Is the heavyweight division in America dead?

[al-Xander]

I do think Wilder vs Ruiz is still considered a big fight in the US and can still be made. I just wonder how PBC/SHO would tackle it in terms of making it happen. It would be PPV, for sure, but both fighters want guarantee money. Maybe the solution is to partner with European cable operators, who would sell the fight eventually in their region, contribute some money, etc. I don't know. There has to be some other source of income somewhere...

[Jose L.]

Kevin Rooney, and Teddy Atlas should get together and try to build another Mike Tyson using Cus D'Amato's philosophy.

[Jose L.]

boxing became more global. That's why there's less interest in the US. The Europeans have their own world champions on their stage and so do other continents.

[Willow The Wisp]

Yea…it’s been dead for awhile…I’ve been over this many times and I could go into it further if you need to….the best hw sized American athletes don’t box…there more money in other sports…..back when Lawrence Taylor was the highest paid defensive player in the league it was around 2 mil a year…guys like Tyson bowe and evander were making big bucks….now it’s the other way around….look at the premium on pass rushers and pass protectors in the nfl…..guys in the nba playing 15-20 mins a night are making 15 mil. Year off the bench…..how long did it take and how hard was it for even wilder to start seeing 2-3 mil a fight?

think about it

There are only 1,504 rostered players in the NFL, 903 in the NHL, 750 in MLB and 450 in the NBA. Leaving it limited to those 4 sports, thats only 3,607 great athletes that those team sports are "stealing away" from the athlete/fighter talent pool.

With 8,061,550,000 living people, there's bound to be some left over who can fight better than they can play Football.

Moreover, if Marc Gastineau, Budda Paris, Too Tall Jones, Lyle Alzado, Ray Edwards, LaVeon Bell, Adam Braidwood, Tex Hamer, Mike Balogun, Alonzo Highsmith, Eddie Blake, Tony Faeth, Tom Zbikowski, Jack Torrance, Ray Richards, Earl Nolan, Al Nesser, Leif Larsen, Craig Wolfley and George Linberger are any indication of how those guys would do; boxing isn't missing a thing.

In Boxing, being a great athlete is vitally important, but being a great natural fighter matters 10 times more.

A soft, pasty scrapper beating the snots out of a perfect beach physique....if I had a nickel for every time I've seen it.

[baroidi]

they are putting their hope on Anderson as their future HW great. Too bad Anderson has no love for the sport and wants to get out asap.

[Bullrider]

It's still kicking and very much alive in the UK, which is 40x smaller than the US. Really don't know what happened here.

[Silence]

UK fighter carrying HW boxing for years. Fury, Joshua, Whyte, Parker etc. Ruiz is already from Mexico. Zhang is from China. Usyk and Hrgovic are from slavic lands.

Wilder is the only American who is solidly active in the sport.

[Dr. Z]

What exactly is the reason why Wilder vs Ruiz didn't materialize?

You figure these two would meet. They don't have better options. I say Wilder is to blame . As fat as he is Ruiz can't still fight and hit. Wilder knows this.

USA boxing heavyweight boxing at the elite level is on life support.

[Dr. Z]

There are only 1,504 rostered players in the NFL, 903 in the NHL, 750 in MLB and 450 in the NBA. Leaving it limited to those 4 sports, thats only 3,607 great athletes that those team sports are "stealing away" from the athlete/fighter talent pool.

With 8,061,550,000 living people, there's bound to be some left over who can fight better than they can play Football.

Moreover, if Marc Gastineau, Budda Paris, Too Tall Jones, Lyle Alzado, Ray Edwards, LaVeon Bell, Adam Braidwood, Tex Hamer, Mike Balogun, Alonzo Highsmith, Eddie Blake, Tony Faeth, Tom Zbikowski, Jack Torrance, Ray Richards, Earl Nolan, Al Nesser, Leif Larsen, Craig Wolfley and George Linberger are any indication of how those guys would do; boxing isn't missing a thing.

In Boxing, being a great athlete is vitally important, but being a great natural fighter matters 10 times more.

A soft, pasty scrapper beating the snots out of a perfect beach physique....if I had a nickel for every time I've seen it.

When did NFL football, NHL, or MLB ever have someone decent walk away for that sport and choose boxing??? How about never. Get it right, boxing takes the rejects from these sports, not the other way around. Boxing is not taking away from them. That is a false narrative used by guys who don't know what they are talking about. Don't buy into what they are saying.

If you ever saw a basketball guy fight, you'd know why the don't box! I can't name one MLB player of NHL player who switched to boxing.

Football for sure has crossovers, but only because they are out if football and trying to make some $.

In general the cross over athletes are upper with fighter's... heavyweights.

But what about horse racing jockeys? I do not and do not follow flyweight's or bantam weights closely. Boxing and horse racing are for men weighing below 126 pounds!

[MikeyMike100]

Wilder waiting for the Joshua fight. Both guys want a lot of money which they probably cant get