's disappointing that there isn't more talk about other weight didvisions. I mean do we really need to have "fantasy" fights about people like Pete Radamcher, Audley Harrison, Chuck Wepner, Bert Cooper etc?

I think that people that are obsessed with heavyweights are missing out. There have been so many great fights and great fighters in other divisions that are far more interesting to watch and talk about than most heavyweights.

It's too bad when someone comes up with an interesting thread about something that isn't about heavyweights it usually gets comments only from a handful of us.

Absolutely, it's something that bothers me as a fan of the current scene as well. People don't seem to give a damn about boxing outside of the Heavyweights and the "I fought De La Hoya" crew.