Ron Widelec
14.10 - After watching the recent China Smith - Saul Montana rematch, I felt the need to vent a bit about the current situation that exists between the Heavyweight and Cruiserweight divisions; namely, the flow of cruiserweight fighters that try their hands (and chins) in the heavyweight ranks. This is different from all other adjacent divisions, where traditional boxing logic has always been to force yourself to make weight at the lower division, to give yourself a size advantage over the other fighters. Cruiserweights, it seems, are always trying to eat their way into a higher division, and more disadvantaged position.
China Smith had been touted as a top heavyweight prospect, knocking out 22 of his first 23 opponents, on route to a 23-0 record at 24 years of age. This seemed even more impressive because Smith is a small heavyweight, at 6'2, 215 pounds. And to make him even more interesting, he is a southpaw.
Well, that's what we all knew about China Smith leading up to his first match with Saul Montana. Montana is a chubby Mexican heavyweight that began at supper middleweight, and slowly, over the last 16 years has migrated to the heavyweight division.
Well, in the first match, we all learned something very important about China Smith. We learned how appropriate CHINA Smith's name is, because he showed an extremely fragile chin. He also showed what happens to a fighter that is pampered for the early years of his career. Smith got hit with the kind of looping overhand rights that a blind man can block. Well, in the rematch it was more of the same, and China Smith's career as a heavyweight is all but over.
During the fight, I found out a bit of information about Smith that did not surprise me one bit. China Smith started his career at 188 pounds, in the cruiserweight division. At cruiserweight he showed a great deal of punching power, so some little birdy must have whispered in his ear, convincing him of the riches he could amass with that kind of power in the heavyweight division.
When you think about it, not many fighters that move up from the cruiserweight division, become top heavyweight contenders. The most obvious success story of a cruiser campaigning at heavyweight is Evander Holyfield. Holyfield moved to the heavyweight division in 1990 seeking bigger fights, bigger money, and specifically targeting Mike Tyson. Holyfield went on to become one of the best heavyweights of the 90's, fighting, and usually, beating the best out their. Holyfield become a champion numerous times, amassed tremendous sums of money, and achieved all-time great status. The next, and so far only, other true success story of a cruiserweight gone heavyweight is Mike Moorer. Moorer actually never fought at cruiserweight. He began at 175 pounds, and had been crushing his opponents. He had a big punch, and excellent skills. He decided to bypass the cruiserweight ranks (I refer to him as a cruiser because that would have been his natural weight class) and move right to heavyweight. He would become a two time champion, and even defeat Holyfield once. However, Moorer's success was short lived. He was unable to hold the titles for long, and has since been struggling to get himself back into the title picture.
Most other heavyweights that began at cruiserweights have had little success in recent years. With dreams of being the next Holyfield type story, cruiserweights are enchanted with the huge purses of the heavyweights. And this is what happened to China Smith. Even with his "China" chin, he would have been able to have a fruitful cruiserweight career. His power would have been sizable at 190, and he would have been a larger cruiserweight. Instead, he chose to be a smaller heavyweight.
Considering that boxing centers so much on Vegas, you might think that these fighters would be a little more schooled on ODDS. At some point, a cruiserweight must make a decision; Would he rather be a big cruiserweight, or a smaller heavyweight? A better way to look at it would be "would you rather have a good chance to make decent money and gain a title, or would you rather have a very small chance to make a very large amount of money. Good odds to win decent, or bad odds to win big?
Boxing is a business like all sports, and you cannot fault a fighter too much for taking such risks. Where would boxing be without the risk takers that make the sport so great? However, you can, and should, fault the managers and promoters, that handle a fighter's career. There is a right way to go about a move from cruiserweight to heavyweight. Fighters looking to repeat the succes of Holyfield should perhaps study his rise to the heavyweight division, and learn something. Holyfield did not move to the heavyweights until after very successful campaigns at cruiserweight. Holyfield cut his teeth at cruiser, and became the best cruiserweight of all time. Only after this, did he move up in weight. Moorer was a successful light-heavyweight before moving up, and his success was considerably less that Holyfields. When Holyfield moved up to heavyweight, he at least had developed great skills, and a battle tested chin.
China Smith did not know his chin would not stand up to a decent punch until Montana put his lights out. Had he campaigned at cruiser for a while, he may have realized that and stayed at lower weights. At 6'2 190 pounds, Smith would have been a dangerous cruiser, and a possible champion.
An intelligent fighter would have taken the road less traveled. Two perfect examples of this are Vasilly Jirov, and Juan Carlos Gomez. Both were top cruiserweights. Both were curious about their odds at heavyweight, but chose to campaign at cruiser first. After having successful careers at 190 pounds they both started testing the waters at heavyweight. Jirov decided that he didn't like his odds at heavyweight, and went back to 190 pounds and is not considered the best cruiserweight in the world. Gomez decided to campaign at heavyweight, and at 6'3 has physically developed into a fair sized heavyweight. Gomez has yet to face a top heavyweight, but he is a fighter to keep an eye on. His success at heavyweight is far from assured, but through better management he will almost certainly do better then China Smith, and others that jumped too quickly, with no thought of the odds.
