HW division is so depressing... Will it ever get back to at least 90's quality?

[HitmanTommy]

The heavyweight division is the creme of the crop in boxing. There's no debating that. It's just depressing seeing the sad state it's in right now. The top boxers right now are a joke. Wilder is nothing but a heavy handed brawler with enormous one punch KO power, Fury and Ortiz are fat fuukks, AJ is a coward. Is this really the best the heavyweight division has to offer?

What happened to high quality technical fighters like Lewis, Holyfield, TYSON???

Not only that but what happened to the fighters a couple of tiers below the elites of the 90's such as Bowe, Bruno, Mercer, Morrison. This group would wipe the floor with todays top HW's, let alone the elites of the 90's.

Even the cannon fodder at the bottom such as Cooper, Ruddock, Grant, Briggs, Mccall and Rahman etc. made some exciting fights every now and then.

It just seems that todays HW division is lacking in quality fighters.

The lower divisions are fine, but the Heavyweight division is the King of Boxing.

What's going on here?

[Citizen Koba]

The heavyweight division is the creme of the crop in boxing. There's no debating that. It's just depressing seeing the sad state it's in right now. The top boxers right now are a joke. Wilder is nothing but a heavy handed brawler with enormous one punch KO power, Fury and Ortiz are fat fuukks, AJ is a coward. Is this really the best the heavyweight division has to offer?

What happened to high quality technical fighters like Lewis, Holyfield, TYSON???

Not only that but what happened to the fighters a couple of tiers below the elites of the 90's such as Bowe, Bruno, Mercer, Morrison. This group would wipe the floor with todays top HW's, let alone the elites of the 90's.

Even the cannon fodder at the bottom such as Cooper, Ruddock, Grant, Briggs, Mccall and Rahman etc. made some exciting fights every now and then.

It just seems that todays HW division is lacking in quality fighters.

The lower divisions are fine, but the Heavyweight division is the King of Boxing.

What's going on here?

Nostalgia much? Frankie fkn Bruno and Tommy Morrison wipe the floor with todays HWs?

It'll never seem the same because boxing ain't the same - these dudes were household names because boxing was a much more popular sport and the hype and mystique behind these guys was massively greater... H2H? Probably not much in it between the top guys then and now... same old same old though.

If every generation since history began was right about the decline in masculinity since their fathers' day the males of today would have barely the strength to survive til adulthood yet alone the strength or conviction to even think about lacing up a pair of boxing gloves or... god forbid.. throwing a punch.

[_original_]

Probably not anytime soon but it's actually a lot funner and relevant today than the dreadful Klitschko era.

[SeGoodland]

The heavyweight division is the creme of the crop in boxing. There's no debating that. It's just depressing seeing the sad state it's in right now. The top boxers right now are a joke. Wilder is nothing but a heavy handed brawler with enormous one punch KO power, Fury and Ortiz are fat fuukks, AJ is a coward. Is this really the best the heavyweight division has to offer?

What happened to high quality technical fighters like Lewis, Holyfield, TYSON???

Not only that but what happened to the fighters a couple of tiers below the elites of the 90's such as Bowe, Bruno, Mercer, Morrison. This group would wipe the floor with todays top HW's, let alone the elites of the 90's.

Even the cannon fodder at the bottom such as Cooper, Ruddock, Grant, Briggs, Mccall and Rahman etc. made some exciting fights every now and then.

It just seems that todays HW division is lacking in quality fighters.

The lower divisions are fine, but the Heavyweight division is the King of Boxing.

What's going on here?

YAWN!!!
The Heavyweights now are massive...bottom line, other than Lewis, the other HW's of that era are too small compared to the likes of Fury, Joshua and Wilder. Joshua and Wilder knock them all out. Fury would out range them round after round.

[The Big Dunn]

I actually think the HWT division is far more interesting than its been in 10-15 years. AJ/Wilder might be the biggest fight of the year. Wilder/Fury will be huge. AJ/Whyte will be big in England. You have Ortiz, Miller, Brazeale that will make decent fights. Joyce and Efe Ajagba are top prospects. Add to that Usyk, arguably the top p4p boxer in the sport, is moving to HWT.

[sunny31]

I actually think the HWT division is far more interesting than its been in 10-15 years. AJ/Wilder might be the biggest fight of the year. Wilder/Fury will be huge. AJ/Whyte will be big in England. You have Ortiz, Miller, Brazeale that will make decent fights. Joyce and Efe Ajagba are top prospects. Add to that Usyk, arguably the top p4p boxer in the sport, is moving to HWT.

This. It's actually interesting now, the Klitschkos level of competition was generally horrible, it's a shame Fury, Joshua, Wilder didn't come a little sooner during Wlads prime, big men who could create problems for him, but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Whilst all 3 might not be quite as polished as a prime Wlad, they are good fighters with size, athleticism and ability in combination.

The only thing I agree is the 90s were for sure a stronger era, but it also shows how rare and special a truly great heavyweight is.

[The Big Dunn]

This. It's actually interesting now, the Klitschkos level of competition was generally horrible, it's a shame Fury, Joshua, Wilder didn't come a little sooner during Wlads prime, big men who could create problems for him, but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Whilst all 3 might not be quite as polished as a prime Wlad, they are good fighters with size, athleticism and ability in combination.

The only thing I agree is the 90s were for sure a stronger era, but it also shows how rare and special a truly great heavyweight is.

I think the 90's era was better because the guys are a smaller, more athletic and more skilled. Pool of talent was much deeper. They all fought each other.

That said, you easily could make 4 or 5 cards headlined by HWT fights that would really be interesting. If not that, you could make like an Ortiz/Joyce fight as a semi main for a Charlo, Hurd or Spence card that would attract more viewers.

IMO the sport is always better off when the HWT division is interesting and exciting.

[clemenza]

Bigger is not always better. Some of the mentioned above in today’s world is ok. Styles make fights , Ray Mercer jaw carries him to victory over Wilder. Rahman right hand puts Dominick Brazeale to sleep Quick. Tommy Morrison vs Big Baby Miller that’s a toss up. A gun to my head I’m taking Morrison. Whyte vs Frank Bruno or Razor Ruddock
I’m taking Razor. Maybe the above poster is not that crazy.
I think AJ gets beat up by Lennox rather easily . Fury style makes him a tough out against anyone. Then again that’s why these discussion are great.
And that’s that

[turnedup]

It's a different era, and a different climate. You have guys the size of these heavyweights making hundreds of thousands a year providing babysitting duties for CEO's and celebs without getting punched in the face. Plus football plays a big part in this as well as they invested more money in getting in front of these potential athletes at earlier ages. Boxing isn't what it used to be in the inner city either, whereas 25 years ago you had a boxing gym almost everywhere that's not the case these days.

[EasternEuroFan]

I don't really care if the fighters now are as good as another era or not, because that's something that can't be changed. it's based on opinion anyway and the fighters are what they are.

The division today can be great if we get the top fighters fighting each other regularly. We got Wilder v Fury which was a start.

There's enough decent fighters in the division to make it exciting, it's just getting the fights made.

Besides, people look back at things with rose tinted glasses and make it out to be something it wasn't. The 90's still had guys like Tommy Morrison, Briggs, Bruno etc. holding titles. A guy like Fury would whoop them. It wasn't just dominated by loads of great fighters like people think, there was only a small handful of really good fighters.