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Where have you gone, George Foreman?
By MURRAY GREIG -- Edmonton Sun
Bob Arum has often been accused of failing to load his brain before he shoots off his mouth. But when it comes to assessing the current quagmire that is boxing's heavyweight division, he's ****-on.
The veteran promoter and top gun at Top Rank Inc. said last week he attributes the downfall of American heavyweights to talented amateur athletes gravitating to football and basketball - sports that offer instant riches merely for turning pro rather than toiling for years in boxing's backwater, waiting for a big payday.
The numbers support Arum's theory.
Only one American super heavyweight - Tyrell Biggs in 1984 - has struck Olympic gold since George Foreman turned the trick at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. Prior to Foreman, four Americans won super heavyweight gold medals in the previous 13 Olympics.
TALENT POOL DRYING UP
"All of our big homegrown guys are going into basketball and football, and turning their backs on boxing," says Arum, who cut his teeth in the sweet science as a promoter for Muhammad Ali nearly four decades ago. "The talent pool, at least for American heavyweights, is almost completely dried up."
The fragmentation of the championship hasn't helped, either. For 83 years - from John L. Sullivan in 1882 to Ali in 1965 - there was a single, universally recognized world heavyweight champion. That string began to unwind in 1965 when the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association opted for separate sanctionings after Ali bypassed Ernie Terrell, the WBA's No. 1 contender, in favour of a rematch with Sonny Liston. That led to the first WBA-only title bout, between Terrell and Eddie Machen, on March 5, 1965.
The floodgates were opened.
After Larry Holmes told both the WBC and WBA to take a hike in 1983, the International Boxing Federation was formed and gained instant cachet when Holmes won its inaugural title. That was followed by the World Boxing Organization, which crowned Italy's Francesco Damiani as its first champ in 1989.
The reigns of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and the second coming of Foreman - who regained the title at age 45 - briefly stalled the heavyweight title fragmentation and the division's dominance by non-Americans. Today, however, only 34 of the combined Top 15 rankings in the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO are occupied by U.S.-born fighters. And only one of them - Calvin Brock, at 29-0 - boasts an unblemished record. All four heavyweight title belts are currently held by fighters from the former Soviet Union.
"Before, I was sure that the best heavyweights in the world came from America," says Russian-born Timur Ibragimov (21-1-1, 13 KOs), whom Brock decisioned on June 24 .
'THEY NEVER SAY AN AMERICAN'
"Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Mike Tyson. Now the champions are coming from Russia. When you ask anybody who the best (heavyweight) is today, they say (Wladimir) Klitschko or somebody else from Eastern Europe. They never say an American."
But Arum hasn't lost faith.
"It will turn around again when the big, young guys in the United States, talented guys, say, 'Look, the chances of me becoming a professional football player or basketball player are not great. Let me go in the direction of becoming a professional fighter.'"
Still, you can't help but wonder when - or if - that will ever happen again. In the meantime, to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel: "George Foreman, a lonely nation turns its eyes to you ..."
By MURRAY GREIG -- Edmonton Sun
Bob Arum has often been accused of failing to load his brain before he shoots off his mouth. But when it comes to assessing the current quagmire that is boxing's heavyweight division, he's ****-on.
The veteran promoter and top gun at Top Rank Inc. said last week he attributes the downfall of American heavyweights to talented amateur athletes gravitating to football and basketball - sports that offer instant riches merely for turning pro rather than toiling for years in boxing's backwater, waiting for a big payday.
The numbers support Arum's theory.
Only one American super heavyweight - Tyrell Biggs in 1984 - has struck Olympic gold since George Foreman turned the trick at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. Prior to Foreman, four Americans won super heavyweight gold medals in the previous 13 Olympics.
TALENT POOL DRYING UP
"All of our big homegrown guys are going into basketball and football, and turning their backs on boxing," says Arum, who cut his teeth in the sweet science as a promoter for Muhammad Ali nearly four decades ago. "The talent pool, at least for American heavyweights, is almost completely dried up."
The fragmentation of the championship hasn't helped, either. For 83 years - from John L. Sullivan in 1882 to Ali in 1965 - there was a single, universally recognized world heavyweight champion. That string began to unwind in 1965 when the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association opted for separate sanctionings after Ali bypassed Ernie Terrell, the WBA's No. 1 contender, in favour of a rematch with Sonny Liston. That led to the first WBA-only title bout, between Terrell and Eddie Machen, on March 5, 1965.
The floodgates were opened.
After Larry Holmes told both the WBC and WBA to take a hike in 1983, the International Boxing Federation was formed and gained instant cachet when Holmes won its inaugural title. That was followed by the World Boxing Organization, which crowned Italy's Francesco Damiani as its first champ in 1989.
The reigns of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and the second coming of Foreman - who regained the title at age 45 - briefly stalled the heavyweight title fragmentation and the division's dominance by non-Americans. Today, however, only 34 of the combined Top 15 rankings in the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO are occupied by U.S.-born fighters. And only one of them - Calvin Brock, at 29-0 - boasts an unblemished record. All four heavyweight title belts are currently held by fighters from the former Soviet Union.
"Before, I was sure that the best heavyweights in the world came from America," says Russian-born Timur Ibragimov (21-1-1, 13 KOs), whom Brock decisioned on June 24 .
'THEY NEVER SAY AN AMERICAN'
"Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Mike Tyson. Now the champions are coming from Russia. When you ask anybody who the best (heavyweight) is today, they say (Wladimir) Klitschko or somebody else from Eastern Europe. They never say an American."
But Arum hasn't lost faith.
"It will turn around again when the big, young guys in the United States, talented guys, say, 'Look, the chances of me becoming a professional football player or basketball player are not great. Let me go in the direction of becoming a professional fighter.'"
Still, you can't help but wonder when - or if - that will ever happen again. In the meantime, to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel: "George Foreman, a lonely nation turns its eyes to you ..."