Not sure really. Laziness is the easy answer, but there have always been lazy fighters though never so consistently overweight as these guys. It might be due to the situation of having two fighters who are so head and shoulders above the rest yet so willing to grant title shots that contenders no longer feel the need to challenge themselves or get into the sort of shape that would improve their chances to win. Just my pet theory though.
its simple. there is no motivation right now because all the american hw's are getting beatdown by european fighters.
america needs a solid hw thats winning relevant fights to make a comeback. until then, we will have to put up with these insecure ****wits trying to discredit the whole division.
Misleading post since there are a combined 244 million people in those countries and 311 million in the United States which means we're sending an enormous amount of talent to much more popular sports.
On top of that, number doesn't dictate where the talent is at. See my Zbikowski post for confirmation.
this thread is basically a "blacks would dominate hw boxing without football"... but let me remind you that even in the nfl, which is predominantly black, blacks are not the strongest athletes.
the record for bench presses at the nfl combine is held by a samoan guy by the name of Stephen Paea.
1 Stephen Paea
2. mitch petrus
3. mike kudla
4. leif larsen
a samoan and 3 whiteboys.
russian and eastern european athletes are known for their immense explosive upper body strength. they dominate anything that has to do with lifting ON A WORLDWIDE SCALE. americans cant even compete with that region in strength.
sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
to be fair, its only black boxing fans that hate the bros. theyre very insecure that a huge white dude can literally kick the **** out of any black boxer walking the earth right now.
the best they have is some midget by the name of floyd. can you imagine what vitali would do to lil ol floyd? lulz.
Its funny how these guys actually convinced themselves there was a sudden drop in the caliber of (black) american hw athletes from the 80's to the 90's when the klits emerged.
I know it pains you to admit that the alpha male division now belongs to a bunch of white boys. Whites went through the same thing when they found out little by little that blacks run faster. Now you have to admit that slavs huge upper body strength gives them an advantage in hw combat sports.
Dana is horrible. The guy has absolutely no respect for fighters. He has shown that recently by ****ting on overeem, machida, and fedor in public. Three of the best fighters of their era and dana ****s on them for refusing to be his *****es.
Why is the heavyweight division weak?
Because two foreigners are dominating it?
I can guarantee, that if an american heavyweight was dominating this heavyweight era,
there would be no talk of a weak era.
with the way european heavyweights pushed out americans in so little time, i'd say the pre 2000 hw division is the actual weak era.
AA's dominated in a different era. They were mostly fighting each other back then. Once the sport went truly global there was no way for them to keep dominating. Its simple really.
Oh, Eastern Europeans are just as naturally gifted as AA's if not more so. Their natural abilities become very apparent at HW.
Boxing is very diverse now. I dont see any race dominating boxing as a whole ever again. Lets just enjoy the diversity and all the different styles that come with it.
heres a list of olympic amateur wrestling champions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_and_Olympic_Champions_in_men%27s_freestyle_wrestling
the furthest to the right is the hw champions.
tyson never faced someone as big, strong, athletic and with the great conditioning of wlad. i think tysons cardio problems would play a big role in this fight. I could see tyson getting tired and wlad finishing him late.
Slavs are the best HW athletes in the world. They are bigger and stronger on average than any other race. This is not just a boxing phenomenon.
Take a look at MMA, the best HW fighter of all time is Russian Fedor Emilianenko. The biggest HW fight in the history of MMA was between a Croatian (Cro Cop) and a Russian (Fedor).
Now take a look at the top 10 HW MMA prospects here:
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/4/7/2095594/guram-gugenishvili-world-mma-heavyweight-scouting-report-1
its the same story.
Mexicans are a special breed of fighters. It just seems like they never get tired and are relentless with their offense.
Even in mma you see this from the Mexicans. Carlos Condit, Diego Sanchez, Cain Velasquez, Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, etc are all known for their iron chins, overwhelming offense and never ending cardio.
No one has brought up "Styles". Wlad and Vitali would both easily beat Louis. They would be considered GOAT's if they fought in Louis's era when you had to fight alot more because the paydays weren't that big.
Theres a lot of denial going on here. I think people need to just accept that Slavic genetics match up well with the skills needed to excel in HW boxing.
Its the same with African Americans and American Football. No shame in admitting it.
One thing nobody is mentioning is the athleticism of the slavic people, especially in the higher weights.
Theyre known for their incredible upper body strength and great conditioning. They dominate wrestling, power lifting and the strong man competitions on an international level.
Even Roy at the end was pretty much this is **** and I know we can find a young American to beat this guy. I think HBO said what most fans were thinking.
Haha. Its hilarious how insecure African Americans are about the Bros.
They cant stand that a couple of whiteboys are tearing **** up.
The more I think about it,the more I analyze Wladimir's resume,the more I watch him continually dominate world class contenders,the more I'm convinced that I'm watching the finest heavyweight to have ever graced the squared circle.Perhaps a little rash to make such a statement while he's still an active fighter and still looks set to dominate for a couple more years,but he's certainly on that particular path.His dominance of the division simply cannot be ignored.
This man strips his opponent down,takes away virtually every strength in his opponents game,and reduces them to a mere sparring partner.His aura alone is enough to intimidate his opposition.And he's doing all this at 35 years of age and largely behind a single punch - the jab.If he was utilizing his full offense,these guy would probably end up in a coma.He has one of the most devastating left hooks in the sports history,and he rarely uses it anymore.
So great he is,he doesn't even need to be at his very best to dominate his division.The man is simply incredible.The sport will take a huge hit when he eventually retires and settles down with a family of his own.
I'd have to agree. People will appreciate them after theyre gone. You rarely see such utter dominance is sports.
If they had the American media behind them, they would be the biggest stars in the world.
I agree the US dont have the k bros, hence why they wont admit hes the best...
Yeah people dont realize how much the media affects people's perceptions. Most of the haters here are just parroting the butthurt opinions of American journalists.
Gassing was one of the main reasons i was turned off from HW boxing back in the 80's and early 90's. Halfway through, the fights devolved into heavy breathing clinch fests.