Heavyweights not really pulling their weight?
Mike Tyson (r) enroute toknocking out Frank Bruno (l) Lewis with his Four Belts
The heavyweight division always had a dominant superstar throughout from John L Sullivan to Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis who held the title over 11 years and made a record 25 successful heavyweight title defenses, the only undefeated heavyweight He held the title over 11 years and made a record 25 successful heavyweight title defenses, Rocky Marciano, with forty-three knockouts to his credit (an 88% knockout rate), remains the only champion in boxing history to retire without a defeat or a draw in his professional career, Three time world champion Muhammad Ali, Joe Fraizer, Larry Holmes, The Oldest heavyweight champion ever at the age of 45, George Foreman.
Who could forget Mike Tyson a world champion at the age of 20 and the first Boxer to unify the three major heavyweight titles, the IBF (International Boxing Federation), WBA (World Boxing Association) and WBC (World Boxing Council) but whose career was cut short by personal difficulties. Riddick Bowe was another talented boxer who was in his prime during the Tyson era, The Real Deal Holyfield a once dominant boxer who had the courage to challenge Tyson in his prime, when most boxers were afraid to be in the ring with him but the dream match along with the Tyson/Bowe match was put on hold indefinitely due to Tyson’s imprisonment, Tyson did eventually fight Holyfield twice (and lose on both occasions) but the bout with Bowe never took place, Lennox Lewis who was the last Undisputed Heavyweight Champion, defeated Holyfield to unite all three major titles along with the lesser IBO (International Boxing Organization) title.
Today’s division consists of talented boxers but no true superstar. The Antics of Mike Tyson, which made so many people tune in to or attend matches, has been sorely missed; the dominance of Lewis has also not been duplicated to this day. Hasim Rahman who did manage to knock Lewis out and was a former world heavyweight champion has never really challenged for the crown after that stunning upset. The Klitschko Brothers were expected to lead the division but Vitaly who has the highest knock out percentage (92%) of any heavyweight champion retired after winning the WBC Championship due to injuries (he has since come out of retirement), younger brother Wladmir continues to box and at this time hold both the IBF and IBO Belts but has not been able to really market himself as well as previous champions did the pre-match build ups were quite drab, unlike the buildup Ali had for his fight’s, Tyson, Lewis, these fighters were real entertainers and knew how to sell their fights. Other divisions are fortunately not facing this problem having marketable stars such as living legend Shane Mosley, Oscar de la hoya, Roy Jones Jr. who held the WBA title for both the light heavyweight and heavyweight but in the end decided to stick to the light heavyweight division.
There is a glimmer of hope though with the Vitaly making a comeback to the sport and the WBC offering him a title shot, with older bother Wladmir the IBF&IBO Champion and making a run at The WBA title along with the fact that the brothers are contemplating a unification bout there is a very strong possibility of the Big Three Organizations recognizing a single champion once again.
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