Was the heavyweight division much better 10 years ago?

[Left Hook Tua]

Yeah I'm not sure if it was MUCH better, but it was definately a bit deeper than is currently the case.

as an american i'd kill someone for a michael grant right now.

maybe not a person who turned out how grant did but someone young and who had the potential he did at the time.

the freak accident tko with jameel after the lewis ko pretty much wrecked that kid's psyche.

[Chunk..]

The Ring Top 10 Heavyweights in 1998:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Michael Grant
4. Michael Moorer
5. Shannon Briggs
6. Chris Byrd
7. Ike Ibeabuchi
8. David Tua
9. Andrew Golota
10. Hasim Rahman

The Ring Top 10 Heavyweights in 2008:

1. Wladimir Klitschko
2. Samuel Peter
3. Ruslan Chagaev
4. Nikolai Valuev
5. Alexander Povetkin
6. Sultan Ibragimov
7. Oleg Maskaev
8. Vladimir Virchis
9. John Ruiz
10. Chris Arreola

Opinions? Discuss.

Lennox Lewis stands alone against anyone on both lists.

Carry on.

[Left Hook Tua]

Lennox Lewis stands alone against anyone on both lists.

Carry on.

agreed.

he's far above holy and klit.

[Silencers]

yeah grant at #3 killed it but he had all the tools....... he was solid to good in a lot of categories and advantages most boxers only wish they could have.

now how would you think a fight between #3 grant and #3 chagaev will go?

how about #8 tua vs. #8 virchis? them wlad guys talk all the time about virchis' punching power.

how do the '98 guys match up head to head with their partner in '08?

#1 holyfield vs. #1 klitschko? #2 lewis vs. #2 peter? some good hypothetical fights right there.

There are some intriguing matchups there, Byrd vs Iggy would have been a stinker.

[Left Hook Tua]

There are some intriguing matchups there, Byrd vs Iggy would have been a stinker.

depends on sultan.

he wouldn't be as timid against a 6 ft. 210 lb. guy with no power compared to a 6 ft. 7 245 lb. guy with a mean right hand.

i liked byrd. which is weird for a slugger-fanatic.

i rooted for chris in every one of his fights except against mafaufau of course.

[Silencers]

depends on sultan.

he wouldn't be as timid against a 6 ft. 210 lb. guy with no power compared to a 6 ft. 7 245 lb. guy with a mean right hand.

i liked byrd. which is weird for a slugger-fanatic.

i rooted for chris in every one of his fights except against mafaufau of course.

He was pretty timid against Holyfield, I respect Byrd for fighting much bigger guys than himself but he was in some very dull fights.

Mafaufau iced him.

[Grand Champ]

The Ring Top 10 Heavyweights in 1998:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Michael Grant
4. Michael Moorer
5. Shannon Briggs
6. Chris Byrd
7. Ike Ibeabuchi
8. David Tua
9. Andrew Golota
10. Hasim Rahman

The Ring Top 10 Heavyweights in 2008:

1. Wladimir Klitschko
2. Samuel Peter
3. Ruslan Chagaev
4. Nikolai Valuev
5. Alexander Povetkin
6. Sultan Ibragimov
7. Oleg Maskaev
8. Vladimir Virchis
9. John Ruiz
10. Chris Arreola

Opinions? Discuss.

Besides W. Klitschko the heavyweight devision today is nothing but old fat bums who would stand no chance of getting a name for themselves 10-20 years ago

[Left Hook Tua]

He was pretty timid against Holyfield, I respect Byrd for fighting much bigger guys than himself but he was in some very dull fights.

Mafaufau iced him.

mafaufau should've punched 2/3 of the time to the body and shoulder.

i know it was an ibf eliminator but tua should've skipped that fight......

great chin , slick , southpaw , quick...... bad matchup for tua.

[The Hammer]

I didn't follow boxing in the 90s, it didn't seem interesting to me at all. Then I saw a couple of Wladimir's fights in 2000 and I was sold.

Looking at it carefully now: Povetkin is better than Briggs, and Arreola is more entertaining than Grant. Some who were fans of Lewis will disagree, but overall, the heavyweight division is better than it was ten years ago: Povetkin, *****ko, Virchis, Pianeta, Platov, Dimitrenko, Boytsov, Chambers, Walker, Arreola, etc.

I do think the inactivity of most of the heavyweight contenders is hurting the sport (only 12 of the BoxRec top 100 are currently scheduled for a fight).

There are only a few decent American heavyweights now, but there are many good ones coming froim Eastern Europe. But again, several Americans need to step up. If Minto and a few others would fight each other instead of clubfighters, it would create some excitement.

[-Antonio-]

**** is it a rule that Europeans have the letter V in their name?