By Gari Jones: My last article was too looking at the way Heavyweight boxing has declined since the Klitschko’s emerged as the dominant force – http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/01/why-the-klitschko%e2%80%99s-are-ruining-the-heavyweight-division-pt-1/
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/01/why-the-klitschko%E2%80%99s-are-ruining-the-heavyweight-division-pt-2/
(Since that totally didn’t turn out the way I wanted it, I revised it all and tried again).
Since the 70’s the Heavyweight division has long been a deliverer of classic fights, entertaining nights and making heroes out of boxers. But it’s fair to say that the current Heavyweight division is lacking some spark since the days when Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis were around. The Klitschko brothers have held the mantle of Heavyweight Champions for many years now and since that time a lot of appeal has gone from it.
The real topic should have been are the Klitschko’s to blame for the decline of the heavyweight division? (Not why they are ruining it) the answer is NO, it’s the sanctioning bodies of professional boxing and the greedy promoters looking for a fast buck that are mostly to blame. Currently the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO are the recognized bodies, but then there’s the NABF, IBO, WBF and the WBU with all these sanctioning bodies, promoters and boxers of lesser rankings all looking to make money from it, then it’s no wonder the division is declining.
The Klitschko’s are not ruining Heavyweight boxing (and I admit that it was short sighted to say) but I reckon they do fail to appeal and connect to people outside of Eastern Europe. The heavyweight division needs a charismatic icon, somebody that excites a crowd just by the utterance of his very name. This was once Muhammad Ali a man who had the whole world in his corner. People remember him for his fast wit and humor, but mostly for great fight’s like RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE and the THRILLER IN MANILLA; these fights had the whole world watching and have long been talked about as some of the greatest bouts ever. Boxing needs this drama and I don’t think that the Klitschko’s last couple of fights has really been delivering on that.
I don’t think it’s the problem that the Klitschko’s aren’t as charismatic or don’t have a witty personality OF ALI, it’s just there fighting styles and their more laid back personalities are not made for American TV. I think it’s the same for most of the other talent that is coming from the former Soviet Union, people like Adamek, Povetkin, Denis Boystov and Ruslan Chagaev are the other names that are topping the division right now, these people are not really the iconic showman type, they’re more focused on winning, training properly, acting right and getting the job done than being an entertainer. That is probably some of the reasons people are losing interest in the heavyweights and turning their attention to the welterweight side of it, because it offers more excitement.
So where does the spark come from? America, it has long been the home of boxing entertainment, Las Vegas and New York have always enjoyed putting on a show especially for the Heavyweights. America has some decent Heavyweights in the shape of Tony Thompson, Eddie Chambers and Chris Arreola but all three have of them have lost to Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko at some point in their career and since those defeats none of them have really done anything that makes them stand out.
So what about the UK? Well there is Derek Chisora who has a chance to take Wladimir’s belts on the 30th April, (despite the fact I don’t think he’s earned this chance right now, I think Derek will perform better than Chambers did) however I don’t see Chisora as someone to become the person vitalize the division.
The only other person really is David Haye, who despite being charismatic, a boxer of good ability and the WBA Title holder; he too has failed to add that spark needed to ignite that interest. Now seeing as the Klitschko’s with the gentleman laid back persona and their dominance in the ring over people isn’t going to change things anytime soon, so what will?
Although some people won’t agree with this I reckon David Haye is the one most likely to do it, Haye seems to be able to rile and stir the Klitschko’s up a bit especially Wladimir. He’s been vocal many times about Haye angry even, that promotional video he made calling Haye out certainly for me made things interesting, and now with him claiming to be ready for the 2nd of July just over 2 months after he fight’s Derek Chisora, shows how a little banter between foes can get things fired up.
To cap it all off I’d say its unlikely the glory days of when the Heavyweight division was the most entertaining division to watch, the division is declining on the American entertainment type of stage but it is not declining on the Eastern European stage, with that part of the world becoming the force in the heavyweight division I guess more Klitschko like fighters will keep coming forward and in the future control fights from the first round to when the fight ends.
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