Heavyweight boxing hopes

It’s been years since heavyweight boxing made headline news in sports. Back in the day, the heavyweights dominated the fight game. The big guys were the heavy hitters and they were colorful, too. Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Evander Holyfield were bigger than life in and out of the ring. They were Americans revered by the American public and because the money in boxing was controlled by American impresarios, it stood to reason that heavyweight boxing was popular and profitable because of the American fighters.

When the Klitschkos began to rule the heavyweight division, the American dollar went elsewhere and made its way to finance the lighter weight classes where Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto created a huge market for Americans, Latinos and Asians in the US. It wasn’t an indictment on the Klitschko brothers Vitali and Wladimir who are Ukrainians. But let’s face facts. They’re basically plodders, using their size to mow down opponents with an unexciting and clubbing style. The dearth of American contenders exacerbated the situation, leaving the American public out of the heavyweight loop. In The Ring Magazine’s latest top 10 pound-for-pound ratings, not a single heavyweight is listed. 

Vitali’s last six fights were held in Europe and 14 of Wladimir’s last 15 bouts were also staged in Europe. Vitali, 44, fought his last fight in 2012 while Wladimir, 39, was dethroned as WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO champion by Manchester’s Tyson Fury in Dusseldorf last Saturday. The Klitschkos never really captured the imagination of American ring fans.

Fury, 27, is now recognized as world heavyweight king by four governing organizations. The WBC is the only body that doesn’t acknowledge Fury. The WBC titleholder is Alabama’s Deontay Wilder, nicknamed the Bronze Bomber. Wilder, 30, has a 35-0 record, with 34 KOs. The only man who has survived the distance with Wilder was Haiti’s Bermane Stiverne in a 12-round bout last January. Although Stiverne went the full route, he was hardly competitive as the judges scored it 118-109, 119-108 and 120-107 for Wilder.

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Fury’s ascension is a huge boost for heavyweight boxing, particularly as Wilder holds the only world title that the Britisher doesn’t. Surely, the American public will buy a unification showdown. Fury is a flamboyant character, unlike the Klitschkos, so he’ll know how to bring the crowds in. Before fighting Klitschko, Fury was all over the media with his antics, including dressing as Batman and insulting the Ukrainian. 

Aside from Fury and Wilder, there is one other world heavyweight champion – Russia’s 37-year-old Ruslan Chagaev who has a 34-2-1 record, with 21 KOs.  Chagaev is the WBA’s “regular” champion as differentiated from Fury who is the WBA’s “super” champion. The WBA has the distinct reputation of being the most unscrupulous organization of all with no interest to uphold the integrity of boxing. The WBA recognizes 44 world champions in 17 weight divisions broken down into seven “super,” 16 “regular,” 16 “interim,” two “undisputed,” two “unified,” and one “in recess” titleholders. In the WBA context, the more, the merrier because every world title fight means sanction fees for the coffers.

Fury has a 25-0 record, with 18 KOs. He stands 6-9 and has an 85-inch wingspan Fury turned pro in 2008 and has fought only thrice outside of England. He won decisions in Dublin and Quebec and got off the canvas to stop Steve Cunningham at Madison Square Garden in 2013. In beating Klitschko, Fury was deducted a point for a rabbit punch but had more than enough cushion to earn the nod of the three judges by scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111.

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Wilder is undefeated like Fury. He stands 6-7 and has an 83-inch reach. In 2013, Wilder invaded Sheffield to take out Audley Harrison in a single round before a shocked English homecrowd. Harrison, the Olympic superheavyweight gold medalist in 2000, never fought again. A duel with Fury will surely draw huge attention in England. Harrison remains a popular figure among English fans who’ll want revenge on Wilder.

Wilder isn’t a household name in boxing at the moment. That’s because the heavyweights have been overshadowed by the welterweights and the middleweights. But with the end of the Klitschko dynasty, fans might be turned on to heavyweight boxing again. Wilder was an Olympic bronze medalist in 2008 and has two daughters and two sons.  He could be on the way to restoring the prestige and popularity of heavyweight boxing in the American market. 

Fury and Wilder are the great heavyweight boxing hopes today. It’s within their power to bring back the glory days of heavyweight boxing. They shouldn’t avoid each other. They should unify the heavyweight division as an example for other divisions to follow. What’s causing fans to lose interest in boxing is the crass proliferation of world champions for commercial purposes. Fury and Wilder could show the way by facing off to determine who’s the undisputed world heavyweight champion. That’s the fight to bring back life to heavyweight boxing and preserve the integrity of the fight game as a whole.