Heavyweight boxing in Decline ?

[Quix]

I used to come on these pages quite a lot a fair few years ago, but now rarely post. It's fair to say that my enthusiasm for the sport has lessened in recent years. I have been watching boxing for some 35 years and have seen the sport have its ups and downs. There have been great periods, some average periods and some dire periods. I come from the age of watching Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, Bruno, Benn, Watson, Eubank, Tyson, Naz, Lewis, Holyfield, Klitschko, Froch, Mayweather, Jones Jr, Hopkins etc. I started out with watching Leonard, Hagler and Hearns as a kid. Then moved onto to what i consider my hey day, which was Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Naz, Benn, Eubank etc and then went onto watch Mayweather, Froch, Khan, Brook etc. These days i pick and choose my fights and have to some degree lost touch with the sport. However, ive seen an awful lot of boxing and have written numerous posts about it over the years, so whilst i'm not the most knowledgeable guy out there, i can gauge a fighter and judge a particular epoch or era of boxing.

Last night i tuned in to watch the Chisora vs Whyte fight and also to see Joshua. I watched the Fury vs Klitschko fight and since then haven't really followed the heavyweight scene. But after watching those two fights, i had some thoughts and wanted an opinion on what i was thinking. The Chisora - Whyte fight was a good spectacle, but it lacked quality and was essentially a slugging match for the most part. The Joshua fight was a little embarrassing, as his opponent was clearly not up to the task of being a challenger and looked more like an out of shape doormen than a professional heavyweight fighter. Now, ive seen the best of what the heavyweight division can offer, I was around when Lewis, Tyson, Holyfield and Bowe were on the scene and then you had other fighters like Ruddock and the Klitskcho's. It was a quality scene and makes this era look very average indeed. We have had poor era's before in heavyweight boxing and i think this is another period which seems to be devoid of talent in terms of make heavyweight boxing a great sporting event.

You had Tyson Fury who was no great shakes and then he went off the rails and relinquished his titles. You have Deontay Wilder who doesn't seem to be of any great pedigree, Then you have a guy called Joseph Parker, that i confess ive never heard of. Lastly, you have Anthony Joshua, who has potential, but has only had 17 fights and hasn't fought anyone of quality, no doubt because of the lack of quality fighters out there. He seems to have been hyped by sky sports, when he is essentially fighting stiffs and though he has potential and talent, he is already a world champion after so few fights and against limited opposition. This seems to me to highlight the complete dearth of quality in the current heavyweight scene. Now it's announced that Joshua will fight Klitschko, who is now 41 years of age. So, it seems to me that the heavyweight division is quite poor at the moment and it's perhaps being held up by a very good marketing team at sky sports. I'm sure some will see it as good entertainment and maybe its just my age lol.

Thoughts ?

Thanks :-)

[darkstar81]

Maybe but i'll take a period of competitive fights right now. Whether AJ, Wilder, Parker, Fury, Haye, Ortiz can deliver that we'll see..