23.05.05 – By Vaughn M. Featherstone: Big men in big fights usually produces big expectations. However, the big men on Boxing are producing no namke fighters with lesser skill attempting to regain the identity that the division is known for having. What division am I talking about? The Heavyweights. These giants of the fight game have been going unseen and unheard of because of lck of identity, legal issues, and over-rated fighters finding themselves in championship caliber matchups.
Since the early days of Boxing, the division has always had fighters that had identity. You could walk to any bar, barbershop, street corner or any household and mention fighters in the Heavyweight division and you wouild get a heated discussion. You may not find anyone agreeing with another but you would know that the division had identity. These fighters were flamboyant (Ali), punishing (Marciano), charming (Jack Johnson), controversial (Tyson) and heroes (Louis). Some fighters, such as Max Schmeling, were thrown into positions that they were reluctant to represent.
Since the retirement of Lennox Lewis the division is left to have fighters such as Lamon Brewster, Vitali Klitchko and Chris Byrd to carry the torch. This isn’t to say that these fighters do not having any skill. This is to say that they don’t carry the heavyweight mystique.
Enter the “little guys”
Names such as Winky Wright, Diego Corrales, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have exploded on the scene as of late and have taken over this prestigious spot to give Boxing the identity it has seem to lost as of late. These fighters have paved the way for big fights without the legal rambling that the Heavyweights have seem to resort to. If 3 years ago you would have said that Wright would have been the top man at 154 over Shane Mosely and Oscar De La Hoya, you would have been laughed at. In the case of Corrales, a fighter who spent just over a year in prison for domestic abuse, who would have thought that he would be involved in some of the biggest fights (with success) over the past 2 years?
Here is a man who hasn’t ducked anyone and has been in big fight after big fight. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has continued to make his mark as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the World while Manny Pacquiao has become such a dynamo that his name speaks volumes when it comes to punishment. The list could go on and on with fighters like Gatti, who many thought that his career was finished. Kostya Tszyu, who was written off after injury forced cancellations with his fight against Sharmba Mitchel; a fighter that Tsyzu destroyed upon his return.
How about Erik Morales? Big fight after big fight (Marco Antonio Barerra 3 times, Manny Pacquiao, Carlos Alberto Hernandez, Guty Espadas, Jesus Chavez). Or what about Zab Judah? He has come back to win a World title yet once again! Do I need to speak about “The Executioner” Bernard Hopkins?
These little guys have become big men with mega fights as well as mega fight rematches. This is something you don’t see in the Heavyweight division. When was the last time you saw a Heavyweight championship battle that ended with the crowd on their feet go to a rematch? Fights like Klitschko/Lewis should have been a candidate but it never materialized.
The past 2 years have been the dark years for the Heavyweights. Even the great Don King hasn’t been able to bring the division up from the ashes. When Lennox Lewis retired many felt that with the emergence of Vitali and Wlad Klitchko that the division may see two dominate fighters atop the division. Wlad has become a disappointment while many bash Vitali for not fighting the top Heavyweights. James “Lights Out” Toney and Roy Jones had looked to be the guys who would bring this division back to respectability. However, Jones moved back down to Light-Heavyweight and subsequently put his career in jeopardy with 2 crushing knockout losses while James Toney found himself in the middle of a steroid controversey. Chris Byrd, Vitali Klitschko John Ruiz and Lamon Brewster haven’t made any attempts to unify the belts; something that, in the past, was the ultimate and immediate goals of former champions such as Lewis, Tyson, Holyfield and fighters before them. The Heavyweights may have lost their identity and may be on the verge of losing respect in the eyes of Boxing’s purists. Thank God for small wonders.
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