Do Junior Weight Divisions Water Down the Sport?

I don't think we are close to that at all. Granted it'd be more fair cuz I think its a lil stupid that a guy could have a 30lb, 50lb or 70lb+ weight advantage in a HW fight & no one really thinks about it much. The problem is largely the bigger guys suck at boxing & just win fights based on superior size/power. Til there are big guys with talent I think Super HW would be a junk division to create. I dont think its imminent but I do think it may become necessary at some point. A 6'2 225lb heavyweight is becoming a small heavyweight. Guys are getting bigger and more athletic it seems to me, that or the really bigger athletic guys are boxing more.

I don't think that it hs watered down the sport. The multiple titles in the division have The average fighter works hard to make weight. I rather watch fighters working at their prime weight

Although I do think we may be closing in the day we need a super heavyweight division. Guys are getting fukin huge.

I think the biggest issue is the gap between 175 and heavyweight. Everything in between should be manageable. In the mini weight classes you got 3/4 division champions that only moved up 10 pounds. I agree with this.

Against, Im also against there being 4-5 recognized championships. We sould go back to 8 divisions and one champ but it will never happen.

A dude a 108 could fart and get down to 105.

I didn't say it wasn't. I said most people in bigger sized people countries have average sports fans + casual boxing fans who don't give a f#ck about lil guys. I don't think I mentioned myself in my post at all so I got no clue where you are coming up with my personal opinion on something I'm giving the opinion of what sports fans & casual boxing fans think. Come on bro reading is fundamental ffs. No f#cking ****. One of my favorite all time fighters is Ricardo Lopez & I always use him as my first example of guys to watch for anyone looking to learn about boxing. Some of you guys love to act like someone is saying something different than what they are saying so you got a easy comeback & can try to insult another person. So now you are giving us the opinions of others, rather than your own. Oh ok. I thought you were speaking for self when you mentioned that you are in the US. In any case, the lower weights do have their place in boxing. They just don't move the needle much here in america, where size matters in general.

doN't think so actually 130 is much better than 135 154 is much better than 160 as of right now it depends on the actual form...

watching the olympics (which uses 10 weight classes) i only noticed a few cases in which size was clearly a major factor. personally i think 12 divisions spaced between 108 and 225 would be the sweet spot but i think the size difference doesn't show up there that much because they have to make weight every day whereas in the pros you make weight just once and you have 24 hs plus to recover

I don't have a problem with the other divisions, what needs to be fixed is the Heavyweight division. We got some big ass, super giants who are around 6'9 & about 260 lbs and up, fighting guys who are around 6'1 & 220 lbs. A clear weight disparity right there that needs to be addressed.

Do they "water down" the sport? Yes. Are they bad for the sport? I don't think so. Just look at the divisions we have now and the fights not happening. Rarely do fighters run out of opponents in their division, they're just not fighting the other top guys. 4 titles per division is more of an issue than too many divisions. With less belts we could have more mandatories against top fighters and more title eliminators

I'm not in other parts of the world. I'm in the US. And I think there is a solid disconnect between sports fans & casual boxing fans & the lil guys who box. I mean most of these 135lb & less guys, which take up more than half of the divisions, are smaller than some of these people's 16 year old daughters. How can most people in the crowd take these guys who are damn near horse jockey sized boxers seriously? I don't think they can or do. Well size is certainly part of it, but also the fact that few Americans fight in those lower weight classes plays a part as well. I'm obviously a huge boxing fan and I could probably name only 10 guys below 135 that are American.

So a three pound difference is fine because it's popular in Asia but why make 12-15 pound difference between Welterweight and Middleweight. And Middleweight to Light Heavyweight. You do realize that a 3lb difference between boxers weighing under 120lb, is not the same as a 12-15lb difference between guys weighing above 147lb? 90% of these fighters walk around a lot heavier than their fighting weights anyway. And at 160+ it's not usually the weight that gives the smaller guys problems moving from MW to LHW, it's the height. I'm not in other parts of the world. I'm in the US. And I think there is a solid disconnect between sports fans & casual boxing fans & the lil guys who box. I mean most of these 135lb & less guys, which take up more than half of the divisions, are smaller than some of these people's 16 year old daughters. How can most people in the crowd take these guys who are damn near horse jockey sized boxers seriously? I don't think they can or do. Sorry to burst your bubble there, but boxing is a global sport. Two men using only their fists in bouts for the entertainment of others will outlast any borders drawn on a map. I am not sure exactly how or why you watch boxing, but size doesn't matter to me. Little dudes deliver knockouts and display skill worth viewing.

There'd definitely be the possibility of better fights due to the reduced number of belts. That's a vote against them from me.

And we don't need to bring back same day weighins either.

I was browsing through the UFC website and noticed there are only 8 weight classes. Boxing currently has 17. Boxing used to operate similarly: (Fly/Bantam/Feather/Light/Welter/Middle/LHW/HW) There are several reasons why junior weight divisions exist. Maybe safety and more sanctioning fees for the organizations. But from a competitive standpoint, do they water down and hurt the sport? For example, imagine weight divisions that looked like this: Middleweight: Golovkin Canelo Lara Cotto Charlo X 2 J Rock Jacobs Lemieux Andrade Saunders Light Heavyweight Stevenson Kovalev Ward Jack DeGale Beterbeiv Zurdo Dirrell X 2 Groves Brahmer Welterweight Brook Thurman Spence Crawford Porter Garcia Peterson Postol Bradley Vargas Broner Bantamweight Chocolatito Rigondeaux Yanamaka Chemito Rau'Shee McDonnell Cuadras Inoue Estrada Tete Kameda By removing the junior divisions, the rankings would be much more solid from one to 10, being a long reigning division champion will be more meaningful, the number of champions would decrease, the sport would be easier to follow for casuals, and most importantly, better fights would be made. Are you for or against junior weight divisions? They don't water down the sport. They are hurting the sport. If you get rid of the JR divisions, we would see many more great fights. And the contenders would have to fight each other.

The junior classes are fine for prelim bouts and main event ten rounders. When titled fights are involved the junior division is eliminated, the scales go back to same morning weigh ins and the divisions become legit once again. 175 to 191 was the old cruiser class and that works out ok! Ray

I think the biggest issue is the gap between 175 and heavyweight. Everything in between should be manageable. In the mini weight classes you got 3/4 division champions that only moved up 10 pounds. yeah, you could put cruiserweight back where it was originally, at 190, and then have both a heavyweight and super heavyweight division above it

I disagree...the lower weight classes are quite popular in other parts of the world, especially Asia and Latin America. I am all in favor of eliminating the junior/super classes though. is there any science that would support their existence? It looks like another sanctioning body cash grab. So a three pound difference is fine because it's popular in Asia but why make 12-15 pound difference between Welterweight and Middleweight. And Middleweight to Light Heavyweight.

They obviously water down the sport & I'd be pro losing them. I'd also be pro losing some lower weight divisions in general. Right now boxing has 17 weight divisions & 8 of the 17 are for guys who weigh 135lbs or less. I don't even talk to any grown men who weight 135 f#cking pounds ffs. I could live with there being 118lbs, 126lbs & 135lbs. I disagree...the lower weight classes are quite popular in other parts of the world, especially Asia and Latin America. I am all in favor of eliminating the junior/super classes though. is there any science that would support their existence? It looks like another sanctioning body cash grab.