Cruiserweight Golden Era fighters at HW prove that talking about the need for SHW or Bridgerweight categories is nonsens

[Ambling Alp II]

I think many taller fighters have put on too much weight as well as shorter fighters. (Of course your build has something to do with it as well.) Obviously a 6'6 guy is usually going to weigh more than a 6'0 guy. Still even the 6'6 guy doesn't need to weigh more than 250 and the 6'0 doesn't need to weigh 230. This is my theory based on the fights I see with my own eyes.

I am going by weight at the time of the fight. Might take a while to get this done, but I will do it. I am sure excuses will be made from some people who won't like the results, but for open minded people it may be interesting.

[Enlightened-One]

List of bouts where the smaller fighter weighed 225lbs or less that defeated an opponent in a world title fight that were at least 20lbs heavier than themselves:

• Deontay Wilder (223.25lbs) - Win - Dominic Breazeale (255.25lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (214.75lbs) - Win - Luis Ortiz (241.25lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (220.75lbs) - Win - Bermane Stiverne (254.75lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (219lbs) - Win - Bermane Stiverne (239lbs)
• David Haye (210.5lbs) - Win - Audley Harrison (253.5lbs)
• David Haye (217lbs) - Win - Nikolai Valuev (316lbs)
• Sultan Ibragimov (221lbs) - Win - Shannon Briggs (273lbs)
• Lamon Brewster (224lbs) - Win - Andrew Golota (248lbs)
• Chris Byrd (214lbs) - Win - Jameel McCline (270lbs)
• Roy Jones Jr (193lbs) - Win - John Ruiz (226lbs)
• Chris Byrd (210.75lbs) - Win - Vitali Klitschko (244.25lbs)
• Herbie Hide (214.75lbs) - Win - Tony Tucker (243.25lbs)
• Mike Tyson (220lbs) - Win - Frank Bruno (247lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (217lbs) - Win - Riddick Bowe (246lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (210lbs) - Win - Larry Holmes (233lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (208lbs) - Win - George Foreman (257lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (208lbs) - Win - James Douglas (246lbs)
• Mike Tyson (216.25lbs) - Win - Tony Tubbs (238.25lbs)
• Michael Spinks (199.75lbs) - Win - Larry Holmes (221.5lbs)
• Mike Weaver (207.5lbs) - Win - John Tate (232lbs)
• Larry Holmes (211lbs) - Win - Leroy Jones (254.5lbs)
• Leon Spinks (197.25lbs) - Win - Muhammad Ali (224.25lbs)

This covers a time period spanning 57½ years (since the first Ali-Liston bout).

There have been 265 world heavyweight title fights during that timeframe.

[jezzamundo]

List of bouts where the smaller fighter weighed 225lbs or less that defeated an opponent in a world title fight that were at least 20lbs heavier than themselves:

• Deontay Wilder (223.25lbs) - Win - Dominic Breazeale (255.25lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (214.75lbs) - Win - Luis Ortiz (241.25lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (220.75lbs) - Win - Bermane Stiverne (254.75lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (219lbs) - Win - Bermane Stiverne (239lbs)
• David Haye (210.5lbs) - Win - Audley Harrison (253.5lbs)
• David Haye (217lbs) - Win - Nikolai Valuev (316lbs)
• Sultan Ibragimov (221lbs) - Win - Shannon Briggs (273lbs)
• Lamon Brewster (224lbs) - Win - Andrew Golota (248lbs)
• Chris Byrd (214lbs) - Win - Jameel McCline (270lbs)
• Roy Jones Jr (193lbs) - Win - John Ruiz (226lbs)
• Chris Byrd (210.75lbs) - Win - Vitali Klitschko (244.25lbs)
• Herbie Hide (214.75lbs) - Win - Tony Tucker (243.25lbs)
• Mike Tyson (220lbs) - Win - Frank Bruno (247lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (217lbs) - Win - Riddick Bowe (246lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (210lbs) - Win - Larry Holmes (233lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (208lbs) - Win - George Foreman (257lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (208lbs) - Win - James Douglas (246lbs)
• Mike Tyson (216.25lbs) - Win - Tony Tubbs (238.25lbs)
• Michael Spinks (199.75lbs) - Win - Larry Holmes (221.5lbs)
• Mike Weaver (207.5lbs) - Win - John Tate (232lbs)
• Larry Holmes (211lbs) - Win - Leroy Jones (254.5lbs)
• Leon Spinks (197.25lbs) - Win - Muhammad Ali (224.25lbs)

This covers a time period spanning 57½ years (since the first Ali-Liston bout).

There have been 265 world heavyweight title fights during that timeframe.

Interesting - that's 22 out of 265, or 8.3% of fights. Now it would be interesting to see the reverse - how many fights where the guy 20lb heavier wins the fight. I imagine it would be more than 22, but probably not twice as many - while for the great majority of title fights the weight difference would be less than 20lb.

[Enlightened-One]

List of bouts where the smaller fighter weighed 225lbs or less that defeated an opponent in a world title fight that were at least 20lbs heavier than themselves:

• Deontay Wilder (223.25lbs) - Win - Dominic Breazeale (255.25lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (214.75lbs) - Win - Luis Ortiz (241.25lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (220.75lbs) - Win - Bermane Stiverne (254.75lbs)
• Deontay Wilder (219lbs) - Win - Bermane Stiverne (239lbs)
• David Haye (210.5lbs) - Win - Audley Harrison (253.5lbs)
• David Haye (217lbs) - Win - Nikolai Valuev (316lbs)
• Sultan Ibragimov (221lbs) - Win - Shannon Briggs (273lbs)
• Lamon Brewster (224lbs) - Win - Andrew Golota (248lbs)
• Chris Byrd (214lbs) - Win - Jameel McCline (270lbs)
• Roy Jones Jr (193lbs) - Win - John Ruiz (226lbs)
• Chris Byrd (210.75lbs) - Win - Vitali Klitschko (244.25lbs)
• Herbie Hide (214.75lbs) - Win - Tony Tucker (243.25lbs)
• Mike Tyson (220lbs) - Win - Frank Bruno (247lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (217lbs) - Win - Riddick Bowe (246lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (210lbs) - Win - Larry Holmes (233lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (208lbs) - Win - George Foreman (257lbs)
• Evander Holyfield (208lbs) - Win - James Douglas (246lbs)
• Mike Tyson (216.25lbs) - Win - Tony Tubbs (238.25lbs)
• Michael Spinks (199.75lbs) - Win - Larry Holmes (221.5lbs)
• Mike Weaver (207.5lbs) - Win - John Tate (232lbs)
• Larry Holmes (211lbs) - Win - Leroy Jones (254.5lbs)
• Leon Spinks (197.25lbs) - Win - Muhammad Ali (224.25lbs)

This covers a time period spanning 57½ years (since the first Ali-Liston bout).

There have been 265 world heavyweight title fights during that timeframe.

Interesting - that's 22 out of 265, or 8.3% of fights. Now it would be interesting to see the reverse - how many fights where the guy 20lb heavier wins the fight. I imagine it would be more than 22, but probably not twice as many - while for the great majority of title fights the weight difference would be less than 20lb.

The actual figure is almost twice as many.

Here's a list of the fighters that were at least 20lbs heavier than their opponent when they won their respective world heavyweight title bouts... with many of the losers weighing more than 225lbs:

• Tyson Fury (277lbs) - Win - Deontay Wilder (238lbs)
• Tyson Fury (273lbs) - Win - Deontay Wilder (231lbs)
• Andy Ruiz (268lbs) - Win - Anthony Joshua (247.75lbs)
• Anthony Joshua (245.25lbs) - Win - Alexander Povetkin (222lbs)
• Charles Martin (249.5lbs) - Win - Vyacheslav Glazkov (218lbs)
• Ruslan Chagaev (246.25lbs) - Win - Fres Oquendo (224.75lbs)
• Wladimir Klitschko (244.75lbs) - Win - Jean Marc Mormeck (216lbs)
• Vitali Klitschko (243lbs) - Win - Tomasz Adamek (216lbs)
• Wladimir Klitschko (242.5lbs) - Win - David Haye (210.5lbs)
• Vitali Klitschko (247lbs) - Win - Albert Sosnowski (224.5lbs)
• Wladimir Klitschko (244.75lbs) - Win - Eddie Chambers (209.5lbs)
• Nikolai Valuev (310.75lbs) - Win - Evander Holyfield (214.25lbs)
• Nikolai Valuev (317.75lbs) - Win - John Ruiz (239lbs)
• Nikolai Valuev (322.25lbs) - Win - Jameel McCline (268.25lbs)
• Shannon Briggs (268lbs) - Win - Siarhei Liakhovich (238lbs)
• Nikolai Valuev (328lbs) - Win - Monte Barrett (222.5lbs)
• Nikolai Valuev (320.75lbs) - Win - Owen Beck (242.5lbs)
• Wladimir Klitschko (241lbs) - Win - Chris Byrd (213.5lbs)
• Nikolai Valuev (324lbs) - Win - John Ruiz (237.75lbs)
• Wladimir Klitschko (238lbs) - Win - Chris Byrd (213.5lbs)
• Lennox Lewis (242lbs) - Win - Evander Holyfield (217lbs)
• Vitali Klitschko (245.75lbs) - Win - Herbie Hide (221lbs)
• Lennox Lewis (243lbs) - Win - Zeljko Mavrovic (214.25lbs)
• George Foreman (256lbs) - Win - Axel Schulz (221lbs)
• Riddick Bowe (241lbs) - Win - Herbie Hide (214lbs)
• George Foreman (250lbs) - Win - Michael Moorer (222lbs)
• Tommy Morrison (226lbs) - Win - Tim Tomashek (205lbs)
• Riddick Bowe (244lbs) - Win - Jesse Ferguson (224lbs)
• Riddick Bowe (235lbs) - Win - Evander Holyfield (205lbs)
• Francesco Damiani (229lbs) - Win - Daniel Eduardo Neto (198.25lbs)
• Francesco Damiani (234lbs) - Win - Johnny Du Plooy (210lbs)
• Muhammad Ali (221lbs) - Win - Leon Spinks (201lbs)
• Muhammad Ali (230lbs) - Win - Jimmy Young (209lbs)
• Muhammad Ali (226lbs) - Win - Jean Pierre Coopman (206lbs)
• George Foreman (219.25lbs) - Win - Jose Roman (196.5lbs)
• Joe Frazier (215.5lbs) - Win - Terry Daniels (195lbs)
• Joe Frazier (209lbs) - Win - Bob Foster (188lbs)
• Ernie Terrell (209.5lbs) - Win - Doug Jones (187.5lbs)

These are all the fighters that engaged in world heavyweight title bouts within the last decade weighing less than 225lbs:

• Oleksandr Usyk
• Deontay Wilder
• Alexander Povetkin
• Vyacheslav Glazkov
• Fres Oquendo
• Jean Marc Mormeck
• Marco Huck

And only two of those men (Usyk & Wilder) actually won their bouts.

Basically, only 5% of the forty men that competed in world heavyweight title bouts within the last decade managed to achieve success weighing less than 225lbs.

Only seven (or 14½%) of the 49 world heavyweight title bouts within the last decade were won by fighters weighing less than 225lbs.

Only nineteen (or 17%) of the 112 world heavyweight title bouts within the last twenty years were won by fighters weighing less than 225lbs.

Only forty (or 23%) of the 173 world heavyweight title bouts within the last thirty years were won by fighters weighing less than 225lbs.

The underlying trend/trajectory is rather obvious, don’t you agree?

[Bard of Boxrec]

All that fussing and fretting and number crunching just to arrive at the blatantly obvious conclusion that size is one factor out of a wide range of factors that determine the outcomes of heavyweight boxing matchups

[Enlightened-One]

All that fussing and fretting and number crunching just to arrive at the blatantly obvious conclusion that size is one factor out of a wide range of factors that determine the outcomes of heavyweight boxing matchups

People were seriously claiming that size doesn’t matter in the heavyweight division.

They also passionately argued that it was commonplace for fighters weighing less than 225lbs to achieve success in world heavyweight title fights.

They also claimed that small fighters beat much larger opponents more frequently than the other way around.

The stats I’ve supplied clearly debunk all three misconceptions.

It’s actually extremely rare nowadays for small fighters weighing less than 225lbs to win world heavyweight title fights.

And it’s becoming increasingly rare as time passes by.

[Bard of Boxrec]

No one said size doesn’t matter, genius.

[Ambling Alp II]

His list is very deceiving. He is counting fights like Frazier beating Jones, Foster and Daniels. Frazier himself weighed much less than 225.
He is also counting fights where both guys weighed over 225. This is not what we are talking about.

My point is that a certain point, size starts becoming less important. At a later point, it doesn't really matter.

Obviously Frazier has a advantage over say Bob Foster. However, does a guy weighing say 235 have that same advantage over Frazier? I would argue no.

We have compare big heavyweights to smaller heavyweights. I used 225 as a barometer. I think if you just go by guys over 225 against those under, you will find a different story.
I will post the tally tomorrow.

[Bard of Boxrec]

His list is very deceiving. He is counting fights like Frazier beating Jones, Foster and Daniels. Frazier himself weighed much less than 225.
He is also counting fights where both guys weighed over 225. This is not what we are talking about.

My point is that a certain point, size starts becoming less important. At a later point, it doesn't really matter.

Obviously Frazier has a advantage over say Bob Foster. However, does a guy weighing say 235 have that same advantage over Frazier? I would argue no.

We have compare big heavyweights to smaller heavyweights. I used 225 as a barometer. I think if you just go by guys over 225 against those under, you will find a different story.
I will post the tally tomorrow.

Makes sense. If you’re a lighter heavyweight then outweighing someone by 20+ lb is a bigger percentage of your opponent’s body weight than a 250 lb guy outweighing a 230 lb guy

[Counter-puncher]

His list is very deceiving.

deceptive-one

[Enlightened-One]

His list is very deceiving. He is counting fights like Frazier beating Jones, Foster and Daniels. Frazier himself weighed much less than 225.
He is also counting fights where both guys weighed over 225. This is not what we are talking about.

I don't think you can read. And I'm not being derogatory when I say that either.

If you read my post in its entirety, you would have read the following, which was a question I responded to:

Now it would be interesting to see the reverse - how many fights where the guy 20lb heavier wins the fight. I imagine it would be more than 22, but probably not twice as many - while for the great majority of title fights the weight difference would be less than 20lb.

@Ambling Alp II - That was the question I addressed!

You lied about your intention to supply your own stats, because you haven't even done it. You've been promising to provide this information for a long time, but you still haven't supplied it!

And you also lied about me being deceptive, but you didn't even bother to read my words or the posts I was responding to.

You also lied about me refusing to answer "obvious" questions, because I answered all of yours. And I asked you at least six times to detail the questions you asked, which I ignored, but you flatly-refused to provide any examples.

When are you going to stop lying?

If you don't like me... or perhaps you really do hate me... then fine, but at least do it for an honest truthful reason - not based on your ficticious lies that bear no relation whatsoever to my words or conduct!

[Bard of Boxrec]

EO to settle this once and for all, would you be in favour of a poll asking folks who they believe to be more deceptive, you or AA, that should provide some much-needed data on this matter

[Ambling Alp II]

I looked up the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO heavyweight title fights, starting with Larry Holmes winning the WBC title in 1978. Obviously only counted fights once where more than one title was at stake.
From there I added up the fight where one fighter weighed less than 225 and the other weighed more than 225. (There were a few where a guy weighed exactly 225, I didn't count those.) I apologize if the total is slightly off.

Anyway, here are the results:

The guy weighing less than 225 won 39 fights.
The guy weighing more than 225 won 27 fights.
There were three draws.

[DrDuke]

I looked up the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO heavyweight title fights, starting with Larry Holmes winning the WBC title in 1978. Obviously only counted fights where more than one title was at stake once.
From there I added up the fight where one fighter weighed less than 225 and the other weighed more than 225. (There were a few where a guy weighed exactly 225, I didn't count those.)

Here are the results:

The guy weighing less than 225 won 39 fights.
The guy weighing more than 225 won 26 fights.
There were two draws.

Hmm, it looks like you have decent math skills. Don't argue with EO, join his fact squad.

[Enlightened-One]

I looked up the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO heavyweight title fights, starting with Larry Holmes winning the WBC title in 1978. Obviously only counted fights where more than one title was at stake once.
From there I added up the fight where one fighter weighed less than 225 and the other weighed more than 225. (There were a few where a guy weighed exactly 225, I didn't count those.) I apologize if the total is slightly off.

Anyway, here are the results:

The guy weighing less than 225 won 39 fights.
The guy weighing more than 225 won 26 fights.
There were two draws.

Unless you're willing to list those bouts, your numbers are garbage! They don't tally!

Why are you only considering unified title bouts, which represents a small sample size? This itself is complete nonsense and doesn't relate to your previous arguments!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kinell.. This is like p*rn for geeks!!

[Enlightened-One]

Edit: this is a repost.

[candyslim]

Surely if you are bringing the seventies into the equation then it becomes necessary to consider how many relevant Heavyweights were competing at over 225 lbs back then. Not that many, I can tell you that.

Fighters like Holyfield, Wilder, Usyk demonstrate that size is not a massive handicap if you have the necessary skills, but such fighters are exceptional. A fighter will always compete in the Heavyweight division if they believe they can make an impact, that is afterall where the money is, but fighters like Rivas can compete for world titles against fighters of their own size.

It might be true that the new division is unnecessary, at least for the vast majority of us, but it opens opportunities for some. You can always ignore it which is what most fans did at the instigation of the Cruiserweight division at 190lbs. It took time to become established but most boxing fans would not want to be without it now.

The fight I would like to have seen for the inaugural title is Rivas v Gassiev. Now there is a lipsmacking matchup which makes perfect sense at Bridgerweight but would have absolutely no reason to happen at Heavyweight.

I understand that many people feel we have too many weight divisions but if there is any pruning to be done I'd just like to point out that at the lighter end of the spectrum we have ten weight divisions covering just 35lbs. Yes weight is a bigger factor for the little fellahs but a new division every 3 or 4 pounds???

[Enlightened-One]

Blah, blah, blah… Obviously only counted fights where more than one title was at stake once. Blah… blah… blah…

List of unified world heavyweight champions from the last twenty years:

• Lennox Lewis (250lbs)
• Wladimir Klitschko (244lbs)
• Tyson Fury (267lbs)
• Anthony Joshua (244lbs)
• Andy Ruiz Jr. (268lbs)
• Oleksandr Usyk (221lbs)

This equates to 26 world championship bouts where more than one legitimate title was on the line. Only ONE of these fights was won by a fighter weighing less than 225lbs.

• 25/09/2021: Oleksandr Usyk (221.25lbs) - Won - Anthony Joshua (240lbs)
• 12/12/2020: Anthony Joshua (240.75lbs) - Won - Kubrat Pulev (239.75lbs)
• 07/12/2019: Anthony Joshua (237lbs) - Won - Andy Ruiz Jr. (283.5lbs)
• 01/06/2019: Andy Ruiz Jr. (268lbs) - Won - Anthony Joshua (247.75lbs)
• 22/09/2018: Anthony Joshua (245.25lbs) - Won - Alexander Povetkin (222lbs)
• 31/03/2018: Anthony Joshua (242lbs) - Won - Joseph Parker (236.5lbs)
• 28/10/2017: Anthony Joshua (254lbs) - Won - Carlos Takam (235.5lbs)
• 29/04/2017: Anthony Joshua (250lbs) - Won - Wladimir Klitschko (240.25lbs)
• 28/11/2015: Tyson Fury (247lbs) - Won - Wladimir Klitschko (245.75lbs)
• 25/04/2015: Wladimir Klitschko (241.5lbs) - Won - Bryant Jennings (226.75lbs)
• 15/11/2014: Wladimir Klitschko (245.75lbs) - Won - Kubrat Pulev (247lbs)
• 26/04/2014: Wladimir Klitschko (247.25lbs) - Won - Alex Leapai (248lbs)
• 05/10/2013: Wladimir Klitschko (241.75lbs) - Won - Alexander Povetkin (225.75lbs)
• 04/05/2013: Wladimir Klitschko (249lbs) - Won - Francesco Pianeta (240.25lbs)
• 10/11/2012: Wladimir Klitschko (247lbs) - Won - Mariusz Wach (251lbs)
• 07/07/2012: Wladimir Klitschko (249lbs) - Won - Tony Thompson (244.75lbs)
• 03/03/2012: Wladimir Klitschko (244.75lbs) - Won - Jean Marc Mormeck (216lbs)
• 02/07/2011: Wladimir Klitschko (242.5lbs) - Won - David Haye (210.5lbs)
• 11/09/2010: Wladimir Klitschko (247lbs) - Won - Samuel Peter (241.5lbs)
• 20/03/2010: Wladimir Klitschko (244.75lbs) - Won - Eddie Chambers (209.5lbs)
• 20/06/2009: Wladimir Klitschko (240.25lbs) - Won - Ruslan Chagaev (224.75lbs)
• 13/12/2008: Wladimir Klitschko (244.75lbs) - Won - Hasim Rahman (253.5lbs)
• 12/07/2008: Wladimir Klitschko (241lbs) - Won - Tony Thompson (247.5lbs)
• 23/02/2008: Wladimir Klitschko (238lbs) - Won - Sultan Ibragimov (219lbs)
• 08/06/2002: Lennox Lewis (249.25lbs) - Won - Mike Tyson (234lbs)
• 17/11/2001: Lennox Lewis (246.5lbs) - Won - Hasim Rahman (236lbs)

If Ambling Alp II insists that we only discuss world championship bouts where more than one legitimate title was on the line, then his wish is my command!

[Ambling Alp II]

Sorry that was a typo. Should have read "Obviously only counted fights once where more than one title was at stake. "
I edited it.

For example, if a fight was for both the WBC and WBA titles, I only counted it once.

[Ambling Alp II]

Kinell.. This is like p*rn for geeks!!

I was doing it in fairly simple way without cherry picking. I simply kept track of fights with a bigger guy against a smaller heavyweight, which is really what we discussing.

I thought about counting championship fights all the way back to John L. Sullivan, but thought that it would take too long. Besides many people are just interested in what happened in "modern times". i.e when they became fans. So that is why I cut it off with Larry Holmes.
Maybe I will go back further sometime.

[Enlightened-One]

Sorry that was a typo. Should have read "Obviously only counted fights once where more than one title was at stake. "
I edited it.

For example, if a fight was for both the WBC and WBA titles, I only counted it once.

Excuses excuses! Moving the goalposts!

Why don’t you challenge my stats?

Anyway you can’t count. You must have excluded about 100 bouts from the timescale you analysed.

Provide your detailed breakdown or your numbers are nonsense.

But why don’t you be honest and say you made things up?

[Enlightened-One]

Kinell.. This is like p*rn for geeks!!

I was doing it in fairly simple way without cherry picking.

Is listing all the bouts from the last twenty years abiding to the criteria you personally specified “cherry picking”?

You set the rules and I followed them!

Are you regretting it?

If you think my stats are wrong then please challenge them!

[NEETzschean]

Kinell.. This is like p*rn for geeks!!

I was doing it in fairly simple way without cherry picking.

Is listing all the bouts from the last twenty years abiding to the criteria you personally specified “cherry picking”?

You set the rules and I followed them!

Are you regretting it?

If you think my stats are wrong then please challenge them!

I don't contest your stats but to play devil's advocate; there have only been 14 individual heavyweight title fight winning champions since Ibragimov, so 3/14 winning a HW title fight while weighing less than 227 lbs over this period isn't massively disproportionate underrepresentation.

The most astonishing thing about it is not that Usyk won a title (he could have outpointed Andy Ruiz with one hand behind his back and a blindfold on) it's who he beat, where he beat him and how he beat him.

Usyk's accomplishment has no clear parallel in the history of the sport, or at least since the emergence of skilled, athletic super-heavyweights starting with Bowe. Bowe-Holyfield 2 was the closest parallel but Bowe had 2 defences to Joshua's 7, was extremely undisciplined by comparison, lost on a controversial MD while the punch stats massively favoured him and fought on neutral territory as a minor A-side, against a 31 year old Holyfield. By common consensus, an almost 35 year old Usyk outclassed Joshua 8-4/9-3, outlanded him by a clear margin and did so in Britain with the politics massively against him, all while there was an extremely lucrative Fury-Joshua undisputed fight potentially around the corner.

The dominance of the Klitschko brothers had a lot to do with the relative absence of sub-227 lbs heavyweight champions over this period and probably deterred a number of top cruisers from moving up. Usyk might have beaten Wlad and I'd strongly favour him against Vitali but Haye was dispossessed of his belt as soon as he fought the real champion Wlad, he would have lost to Vitali as well and Wilder wouldn't have been the favourite against the Klitschko's either. It's also an open question whether Usyk can beat Fury; if not, it strengthens the argument for size and an additional weight class.

It's also possible that some smaller heavyweights could do better if they cut below 227 lbs to increase their speed, agility and maybe stamina but that's speculative and they clearly don't believe that it would benefit them on balance or they would do it.

As for the other cruisers, Briedis is too old to make a successful run at HW now, Gassiev is too plodding and Hunter is a 2nd rater. Usyk is the cruiser-heavy GOAT and a one-off.