Boxing

Don't Like Training? Try Cruiserweight

By Don Deane

07.10 - Ok, no I am not saying that cruiserweight boxers are out of shape. But if your goal is to enter the WBC rankings you now have a bit of leeway. You can add 10 pounds of donuts, muscle, water, whatever the hell you want to fight at 200lbs. instead of 190lbs. And guess what, that it is the only difference it makes. The idea that star small heavyweights will move down to fight in one of boxing's junk divisions is preposterous. There is no way Chris Byrd, Roy Jones, Evander Holyfield or James Toney are all going to drop down to that weight. I even doubt any young guys like Dominick Guinn would follow Rydell Booker and drop down. The money is in heavyweight, and these guys would much rather take the challenge and the paycheck for fighting a bigger guy than take lesser money for fighting guys like Jean Marc-Mormeck, Wayne Braithwaite and Vassily Jirov.

Now to humor the WBC, what if some guys come down to cruiser, or former cruisers move back down. You now have the same problem in cruiser as you have in heavy. The weight range in the WBC cruiserweight division is 25 pounds. The gripe in heavyweight is having a 225lb. guy in there with a 250lb. guy. There will now be 200lb. guys fighting 175lb. guys. It creates the same problem.

I can possibly see this move benefit Davarryl Williamson, Eliecer Castillo, and Marcelo Dominguez who are very small heavyweights and really not skilled enough in the case of Castillo and Dominguez, or too glass-jawed in the case of Williamson to compete with the big guys. It may be worth it to them to move down. Dominguez was a former cruiserweight champ, albeit 6 years ago. I would also like to see Maurice Harris try this out. When Mo weighs more than 220lbs. he just can't win. Granted, it may be tough for Harris to get down to that weight like he was when he decisioned Jeremy Williams 4 years ago, but still, it's something to consider. Harris would wreak havoc as a 200lb. cruiser.

So we have pipe dreams of small star heavyweights fighting at cruiser which won't happen. We have huge weight disparities in two divisions instead of one, which is bad. And we have rejuvenated hopes for small heavyweights who now become the big boys on the block at cruiser, which isn't so bad. But what about the guys already at 190?

Let's start with the champions. First off, James Toney doesn't count, he is a heavyweight now. So we go to Jean Marc-Mormeck. He is 5-11, which isn't a bad height, and weighs in a little under 190. That matches him up well with the stocky Dominguez or 6-1 Castillo. The lanky Williamson or tall Harris could pose size issues. Next up is the 10 time defending WBO cruiser champ Johnny Nelson. Nelson holds wins over Dominguez and George Arias (who also may consider the cruiser division again), and at 6-4, matches well with the taller small heavys. A long layoff is the only issue for Nelson. Recent champ Wayne Braithwaite, who has only fought 3 times in the last 2 years, is of good size. He weighed in at 186 for his last fight. He has also beaten 3 top cruisers in those 3 fights. For that reason I really don't see any of those four heavyweights posing any threat to Braithwaite at this time. I also don't think contenders like Vassily Jirov or O'neil Bell have much to worry about from that competition.

There are also quite a few cruisers that fight over 190lb. now such as Fabrice Tiozzo, Virgil Hill and Guillermo Jones. This additional weight window affords them more ease at the scales. On the downside, I do see former Light heavys like Glenn Kelly moving back down and current light heavys thinking twice about moving up.

In the long run, I do see this move being advantageous to the cruiserweight division and it also brings us one step closer to the super heavyweight/heavyweight breakout that is needed badly. I just don't see a WBC cruiserweight title belt in the future for Byrd or Holyfield. But who knows, maybe Mo Harris can shock the world.

Until next time, be safe and thanks for reading.

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