(Photo credit: Esther Linb/Showtime) By NickOfTime: The heavyweight division is not only the most coveted and revered division in the sport of boxing, it was once the crown jewel of the pay-per-view market. All of the big paid fights stemmed from the heavy weight division Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Tommy Morrison and George Foreman all laid the foundation for the mega fights to be sold on television.
A division that is almost non existent in the pay-per-view game anymore has been taken over by a generation of fighters in the lower weight divisions, De La Hoya, Hatton, more currently Manny Pacquiao, Tim Bradley, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto and of course Floyd Mayweather. Will the Heavyweights ever regain what was theirs, could unbeaten American Deontay Wilder change all that.
Currently Floyd Mayweather who holds straps in several of the lower classes reigns supreme in the pay-per-view stadium, but could the rise of newcomer Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KO’s) shatter that and dethrone Floyd. Wilder apparently has all the right tools to be the next great fighter and the next pay-per-view star, sometimes overpowering size advantage, devastating knockout power, charisma ,a good back story (fighting for his daughter) and above all he’s American. with all these weapons at his disposal could he overtake the king. Wilder now holds the WBC heavyweight belt that he claimed from Bermane Stiverne, his first title fight which brought in over 1 million views, not a bad start in my opinion. Think what a unification bout against Wladimir Klitschko could do in terms of buys.
Klitschko is set to defend against American Bryant Jennings on April 25th, meaning a fight between him and Wilder won’t take place anytime soon. Wilder has publicly admitted he would like to add Tyson Fury to the long list of his victims. A fight that would be fun to watch due in part to Fury’s outspoken nature, but would it do well on pay-per-view, and does Fury have the fan base needed to make it not only a big fight but one that would sell? Deontay not only needs a good opponent for his next fight but one who could attract the attention of people willing to spend money on the fight.
With all that being said, Mayweather has only two fights left on his contract and may or may not retire at the end of this year. Unless Wilder were to unify the division within the year we may never know. The answer to this will reside with Floyd’s next move, does he retire and leave a hole to be filled by the next great, or does he hang around and clench on to what has been his for so long.
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