The Smaller Divisions Keep Boxing Alive While the Bigger Divisions Keep Killing It

[Orion]

Nothing spells EXCITEMENT and DRAMA more than two lower division True Mexican Warriors going at it toe-to-toe.

You got that right.

[frankpaganini]

Well, at middleweight, we've recently had two exciting fights between Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor, a surprisingly exciting fight with John Duddy, and a thrilling upset over Andy Lee. The number one and number two supermiddleweights (Calzaghe/Kessler) recently fought one another in a very good fight. Kessler and Miranda were supposed to fight, who knows what will happen there. P4P-ers Calzaghe and Hopkins are going at it in a fight that, while maybe not particularly thrilling, per say, will have some drama and appeal to boxing fans. The number one and number two cruiserweights just fought one another to a knockout ending, and that number one cruiserweight is moving up to fight the heavweights, a division that has been low on excitment lately (but not completely devoid - Povetkin/Chambers and Peter/Maskaev were pretty decent fights) but, nevertheless, intent on unifying its belts.

The lower weight classes are almost always more exciting, but the heavier guys aren't doing too badly...

i couldnt have said it better myself.

The lower weight classes do provide excitement; dont get me wrong...(pacquiao v. marquez, vasquez v. marquez, casamayor v. katsidis) and this is most currently...

and i know the wlad v. sultan fight was a wash.

but i think if the right fights are made all weight classes provide excitement.

its when you do something ****** like put someone who is OBVIOUSLY 10 times better than the other guy in the ring and complain the ppv or the fight doesnt live up to the hype...

i like watching fighters in all weight classes fight...

[shadeyfizzle]

I believe what is causing this is not money but mentality. The US and most countries in europe are obviously in better shape economically than the rest of the world so they have higher standards of living. Right here in the US in particular...fighters KNOW that a boxer's career is only "X" number of years long and they have that amount of time to make as much money as they can to support their families..and in so doing...try to preserve their careers by going business and health 1st and fighting the best 2nd. The reason the lower weights are so exciting is because of the mindset of all these lowerweight fighters. 2nd and 3rd world countries all over the world like mexico, argentina, cuba/dominican republic, puerto rico,(i'm aware it's not really a country but falls in this category) the philippines, even japan and thailand have produced exciting champions because of the fact that they hail from 2nd and 3rd world countries that have a different set of values. They are taught from a young age that there are more important things than money. That a measure of a man long after he is gone is not by how much money he earned in his lifetime but how much courage he showed at his darkest hour. That they should never be afraid of defeat because going out on a shield is the greatest honor 1 could receive. I believe that accounts for the difference in excitement between lowerweight and higherweight fights more than anything else.