BoxRec

If there had been a Cruiserweight division back in the '50s and '60s, how long would Floyd Patterson's reign have been?

My guess is quite a while, especially at a 190 pound maximum.

Who would have been his competitors and likely to have succeeded him?

Jerry Quarry would likely have been operating at that weight as well. Would have made for some lively action in that division.

I personally spoke with Floyd Patterson about the Cruiserweight division quite a few years ago and he dismissed this a being nothing

I don't see anything wrong with a division between 175 and 195/200 pounds.

Not nowadays, anyway, considering the size that the heavyweight contenders have reached.

I would just put a weight LIMIT on the HW divison as it is piss poor. Make Heavyweights between 200 and 230. Anyone bigger than that cannot be a fighter. Hell it would ensure most of em are in shape.

We wouldnt miss out on much. Bowe and Lewis could have made 230, and so could every other Heavy worth watching.

We would rid Boxing of bitch titties and robots.

McCannW14 wrote:I would just put a weight LIMIT on the HW divison as it is piss poor. Make Heavyweights between 200 and 230. Anyone bigger than that cannot be a fighter. Hell it would ensure most of em are in shape.

We wouldnt miss out on much. Bowe and Lewis could have made 230, and so could every other Heavy worth watching.

We would rid Boxing of bitch titties and robots.

Sorry but no, Heavyweights are free to be as good or bad as they want. If they don't have the discipline to be in shape without some arbitrary weight limit for the chance at glory and millions of dollars then nothing will give them that motivation. The Klitschkos obviously have that motivation, so does Haye, as all 3 are always in shape. So does Adamek for that matter who is a bit softer than he used to be yes but it hasn't appeared to affect his already present abilities. If Ibragimov, Chagaev, Arreola, Peter, Solis, et al. can't motivate themselves to train into the best shape possible it's their own fault, because there's plenty out there to be motivated by, period.

Diamond WEAPON wrote:

McCannW14 wrote:I would just put a weight LIMIT on the HW divison as it is piss poor. Make Heavyweights between 200 and 230. Anyone bigger than that cannot be a fighter. Hell it would ensure most of em are in shape.

We wouldnt miss out on much. Bowe and Lewis could have made 230, and so could every other Heavy worth watching.

We would rid Boxing of bitch titties and robots.

Sorry but no, Heavyweights are free to be as good or bad as they want. If they don't have the discipline to be in shape without some arbitrary weight limit for the chance at glory and millions of dollars then nothing will give them that motivation. The Klitschkos obviously have that motivation, so does Haye, as all 3 are always in shape. So does Adamek for that matter who is a bit softer than he used to be yes but it hasn't appeared to affect his already present abilities. If Ibragimov, Chagaev, Arreola, Peter, Solis, et al. can't motivate themselves to train into the best shape possible it's their own fault, because there's plenty out there to be motivated by, period.

if they cant be motivated to get to 230 or below then they should not be permitted to fight.

Hell do you think Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer would turn up for the Wimbledon final with a beer gut?

For christ sake guys like Arreola and Solis are an embarrassment to the sport and an insulat to past chamions and challengers.

McCannW14 wrote:

Diamond WEAPON wrote:

McCannW14 wrote:I would just put a weight LIMIT on the HW divison as it is piss poor. Make Heavyweights between 200 and 230. Anyone bigger than that cannot be a fighter. Hell it would ensure most of em are in shape.

We wouldnt miss out on much. Bowe and Lewis could have made 230, and so could every other Heavy worth watching.

We would rid Boxing of bitch titties and robots.

Sorry but no, Heavyweights are free to be as good or bad as they want. If they don't have the discipline to be in shape without some arbitrary weight limit for the chance at glory and millions of dollars then nothing will give them that motivation. The Klitschkos obviously have that motivation, so does Haye, as all 3 are always in shape. So does Adamek for that matter who is a bit softer than he used to be yes but it hasn't appeared to affect his already present abilities. If Ibragimov, Chagaev, Arreola, Peter, Solis, et al. can't motivate themselves to train into the best shape possible it's their own fault, because there's plenty out there to be motivated by, period.

if they cant be motivated to get to 230 or below then they should not be permitted to fight.

Hell do you think Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer would turn up for the Wimbledon final with a beer gut?

For christ sake guys like Arreola and Solis are an embarrassment to the sport and an insulat to past chamions and challengers.

That's ridiculous logic. Nicolay Valuev wasn't an embarassment to the sport despite being a bit of a freak, the guy could actually box, and Old Foreman and Bowe were both fatties who could fight their asses off and (wait for it) both were at one time THE HW CHAMPION.

People who are that much of an insult LOSE. If you get rid of Arreola you lose the excitement he brings. The guy is at least fun to watch. James Toney was fat as a Cruiserweight for God's sake but his early years at Heavy were pretty fun to watch despite his jiggling around. I'm more insulted by guys who fight like John Ruiz, regardless of how good they look physically.

Plus when you say everybody should be 230 or lower. The Klitschko's are between 240 and 250 pounds, but they are by no means fat. They are just big freakin' dudes. That's just the way they're built, not their fault

What about a bodyfat percentage indicator? I would probably support that one.

yancey wrote:I don't see anything wrong with a division between 175 and 195/200 pounds.

Not nowadays, anyway, considering the size that the heavyweight contenders have reached.

The wide majority are overweight. The Klitschkos, two brothers who are naturally super-sized in top shape, are the exception rather than the norm.

The rest of the elite in the division (Haye, Povetkin, Boytsov, Adamek, Chagaev, Chambers) are all the same size as heavyweights of past vintage, they just have excess mass/pudge.

Haye has excess pudge? I agree about the rest, but Haye's shape is just fine.

Yancey, there is nothing, "wrong," with the division you speak of, except for the fact that the public has traditionally treated said division like a leper.

yancey wrote:If there had been a Cruiserweight division back in the '50s and '60s, how long would Floyd Patterson's reign have been?

My guess is quite a while, especially at a 190 pound maximum.

Who would have been his competitors and likely to have succeeded him?

Patterson could quite possibly have been the cruiserweight champion for several years. However, there some guys who would have had a chance to win the cruiserweight title.
Some top contenders could have been Harold Johnson, Doug Jones, Gregorio Peralta, Mauro Mina and Bob Foster. Johnson probably would have had the best chance of beating him.

Patterson did beat some other guys who could have been good at cruiserweight -Archie Moore, Eddie Machen, Henry Cooper.

Quarry or Ellis could have succeeded him in the late 1960s.