If ever a division needed to get off the life support it's the heavyweights, but 2005 saw it sink even lower IMO.

What hasn't helped is that the four men who claim a piece of the overall title like some kind of split amulet have been so inactive. The man widely looked upon as the outstanding heavy of this underwhelming age takes his first fight next week. It COULD be a classic... though on paper, at least, it's a mismatch (the dominant heavy vs. someone who was last champion for seven months four years ago and hasn't done a lot with his career since) and still means we've had to put up with ten months of dross beforehand.

The heavyweight match-up I'm most looking forward to is December's Danny Williams-Audley Harrison clash, which will be the biggest British fight since Bruno-Lewis, though it's unlikely to generate much of a stir in the US, other than boost Harrison's ratings or suggest that maybe nearly man Williams could have a shot at one of the belt holders whose initials aren't V.K.

John Ruiz and James Toney put on a better-than-expected fight in April, though when 95% of the boxing world only wants to see a fight so that one of the protagonists can lose and never box at world level again then it says something about how appreciated Ruiz is. Toney of course soured the event by failing a drugs test, while Ruiz hasn't boxed since.

Chris Byrd, another man no one wants to see, again fought only once, in an absolute dog of a fight (not to be confused with a dogfight, which it certainly wasn't) against DaVarryl "Touch of Sleep" Williamson. Williamson's nickname has now entered the irony lexicon, while Rahman's one-sided and deeply tedious affair with Monte Barrett challenged for the award of most boring fight of 2005.

The only real gem was Lamon Brewster, who blew out Andrew Golota in less than a minute, but then had his trajectory stiffed by having to go to Germany for his next bout in a fight that not many of us saw. One of the most anticipated fights was Wladimir Klitschko vs. Samuel Peter, perhaps the best of an extremely bad bunch, but saw Little Klit hang tenuously onto his "heir apparent... ish" reputation by fighting ugly (grab and jab) and getting knocked down three times.

The heavyweights are in danger of becoming the forgotten division at this rate... they seriously need to pull their asses out of gear for 2006. My rating of the year (so far): 4/10.

the current division will look better 20 years from now, like it usually does.

the current division will look better 20 years from now, like it usually does.
It'll look better, but the actual number of fights going on is scarce. They should have a heavy title fight once a month, that'd be, what? The belt holders fighting once every three months?

Okay, maybe that's a bit of a tall order. I guess saying "unify" is too much of a cliche?

What We Had Heavyweight Fights How Can Any Call Them Fights They Put Me To Sleep. That What They Should Show Some One If They Want Get Information 5 Second In They Be Scream To Trun It Off.


Bring Back The Days Of The 70 Late 80 And Eary To Mid 90 Pls

Johnson needs to get back in the mix :cool:

What We Had Heavyweight Fights How Can Any Call Them Fights They Put Me To Sleep. That What They Should Show Some One If They Want Get Information 5 Second In They Be Scream To Trun It Off.


Bring Back The Days Of The 70 Late 80 And Eary To Mid 90 Pls
Doesn't It Take You A Long Time To Capitalise Every Letter? :confused:

Doesn't It Take You A Long Time To Capitalise Every Letter? :confused:
NO JUST LIKE DOING WHY

I thought that Wlad vs Peter was the only good heavyweight fight so far of the year. Its mainly because there was allot of risk involved, and not many heavyweights these days want to take risks. It was also a very entertaining fight to watch live & was free on HBO. I also won some money on the fight.

NO JUST LIKE DOING WHY
Just curious... do what makes you feel good.

I thought that Wlad vs Peter was the only good heavyweight fight so far of the year. Its mainly because there was allot of risk involved, and not many heavyweights these days want to take risks. It was also a very entertaining fight to watch live & was free on HBO. I also won some money on the fight.
Do you agree that a fight like that was based on 99% anticipation? My (gambling) heart was in my mouth when Wlad kept going down, but now I know the outcome I have no desire to watch it again.

Do you agree that a fight like that was based on 99% anticipation? My (gambling) heart was in my mouth when Wlad kept going down, but now I know the outcome I have no desire to watch it again.

Well, yes it was 100% anticipation. Would Wlad get knocked out? That was what everyone wanted to know. The outcome of the fight was important, would Peter show us enough so that his hype as the next Tyson come true or would Wlad fight a smart fight and outsmart the young Peter. It was a risk for both fighters, and they took it. I haven't watched the fight in replay, simply because for the most part it was one sided. If you don't count those two illegal knockdowns, the score would have been what, like 116-109 ?

Do you agree that a fight like that was based on 99% anticipation? My (gambling) heart was in my mouth when Wlad kept going down, but now I know the outcome I have no desire to watch it again.
Most of us knew that Wlad could have won a dec easily but it was Wlad's chin that intrigued us. When Peter nailed him i'm sure most thought that the fight was soon to be over. I think what made this fight good was that Wlad kept getting back up and winning rounds. This was the shock!

Most of us knew that Wlad could have won a dec easily but it was Wlad's chin that intrigued us. When Peter nailed him i'm sure most thought that the fight was soon to be over. I think what made this fight good was that Wlad kept getting back up and winning rounds. This was the shock!

Yeah, I was running around my dorm floor pissed off thinking I lost my money. The next day though, everyone at my workout gym were like "nice prediction". No one thought Wlad had a chance. Everyone was like Peter is a monster, he is unbelievable. After the fight, they were just happy that I won my money, and congradulated me for the win.

Well, yes it was 100% anticipation. Would Wlad get knocked out? That was what everyone wanted to know. The outcome of the fight was important, would Peter show us enough so that his hype as the next Tyson come true or would Wlad fight a smart fight and outsmart the young Peter. It was a risk for both fighters, and they took it. I haven't watched the fight in replay, simply because for the most part it was one sided. If you don't count those two illegal knockdowns, the score would have been what, like 116-109 ?
Agreed .

yeah, wlad vs peter was the most notable fight in the heavies so far. rahman vs vk could be entertaining as well, making the most notable fights involving the k bros. that's cool with me.

i think there needs to be better matches more frequently. and i'm not specifically talking about the title holders here. we need more up-and-comers mixing it up. peter vs brock is a good example. williams vs harrison is another.

now with the title holders, only vk and brewster get my respect as fighters currently. brewster fought a game krasniqi in his own back yard, and vitali was on a killing spree until being derailed by injury. both seem willing to fight anyone, although brewster seems to want to make wladimir jump through hoops to get the opportunity to rematch.

i really think it's not the potential of the heavyweights out there so much as it is the matchmaking.


byrd fighting touch of sleep was disgracefull in many respects. tos didn't even seem to want to win. byrd just did what he had to do to win. tos used basically the same strategy that he used in his fight with younger bro wk - making sure not to throw punches. he's lucky he didn't piss wladimir off earlier, otherwise it wouldn't been lights out.

toney needs to fight some intelligent comp and challenge some better fighters. booker is a nobody. holyfield a shell. ruiz fought an unexpectedly different fight, but this was changed to a no-contest upon the appearance of a form of steroids in his body. and guinn is just so damn incompetent he chose the worst possible strategy to fight toney with. he gave up his reach and hight by staying in close. and wasn't even active while he was in there.

summed up **** don king and people like him.

I suppose Brewster has had the better year compared to all the other heavyweights. He has retained his belt twice by KO!

I suppose Brewster has had the better year compared to all the other heavyweights. He has retained his belt twice by KO!

Well Brewster had a great year because he was able to defend his title. Vitali was injured so we will see how he will perform next weekend. However defenses by both Brewster and Vitali haven't been top notch all around.

I don't think that the division is as bad as people say its just that none of the champions are fighting each other. Granted this is a great HW era but its not as bad as people say.

We just need one unified champion thats all.

I don't think that the division is as bad as people say its just that none of the champions are fighting each other. Granted this is a great HW era but its not as bad as people say.

We just need one unified champion thats all.

No.

We need a recognized champ that deserves to be champ. Although I rate Vitali highly, he hasn't done ANYTHING to be recognized as the champ of the division. He's also inactive because of injuries which isn't his fault though.

What we need is some good fights to stir up the HW scene a little bit, and some agile active fighters who fight 2-4 times a year which they should be doing.

No.

We need a recognized champ that deserves to be champ. Although I rate Vitali highly, he hasn't done ANYTHING to be recognized as the champ of the division. He's also inactive because of injuries which isn't his fault though.

What we need is some good fights to stir up the HW scene a little bit, and some agile active fighters who fight 2-4 times a year which they should be doing.

We need new comers, more of them like Peter. We need them to start challanging the current heavyweights who arent hungry. Its so boring today cause its been the same guys for a couple years now. All the new guys who are coming in aren't exciting.

tuprincipe, how many boxing champs are going to fight more than twice a year risking thier belt/belts?

No.

We need a recognized champ that deserves to be champ. Although I rate Vitali highly, he hasn't done ANYTHING to be recognized as the champ of the division. He's also inactive because of injuries which isn't his fault though.

What we need is some good fights to stir up the HW scene a little bit, and some agile active fighters who fight 2-4 times a year which they should be doing.


Hey I agree, none of the guys really have done enough to stand out, and to me there is no recognized champ, thats why unification is important. And like was said before, Vitali has been made THE champ for no logical reason other than he gave an outta shape Lewis a tough fight. His resume while very good in terms of his record and KO ratio is not good enough IMO to make him THE champ. I mean how does a win over an outta shape semi retired golfer Corrie Sanders make you the man in the division?

Also your right, good fights are needed too.

The problem with this heavyweight is that they are too big and slow, they are not agile, and they are inactive as hell. We can thank Lennox for that. If you look at the 70's 80's and 90's we had agile athletes like Bowe, Evander, Tyson and company. Now we have a bunch of big lugs competing once or twice a year.

On top of that we have SLEEPER bouts like Byrd - Williamson which is really hurting the sport.

tuprincepe, who's big and slow, besides valuev? people always find a way to criticize fighters. remember, at the current time, people though muhammad ali was going to get busted up because he'd lean back, fought in an unorthodox style, etc. thier predictions were all........


well, you see what i'm saying.

tuprincepe, who's big and slow, besides valuev? people always find a way to criticize fighters. remember, at the current time, people though muhammad ali was going to get busted up because he'd lean back, fought in an unorthodox style, etc. thier predictions were all........


well, you see what i'm saying.

Who's big and slow, besides Valuev?

Klitschko's, Valuev, Mccline. I loved the era where you had quick good punchers like Ali, Tyson, Bowe, Evander now we have big lugs who are not only slow afoot. They are slow with thinking as well. The reason why the HW division is in shambles is because they are not fighting each other and are constantly arguing about purse sizes and such.

I see what your saying but there are always exceptions to the rule. By 80's and 90's standards the HW's are very big and slow.

wlad's not exactly slow. he's been said to have some of the faster hands for a big heavy. i'm a bit busy, otherwise i'd dig up some quotes for you.

vitali isn't very fast, but he moves into advantageous positions very well which can nullify speed. he doesn't try to match speed with fighters, just uses very clever subtly body shifts to avoid punches and deliver them.

mccline is on the slow side, but he can bang a bit.

I hate to say it, but the Heavyweight Division of 2005 reminds me too much of the early 1980's when boxing was at its most boring state. Back then, it was the time of the dinosaur. Big, slow, boring Heavyweights roamed the Division. Guys like Tony Tubbs, Greg Page and Tim Witherspoon. Holmes' time was over and the Division went down the toilet. There were too few quality heavyweights out there today and the problem is they are not fighting each other.

Today's top heavyweights are either big and old or young and small.

I honestly think if Roy Jones Jr. stayed at heavyweight he would of stirred up some controversy. I think he would of beat Byrd, Mccline and a couple others. It would of been good for boxing for a guy who started his career at 160 to be fighting against guys who outweighed him by 20-30 pounds, sometimes even more.

If only....

interesting idea there. i think rjj would've gotten seriously hurt when a hard punching heavyweight would've gotten a hold of him. but, not like he's very easy to get a hold of.

why do fighters fight so less nowadays?

twice a year wtf all that about?

interesting idea there. i think rjj would've gotten seriously hurt when a hard punching heavyweight would've gotten a hold of him. but, not like he's very easy to get a hold of.
I disagree, Roy had a great set of chops on him. His chin would have stood up to any heavyweight attack, it was only when he lost the weight and got old...

anorak, really? any heavyweight attack? if that's your opinion, that's fine.

mine: if tyson, ll, rahman, k bros, brewster, and peter ever got a good pop on him he'd be seriously hurt. i base this on my opinion that ruiz has a decent punch. maybe average for a heavyweight in general. but nothing close to hard hitters i've mentioned.

otherwise, why didn't he stay at heavy for a defense or two?

anorak, really? any heavyweight attack? if that's your opinion, that's fine.

mine: if tyson, ll, rahman, k bros, brewster, and peter ever got a good pop on him he'd be seriously hurt. i base this on my opinion that ruiz has a decent punch. maybe average for a heavyweight in general. but nothing close to hard hitters i've mentioned.

otherwise, why didn't he stay at heavy for a defense or two?

Sorry J, I was just being stupid. I was after some good K from Super_Lightweight, he likes it when you stick up for old china chops.