Is the heavyweight division in America dead?

[JakeTheBoxer]

Deontay Wilder is #1 in the WBC and #1 in the WBA.

Jared Anderson is #2 in the WBO.

The Americans are well positioned for the future.

Wilder is like 40 years old inactive fighter waiting on Joshua oil Saudi fight only, which won`t happen.

I doubt we will see Wilder in the ring ever again.

[YGriffith]

Boxing as a whole is dead in america

[BustedKnuckles]

boxing is a dangerous sport, i think that's the reason why we see so many talented athletes in the NBA and not in the heavyweight division. The human body is simply not made for getting punched in the head for entertainment.

Either it's made for getting punched, or it's not. The reason, whether entertainment or money or whatever, is irrelevant. And although I agree with that part, it hasn't prevented mma from becoming huge. So that's not the reason.

[Dr. Z]

Only in America?

It is almost dead on top level.

Heavyweight, Cruiser weight, and Light heavyweight . You won't may top 10 box rec ranked USA fighter there, and the ones you find are mostly 35+ year old men. It's not dead, not yet. It's defiantly on life support.

[elfag]

Its a shame that Wilder never got a shot at Wlad or Joshua. He had a decent enough chance to spark them out with their chin and with them hating pressure. Then we would have had an american lineal champ.

Wilder can still beat anyone other than Fury, it sucks he isnt getting the match ups and now he is late 30s.

Ruiz is an american but doesnt want to admit it

[STREET CLEANER]

Boxing is not dead in the US. The good matches sell very well. Blame the promoters for continually putting crap out there and preventing some fights for happening.

[brettWall]

The Saudi oil money killed the HW division in America.

The heavyweight division doesn't generate high TV ratings in America. That's what Wilder, Ruiz and others can't accept. They demand unreasonable purses that are not there. So I don't see the division making huge waves again.

[JakeTheBoxer]

Its a shame that Wilder never got a shot at Wlad or Joshua. He had a decent enough chance to spark them out with their chin and with them hating pressure. Then we would have had an american lineal champ.

Wilder can still beat anyone other than Fury, it sucks he isnt getting the match ups and now he is late 30s.

Ruiz is an american but doesnt want to admit it

It is a shame Wilder doesn`t want to fight at all.

[WBC WBA IBF]

Wilder is like 40 years old inactive fighter waiting on Joshua oil Saudi fight only, which won`t happen.

I doubt we will see Wilder in the ring ever again.

Make sure to apologize when Wilder becomes a two time world heavyweight champion.

[al-Xander]

The Saudi oil money killed the HW division in America.

Fights have been held occasionally in the Middle East. It's nothing new. Recently, they've been focusing on the heavier divisions, if I'm not wrong.

DAZN making unreasonably high offers in a way slowed down fights getting made. DAZN was a startup company in boxing at that time. It's subscription-based, not PPV, and it's their way of attracting boxers to sign with them. But damage is done. Wilder, Ruiz and others still believe they're still worth that much making it almost impossible for local investors to make meaningful fights due to the high cost of production.

There were/are many non-PPV fights that have/would surpass/ed any of these HW fights in terms of viewership ratings, and fighters of such fights get paid nothing close to these guys.