I can remember when being the world heavy weight champ was the coolest thing in the world. what happend?

Question

did tyson ruin that image or is it something else. most people can't even name a boxer in the heavy weight division.

Answer 1

Too many of today's young athletes who would make good heavyweight fighters are becoming Tight Ends or Power Forwards.

What has hurt the heavyweight division recently is the lack of a true figure that the public can really rally behind and gain their interest.

You have several fighters now from the former Soviet union.  But many of them are not exciting or charismatic.

Sultan Ibragomiv - Dull style with no personality

Nicolay Valuev - Granted he is huge but his style is ponderous

Ruslan Chagaev - See Ibragimov

And the leader of hte pack is Wladimir Kitschko.  He has the tools but his concerns with his chin and stamina force him to fight in a too-cautious manner.  And while very well-spoken, he is not very quote worthy.

Samuel Peter is another champion from Nigeria.  He has impressive power but once again is very soft spoken.

And for years, fighters like Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, Jameel McCline and a well-past-his-prime Evander Holyfield were the most notable American boxers.  And their lack of excitement drove people from the heavyweight division.

But there are some good young fighters that will be hopefully becoming mainstream soon.  David Haye, an English fighter with a big punch and self-assured personality, has moved from cruiserweight to heavyweight and is calling out the world.  Chris Arreola, an American of Mexican decent, is another one to bring some waves.  He just destroyed another undefeated fighter on HBO.  He has an exciting style and I interviewed him on my radio show.  To him, being the heavyweight champion IS the coolest thing in the world.

To recapture interest, a heavyweight needs to come along with power and charisma.  See Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, etc.  It will happen!  And the sooner the better!!!

PS - That dude with the first answer cracked me up, almost to the point of throwing up at my desk.  UFC and MMA are highly respected.  But this guy knows nothing what he is talking about.  Since boxers fight with padded gloves, they are not "real men".  What a load of hogwash.  Try getting hit with one of those padded gloves.  And "beat the c**p out of each other".  Yeah, that is what you call rolling on the ground for 5 minutes at the time and jockeying for a submission.  Go watch the fight from last weekend and tell me what was more exciting and more grueling:  The 30 second Anderson Silva waste of PPV money a few weeks ago or the bloody war between Cotto and Margarito last Saturday!!!  I will take the boxing match ANY day of the week!!!

Answer 2

Boxing took a page from MMA by not using black fighters there are a lot of heavy weight black fighter out here that you never heard of and there are some that you have but what happen to them I will tell you the promoters pulled the plug on them. Now all you see are Mexican and whites I don,t have a problem with that but I do want to see the best fighters in the world fight not what the promoters want us to see

Answer 3

What happend  to Tyson was when his manager died he died right along with him. Tyson came from an alley where no one cared for him.,Along comes a man that picked him up. Gave him something he never had before, the love of another human being. Had his manager not died Tyson would have become CHAMP of the world. Think about it, Whas he out their doing that crazy stuff when his manager was alive?   NO !   The image is still cool there was Marciano, Listoon, Forman, That's just a small amont of heavy weights to mention They go on and on and on, and they will for as long as you and I exist.

Answer 4

4 things that i think have affected the heavyweight division

1.promoters and sanctioning bodies greed and underhanded tactics have damaged the sport overall. neither one cares about the sport only about the money. how do you get someone who is just a boxing novice fan to undestand the 4 belt champion system, unified rules, ranking,etc without them just giving up on it

2The problem in america is the rise of other sports. when being the heavyweight champ was the coolest thing you only had baseball as the other big sport because the nfl and nba were still developing in the 1940's to 1970's into what they are today, so being a heavyweight champ in america was the only other thing.In europe being the heavyweight champ is the biggest thing because football and basketball isn't as big

3. fighters. There really hasn't been a interesting american fighter since ali. tyson was more of a "sideshow- look at how much damage he causes kind of fighter" and didn't have the things needed outside of the ring to be liked. where as ali was involved in both political and civil issues during his time, he was charasmatic, likable and all around good guy. he was a victim of the social change and defied odds in what he believed in.

4.  the ameture ranks has no real american heavyweight talent to market. it was the show before the show and now you have these horrible horrible ametures trying to win a gold medal

Answer 5

steriods

Answer 6

Lack of an undisputed champion.

Answer 7

I am assuming you are referring to the US only...

Boxing just isn't as popular among the public or potential athletes in the US. This nation has a plethora of athletic outlets, of which many don't require being punched in the face. Team sports especially have skyrocketed in popularity leaving many with more lucrative options.

Also, especially in the US...the mystique of the boxing heavyweight champion has lost it's luster with the alphabet soup divisions and it's various "champions". Additionally, MMA's rising popularity has silenced many into thinking boxers are the baddest fighters on earth.

Answer 8

There are a few reasons for this in my opinion To many belts" Champion of the world was one man now its at least four".

Heavyweights are to big now there slow & cumberson & also there are alot more combat sports to watch now

Answer 9

blame it on the economy....it used to be either make money boxing or starve...the participants were the best of the best! Now with social programs such as food stamps,housing etc....the only people we see are --want to Be's--Today's boxers are not even in the same league with fighters of yesteryear!

Answer 10

Heavy weight fighters became boring after tyson and hollyfield era.. throw couple punches, which by the way doesnt even look like how a pro punches, and then hug a bit, in the end they just get a decission no knockdowns even made. combinations not really good as well. Why on earth would you wanna watch that kind of fight if you can watch smaller boxers fight with more drama and excitement? look how the featherweight division shine today, or the wealter weight perhaps.. Thats because guys like margarito, cotto, pacman or JMM really give youre moneys worth. thats what people wanna see, couple of knockdowns, very good combos, bloody chin or nose perhaps and a lot of punches, not a lot of hugging. There is just not much excitement and intensity on the heavy weight these days.

- i hope it helped.

Answer 11

the real fighters go to the octagon

who wants to watch to men with padded gloves fight when you can watch to men beat the c**p out of each other

Answer 12

why isnt it cool now because there are no american champ???