What the appeal?

[ttornado]

I don't get the appeal of heavyweights.

Knockouts and history

[littlepug]

the problem with todays lot is that they are just too bloody big to be athletic enough and busy enough to look impressive, so they have invented this 2 punch/hold/push down way of fighting and lets be honest it aint pretty, the smaller guys cant get to the bigger ones so no one ends up engaging and to be fair they all look frightened to death of getting hit anyway, bottom line is the heavyweight division as a leading light is consigned to the history books and i suspect that is where it will stay.

[punchoutsb]

I don't get the appeal of heavyweights.

The current crop are generally unskilled, and even the ones who are skilled, they are light years behind the fighters at the lower weight classes.
Maybe it's because I'm also a big person, but I just don't get it.

There's all this hype behind heavies right now, and based on what? Wlad/Fury was one of the worst championship fights ever. Wilder's last fight looked like a middleweight prelim on FNF.

I just don't get it. People here hate Floyd and don't want to watch him, but are willing to watch Fury ... smh.

Given your disdain for violence, knockouts, and masculinity I'd have thought two lubed up big dudes hugging for 36 minutes would be right up your alley.

[Tony1244]

I don't get the appeal of heavyweights.

The current crop are generally unskilled, and even the ones who are skilled, they are light years behind the fighters at the lower weight classes.
Maybe it's because I'm also a big person, but I just don't get it.

There's all this hype behind heavies right now, and based on what? Wlad/Fury was one of the worst championship fights ever. Wilder's last fight looked like a middleweight prelim on FNF.

I just don't get it. People here hate Floyd and don't want to watch him, but are willing to watch Fury ... smh.

Given your disdain for violence, knockouts, and masculinity I'd have thought two lubed up big dudes hugging for 36 minutes would be right up your alley.

Regarding the above in bold, do you get very confused when a fight or event doesn't pan out exactly the way you predicted?

[crusader]

I understand the attraction to power (I generally favor punchers myself) and that this attribute is most strongly associated with HWs, but is the action at HW really that much less predictable than the action in most other divisions? At least since I've been following boxing (around 2001) I don't recall it featuring a relatively high number of 'wow I didn't expect that' moments.

And Fury has been mentioned multiple times, but he hasn't been in an action fight for nearly 3 years and seems to be (wisely imo) taking fewer chances as time passes, not to mention that unlike Wlad, a fighter regularly maligned for being boring, he doesn't have major power. Someone like relatively little Jorge Linares is consistently in more entertaining fights and has much more of 'anything could happen' feeling to him in my opinion, but hey, he's not 6 foot 7.

[greg]

"What the appeal"?

..pretty much simple...when the big guys go down..crash!bang!wallop! ...down they go...and everyone wants to see that...

[asdfjkl]

I don't get the appeal of heavyweights.

The current crop are generally unskilled, and even the ones who are skilled, they are light years behind the fighters at the lower weight classes.
Maybe it's because I'm also a big person, but I just don't get it.

There's all this hype behind heavies right now, and based on what? Wlad/Fury was one of the worst championship fights ever. Wilder's last fight looked like a middleweight prelim on FNF.

I just don't get it. People here hate Floyd and don't want to watch him, but are willing to watch Fury ... smh.

People just know, that no matter how skilled a dwarf is, he would never win against a heavyweight, whyle heavyweights would win against all other weightclasses. I understand that a mouse can do better tricks then an elephant, but it will never be as impressive.

[rd350lc]

"What the appeal"?

..pretty much simple...when the big guys go down..crash!bang!wallop! ...down they go...and everyone wants to see that...

.............. or not if you watch any of the Fury's fights , might hear some dreadful post fight singing tho '.

[Tony1244]

I don't get the appeal of heavyweights.

The current crop are generally unskilled, and even the ones who are skilled, they are light years behind the fighters at the lower weight classes.
Maybe it's because I'm also a big person, but I just don't get it.

There's all this hype behind heavies right now, and based on what? Wlad/Fury was one of the worst championship fights ever. Wilder's last fight looked like a middleweight prelim on FNF.

I just don't get it. People here hate Floyd and don't want to watch him, but are willing to watch Fury ... smh.

People just know, that no matter how skilled a dwarf is, he would never win against a heavyweight, whyle heavyweights would win against all other weightclasses. I understand that a mouse can do better tricks then an elephant, but it will never be as impressive.

Good way of putting it.

[Taki...]

People like watching big shit. Thousands turn up to watch monster trucks, but is fcuking about with an RC monster truck any less skilful and entertaining?
Anyway I think more people are more jazzed at the changing of the guard than Tyson Fury's all inaction style.

[Datsue]

People like watching big poo. Thousands turn up to watch monster trucks, but is fcuking about with an RC monster truck any less skilful and entertaining?
Anyway I think more people are more jazzed at the changing of the guard than Tyson Fury's all inaction style.

I think your monster truck analogy is useful, as there seems to be quite a lot of overlap between the sort of person who'd enjoy a monster truck rally & those who labour under the "I won't watch people fight who are smaller than me 'cos they're a different species" prejudice.

[MDINJACKSON]

It's a pretty darn good point here but I am one of the ones excited about the resurgence and the reasoning is simple. The baddest man on the planet used to always be the heavyweight champion of the world. That is until Wlad's boring ass won it and then went into hiding. A good number of his title defenses weren't even televised in the US. That's pathetic and he really should have been promoting the sport and the sports most famous belt but he single handedly ruined the division with the way he conducted himself as champion.

Now, we just have to find a way to keep him from winning it again and just retire already. With our luck, he'll win it back and then go back into hiding only fighting once a year in Germany or some other country where the fights are around 1pm here and untelevised. Good riddance Wlad. Now we have a nice new crop of bangers and people are excited that we may finally get the mystique back instead of the mistake Wlad did with it.

Just because Wlad rarely fought in the states doesn't mean that he went into 'hiding". He consistently fills 60,000+ stadiums in Europe, so it makes more financial sense for him to fight in Europe. Also, Wlad not only defended the title regularly, he consistently beat top heavyweight contenders. He made it a priority to fulfill his mandatory defenses rather than vacate the belts, something that is becoming increasingly rare. Even now, just mere months after the Fury fight, the heavyweight division has fractured to the point that Charles Martin can call himself the heavyweight champion of the world. Regardless of whether you like his style or not, he held the true heavyweight championship for the better part of a decade, and is behind only the great Joe Louis in terms of longevity.

Wlad fought all comers, made all of his mandatory defenses, and kept (almost) all the belts together while defending them against top contenders. While I'm also excited for the new faces emerging in the division, you have to give Wlad respect for his reign as champion, because he more than deserveds it.

[caldo2025]

It's a pretty darn good point here but I am one of the ones excited about the resurgence and the reasoning is simple. The baddest man on the planet used to always be the heavyweight champion of the world. That is until Wlad's boring ass won it and then went into hiding. A good number of his title defenses weren't even televised in the US. That's pathetic and he really should have been promoting the sport and the sports most famous belt but he single handedly ruined the division with the way he conducted himself as champion.

Now, we just have to find a way to keep him from winning it again and just retire already. With our luck, he'll win it back and then go back into hiding only fighting once a year in Germany or some other country where the fights are around 1pm here and untelevised. Good riddance Wlad. Now we have a nice new crop of bangers and people are excited that we may finally get the mystique back instead of the mistake Wlad did with it.

Just because Wlad rarely fought in the states doesn't mean that he went into 'hiding". He consistently fills 60,000+ stadiums in Europe, so it makes more financial sense for him to fight in Europe. Also, Wlad not only defended the title regularly, he consistently beat top heavyweight contenders. He made it a priority to fulfill his mandatory defenses rather than vacate the belts, something that is becoming increasingly rare. Even now, just mere months after the Fury fight, the heavyweight division has fractured to the point that Charles Martin can call himself the heavyweight champion of the world. Regardless of whether you like his style or not, he held the true heavyweight championship for the better part of a decade, and is behind only the great Joe Louis in terms of longevity.

Wlad fought all comers, made all of his mandatory defenses, and kept (almost) all the belts together while defending them against top contenders. While I'm also excited for the new faces emerging in the division, you have to give Wlad respect for his reign as champion, because he more than deserveds it.

I can't really argue this one. Well done. Perhaps I should give Wlad a bit more credit but I think that he deserves most of the blame for turning the most exciting division in boxing into one of the worst in the sport. The capital city of boxing is Las Vegas and where the money is. Wlad chose not to fight in the US for 8 of those years he reigned over the division. A lot of those fights were not even televised in most countries because of his promotional team and the timing of those fights during the day. That doesn't help the sport of Boxing. That doesn't build a fan base. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was the baddest man on the planet for most of the last 90 years and the most prestigious title in sports.

Holding that particular title comes with a lot of responsibility and the way Wlad chose to operate with it, hurt boxing immensely overall. I'm not even referring to the bland, boring style in which he fought either. I'm merely referring to the logistics of his reign so when you couple that with his style, it's been an awful run and I think he deserves to be blamed for it.

[Tony1244]

People like watching big poo. Thousands turn up to watch monster trucks, but is fcuking about with an RC monster truck any less skilful and entertaining?
Anyway I think more people are more jazzed at the changing of the guard than Tyson Fury's all inaction style.

I think your monster truck analogy is useful, as there seems to be quite a lot of overlap between the sort of person who'd enjoy a monster truck rally & those who labour under the "I won't watch people fight who are smaller than me 'cos they're a different species" prejudice.

With all due respect, I think the analogy is quite silly. Most people who like monster trucks have barely heard of boxing and certainly have no idea who Wlad, Wlder, and Fury even are.

Another person's analogy was liking the Heavyweight division was like liking The Spice Girls. Equally ridiculous.

On Fury, he had one boring fight. His other fights weren't boring.

The simple truth is when the lower divisions have dull fights you all look the other way.

[crusader]

Fury's rematch with Chisora was awful and the win over Hammer wasn't much better. He's been far more disciplined lately and while that's probably smart on his part it's made his last three bouts uneventful (ooooh, but he dropped his hands a few times and smiled occasionally). If someone consistently moaned about Wlad being hard to watch I at them not thinking the same of Fury since he beat USS. Fury doesn't have Wlad's fight-changing power either and we know about Wlad's history of vulnerability, so why didn't the 'anything can happen at any moment' people enjoy his tenure?

Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in the HWs too, but I don't think the bouts have generally been less predictable than those in other divisions, and I think other divisions have higher entertainment value.

[Datsue]

Another person's analogy was liking the Heavyweight division was like liking The Spice Girls. Equally ridiculous.

That person was me, & no, I did not say "liking the Heavyweight division was like liking The Spice Girls".

I mentioned the Spice Girls because you, specifically, said that "more people" commented/talked about heavyweights, therefore watching heavies must therefore be intrinsically better because they are more popular, & I brought up something that was both popular & shite to point up just how useless, hollow & intrinsically wrong that argument was.

[Datsue]

Fury's rematch with Chisora was awful and the win over Hammer wasn't much better. He's been far more disciplined lately and while that's probably smart on his part it's made his last three bouts uneventful (ooooh, but he dropped his hands a few times and smiled occasionally). If someone consistently moaned about Wlad being hard to watch I at them not thinking the same of Fury since he beat USS. Fury doesn't have Wlad's fight-changing power either and we know about Wlad's history of vulnerability, so why didn't the 'anything can happen at any moment' people enjoy his tenure?

Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in the HWs too, but I don't think the bouts have generally been less predictable than those in other divisions, and I think other divisions have higher entertainment value.

I've been ringside for three Fury fights (Hammer, Maddalone & Chisora II) pre-Wlad, & they've all been incredibly fvcking awful from a purely aesthetic perspective. He's won well in all of them, but anyone who genuinely enjoyed the pure spectacle probably wasn't much of a boxing fan, imo.

As you said, adopting the zero risk strategy of latter-day Wlad without being able to punch isn't exactly a recipe for scintillation, & surely anyone with a brain must realise that Fury must continue to adopt this strategy in order to keep winning at a high level, 'cos it maximises his advantages whilst minimising his vulnerabilities.

FWIW when he's not being an obnoxious fuckhead I kinda like the lad, but aesthetically he's dog-shite. I take the piss out of Wilder for many many many (justified) reasons, but I can at least concede he brings sheer excitement (if only the excitement of wondering if one of his telegraphed swings is going to take down the lighting rig).

[Tony1244]

Another person's analogy was liking the Heavyweight division was like liking The Spice Girls. Equally ridiculous.

That person was me, & no, I did not say "liking the Heavyweight division was like liking The Spice Girls".

I mentioned the Spice Girls because you, specifically, said that "more people" commented/talked about heavyweights, therefore watching heavies must therefore be intrinsically better because they are more popular, & I brought up something that was both popular & shite to point up just how useless, hollow & intrinsically wrong that argument was.

Ok, I wasn't saying you should change your mind for the sake of being with the majority view because that would make me a super hypocrite as my taste in music, books, sports, TV, you name it, is rarely a majority view. My point was simply more fans like the HWs, so they should showcase them more. If one's view happens to fall with the majority, it is human nature to point that out. If it doesn't, then the natural inclination is to "poo poo" the majority view. I think all of us have done both sometimes.

[Tony1244]

Fury's rematch with Chisora was awful and the win over Hammer wasn't much better. He's been far more disciplined lately and while that's probably smart on his part it's made his last three bouts uneventful (ooooh, but he dropped his hands a few times and smiled occasionally). If someone consistently moaned about Wlad being hard to watch I at them not thinking the same of Fury since he beat USS. Fury doesn't have Wlad's fight-changing power either and we know about Wlad's history of vulnerability, so why didn't the 'anything can happen at any moment' people enjoy his tenure?

Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in the HWs too, but I don't think the bouts have generally been less predictable than those in other divisions, and I think other divisions have higher entertainment value.

I've been ringside for three Fury fights (Hammer, Maddalone & Chisora II) pre-Wlad, & they've all been incredibly fvcking awful from a purely aesthetic perspective. He's won well in all of them, but anyone who genuinely enjoyed the pure spectacle probably wasn't much of a boxing fan, imo.

As you said, adopting the zero risk strategy of latter-day Wlad without being able to punch isn't exactly a recipe for scintillation, & surely anyone with a brain must realise that Fury must continue to adopt this strategy in order to keep winning at a high level, 'cos it maximises his advantages whilst minimising his vulnerabilities.

FWIW when he's not being an obnoxious fuckhead I kinda like the lad, but aesthetically he's dog-shite. I take the piss out of Wilder for many many many (justified) reasons, but I can at least concede he brings sheer excitement (if only the excitement of wondering if one of his telegraphed swings is going to take down the lighting rig).

I do admit I give HWs the benefit of the doubt. I'd rather watch a boring HW fight than a boring super bantamweight fight. Entertainment, of course, is subjective, and if others like big truck crashes and The Spice Girls, go at it.

I also have mixed feelings on Fury. His comments of women cooking and being on their backs along with his observations of abortion and gays bringing about an end to the world, isn't going to earn him the title of "Sir" anytime soon. I certainly wouldn't vote for him, but he is entertaining.

I find Fury and Wilder both highly entertaining. Wilder is the harder puncher, but I believe Fury is underrated as a boxer. I like how he can easily switch from orthodox to southpaw and how he works the head and body. I was impressed with how he beat Chisora from a southpaw stance. Sounds as though you weren't impressed. Looks like we're going to have to agree to disagree.

[Boxing Prospect]

What was the recent TV figure for Wilder Vs Szpilka/Martin Vs Glazkov?

[Noxy]

I think it's because they're the best fighters at the end of the day. Although people may not consciously think about it like that, the HWs will always appeal for that reason.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

They're the worst fighters by a wide margin. It's just a bit less lame now then it has been. I'm looking forward to breazeale/mansour Saturday. I'll never watch wlad again.

[gilgamesh]

They're the worst fighters by a wide margin. It's just a bit less lame now then it has been. I'm looking forward to breazeale/mansour Saturday. I'll never watch wlad again.

Yeah Mansour vs Breazeale should be fun. I'm kinda surprised that Mansour is a slight betting underdog. I think Mansour is gonna spark him.

[littlepug]

In the lighter weights you can see things that take your breath away but the heavies just can't do that, not lately anyway

[Undefeated49-0]

and we all were applauding him beating boring Klitschko so we are just happy to see a regime change..

I'm not part of that all.

Did anyone actually see the fight?
You think that Fury is better than Wlad?

If your response is something stupid like "anything is better than Wald", save it.

If that fight was any indication as to how Fury will look against top fighters,
you'd have to be a total jackass to anticipate that.

I'm not sure why you came away with me believing that Fury is better than Wlad from what I stated, I just thought it was a welcomed regime change. I'm not total jackass so I don't think much of Fury, he seems awkward and vulnerable with his flailing type of style.