Why exactly is the heavyweight division so weak?

[Capaedia]

Wlad is too good.

He has monopolized the division financially and fistically.

The only way the contenders really get exposure or money is as an opponent of his. They are all about protecting their shot by managing risk carefully. See David Price to find out why.

The contenders also seem to have very little ambition. They are resigned to being beaten comfortably by Wlad, and dont seem to have set themselves up for doing anything afterward.

All of this applies to Vitali to a much lesser extent. Wlad is far and away, the most dominant champion in the sport.


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[Capaedia]

Its improving though. Wlad wont be there forever.


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[Dr Rumack]

A lot of it, like everything else in boxing, is about perception. The dominance of the Klitschkos doesn't make investing time and resources in a young heavyweight seem very attractive right now.

US public isn't that interested in a heavyweight division that isn't controlled by an American (or at least a British) fighter so if you're going to earn any return on your investment, nothing short of beating a Klitschko will do. So right there you have two pretty solid reasons not to invest much money in the heavyweight division, lack of public interest generally, and the fact that only an exceptional talent is good enough.

The upshot of this is that very few heavyweight contenders develop any sort of name recognition, and the division ends up looking like the Klitschkos and a pile of nobodies. The weakness of the division therefore is in a large part down to the economics of the situation. Only a guy who might beat Wlad or Vitali is worth backing and building in a serious way.

I'm not saying this is the only factor, obviously the non-emergence of an exceptional challenger is hugely important too, but nevertheless it has a lot to do with why the division looks as bad as it does.

[bravestone]

It'd be a lot better if we got the top guys fighting each other regularly. But they all hide out in their hometowns fighting for made up belts against tomato cans most of the time. It sucks.

[BennyST]

Outside of the Klitschkos, who has both the talent and the work ethic to be great? No one. That's the biggest problem. Those who work hard don't have the talent. The ones with talent don't work hard.

I'm not getting into the American side of it, I've had that argument a dozen times. People have their own opinions and no one listens to each other.

Completely agree.

[TOBYLEE1]

Two dominant HWs that are never going to fight each other. If there was only one then contenders would had to fight each other. When there are two they run out of contenders quicker and every stagnates waiting for a shot instead of taking risks