By John F. McKenna (McJack): The heavyweight division was once the glamour division in boxing. And it was that way when the Great John L. Sullivan became the first heavyweight champion of the world by knocking out Paddy Ryan in nine rounds in 1882. Before Sullivan there was no world heavyweight champion as we know it today.

Ryan had been considered the heavyweight champion of America before losing to Sullivan. Because Sullivan had defeated Ryan and had international experience he was considered by many to be the first heavyweight champion of the world.

Sullivan has been referred to as America’s first superstar and fought in an era when boxing, though outlawed in some states was extremely popular. Sullivan was unique in that he made the transition from the bare knuckle era (The London Prize Ring Rules) to the gloved era (The Marquess of Queensbury Rules). Sullivan also participated in the last bare knuckle championship fight when he knocked out Jake Kilrain in the 75th round on July 8, 1889. In any case Sullivan eventually became recognized as the heavyweight champion of the world.

Sullivan was followed by a long line of heavyweight champions, some of whom were great and almost all of them were American, save for a couple of very brief interludes when Max Schmeling won the title in the early 1930’s and when Ingemar Johansson knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1959. Both Schmeling and Johansson’s reigns were brief and the title came back to it’s rightful place in America.

The idea that a foreigner could be heavyweight champion of the world was repugnant to most Americans. It was thought by many on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean that the heavyweight title belonged over here. In our arrogance many Americans thought that the Europeans could not really fight. The east Europeans were even worse.

During all of those 100 plus years the heavyweight division continued to be the glamour division in boxing. Then in 1989 there was a crack in the Berlin Wall and eventually all the Soviet Bloc countries came tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.

I remember thinking at the time that after all the terrific athletes we had seen in the Olympics, some great professional fighters would ultimately be coming out of the former Soviet Bloc countries.

It has been pretty well acknowledged that today’s athletes, due to advanced training and nutrition etc are superior to the athletes of thirty and forty years ago. Presumably this is also true of boxing where almost every top tier fighter has a conditioning coach in addition to his trainer. One would suppose that a rational thinker would agree that given that today’s fighters are better athletes at the lower weights that the improvement would also extend to the heavyweights as well.

Not so fast. What we have been hearing, particularly from the American media and fans is that the heavyweights of today are mediocre at best. That is the reason being given that the Klitschko’s have been so dominant over the past half dozen years.

When comparing present fighters with past ring greats we must remember that in many instances we look fondly back at fighters from our youth with rose colored glasses. I am just as guilty as anyone when it comes to that.

But it is time to take off the rose colored glasses. During the mid 1960’s Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston were spoken of as “heralding in the new era of super heavyweights.” Clay was 6’3” and weighed around 210 pounds in 1964. Liston was 6’1” and weighed 214 pounds. My all time favorite Joe Louis was 6’1” and weighed about 200 pounds in his prime. Joe Frazier was 6’0” and weighed 206 pounds for his 1st fight with Muhammad Ali. Going back in time the great Jack Dempsey was 6’1” and weighed 185 pounds when he destroyed Jess Willard. Rocky Marciano was 5’10” and also weighed about 185 pounds.

When David Haye tangled with Wladimir Klitschko on July 2nd he was listed at 6’3” and 212 pounds. I’m not for a minute going to place Haye in the same category as the aforementioned fighters. But the way he was easily handled by the bigger, stronger Wladimir Klitschko fairly well illustrates how difficult it would be for a fighter from the past to survive against the new breed of super heavyweights.

I am not willing for a minute to write off today’s heavyweights. There is a whole host of new super sized heavyweights emerging on the scene. One of whom will eventually become heavyweight champion of the world. The problem American fans have is that most of the really good heavyweights do not come from America anymore. We had better stop whining and get used to the idea. It is not likely to change anytime soon.