Is 175 in deep freeze?

For a while now, and up until recently, I was excited about the LHW division. Even before COVID, I was frustrated at the lack of fights, given the immense amount of depth and talent. Wherever you look, from prospects like Buatsi right through to journeyman like Badou Jack, Sullivan Barrera, and so on. I submit that fights are happening, but the level of opposition and frequency from my perspective does not match up with the potential - I'm not talking ideal here, just realistic. Let's take the current champions for example. Dmitry Bivol burst on to the scene about 4-5 years ago to much fanfare, yet he hasn't fought since Oct 2019 against unheralded Lenin Castillo. (WBA) Artur Beterbiev last fought in a unification bout against the now-retired Gvozdyk, also Oct 2019 for the WBC and IBF titles. He is scheduled to fight IBF #5, Adam Deines (19-1-1) on March 20 in Moscow. The WBO is vacant with the Smith Jr v Eleider Alvarez fight (Smith KO 9) touted as an eliminator. Smith is assumed to fight #2 Maxim Vlasov? for the title sometime in the near future. (correct me if I'm wrong) We all know Kovalev is probably done after his loss to Canelo, British hopeful and former Kovalev victim Yarde lost a split decision to fellow countryman Lyndon Arthur last December. What concerns me most is it is fairly easy to argue that taking the COVID pandemic into account and regular boxing politics makes it look like nothing out of the ordinary. I don't have any hard statistics or tangible evidence to support my premise other than a long time nagging feeling that there simply isn't enough quality fights in a diverse division. Beterbiev is approaching the end of his prime and could conceivably retire with less than 20 pro fights. Bivol is 30 and has held the WBA belt since he was 26-27. I'm aware that many fighters from the former Soviet Union have long amateur careers before turning pro such as Lomachenko and Madrimov, to name a few. Am I seeing something that's not there or does anyone else share my concerns, and if so why? All opinions welcome, just keep them above the belt. Cheers.

Comments (11)

Pretty harsh to call Badou Jack a journeyman. He won a legit world title at 168 and a fake one at 175. And he fought, consecutively: Anthony Dirrell - W, won WBC 168 title George Groves - W, retained WBC 168 title Lucian Bute - W, retained WBC 168 title James DeGale - D, retained WBC title; for Degale's IBF and vacant Ring, Lineal 168 titles (robbery) Nathan Cleverly - W, won WBA (Regular) 175 title Adonis Stevenson - D, for WBC and Lineal 175 titles Marcus Browne - L , for WBA Interim 175 title(cut fight) Jean Pascal - L, for WBA (Regular) 175 title (split decision) Man deserves more respeck than to be called a journeyman. Seriously, preach!

5y ago

Blond_Beast

Nice comparison, it's disappointing since they have some good fighters and complete monster in the division Yeah Mane, I’m cdn so I want Beterbiev to have the biggest fights possible. I’m cdn so I’m not holding my breathe either. He’s not young. I know he has belts, but he should think about cutting to 168lbs. I know he shouldn’t have to even contemplate that idea, but if Canelo is the huge fight... Maybe he could have worked something out with Benevidez? I hate catch weights usually but there are times they can be at least make the most sense. Im not even one of those people that think Beterbiev would destroy Canelo @175lbs. I think Canelo is on top of his game right now. I liked the BJS v Nelo fight more in the past than the present. I don’t like hearing that BJS got up to 210lbs before his last fight either. If Canelo starts really slow and BJS has the fight of his life he has a chance to get a close decision. For his sake he’d better, hurt, cut, KD, wobble, nelo to really deserve it.

5y ago

_Rexy_

They apparently don't want each other either. Biev fighting Adam Bienes And Bivol just fought some BUM named Lenin something?? Who are those guys??? Dienes is a mandatory, but you know that already since it's been mentioned to you about thirty times. Not sure how that proves he wants no part of Canelo.

5y ago

famicommander

5y ago

ShoulderRoll

Ginger wants no part of 175. Nor should he. He tested the waters there against Kovalev and felt the division wasn't a good fit because he would be giving away too much in terms of reach, size, and power. Credit to him for even attempting it.

5y ago

KillaMane26

Yep. The division is like SpaceX’s last starship launch. It did its thing, looked good, showed some potential. But when everyone’s back was turned... it blew up. Nice comparison, it's disappointing since they have some good fighters and complete monster in the division

5y ago

TJ_highway

Ginger wants no part of 175.

5y ago

Blond_Beast

Yep. The division is like SpaceX’s last starship launch. It did its thing, looked good, showed some potential. But when everyone’s back was turned... it blew up.

5y ago

markusmod

At one point it was red-hot, especially when Canelo went there. Now not so much.

5y ago

paulf

No, you're correct. A few years ago it was one of the divisions to watch, but it seems to have just evaporated into thin air. I think a lot of it has to do with the way the cards have fallen here, promoter wise: -Hearn has one of the champions, Bivol, but has absolutely no one for him to fight. Word is he may fight Ramirez if Hearn can sign him to a one-off. -Haymon has three names (Rodriguez, Pascal, Browne) but none of the champions. -HBO, who put a lot of emphasis at 175 and could have pushed some matchups, got out of the game. That kind of leaves Top Rank as the only one with champions, opponents, and viable contenders under their banner. They're the only ones that can push the division, but their attention is on their bigger the lower weights and heavyweight right now. It's at standstill, for sure.

5y ago

ShoulderRoll

It had the potential to be a hot division but they didn't capitalize and lost all momentum. Now they have to build it back up again. 2021 will be a year of in-house matchups and then maybe they will try unification in 2022, assuming promoter/platform rivalries even allow it.

5y ago