Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

by TRUSSMAN66 Fri 21 Jun 2013, 8:53 am

I always thought If you were a middleweight champion it was better than being a jr midd champion...sort of by definition....

I'm not sure that's the case these days........ I'd like to go back to 8 divisions but keep two champions a division.......That way we'd always have fights lined up and the fights would tend to be between the best..

Have we reached a time where being a jr lightweight champion is as bigger accolade as being the lightweight champion or are do we still revere the old divisions more ??

by BlakkMamba Fri 21 Jun 2013, 9:13 am

For me it's entirely dependent on the calibre of fighters that are around at the same time.

If you have 5 or 6 elite fighters in the LMW division then being champion there holds more weight than being champ at middle if there are only two or three good fighters.

It would be great going back to 8 divisions - the only thing I would be in favour of is installing a superheavyweight division at the top to get rid of the giants. I think we'd have much more exciting fights at heavyweight if it was capped at say 230lbs, this would eliminate the shambling giants wo win through size alone and the fatties. It would ensure that fighters have to show up in good shape too. Just a thought.

by Rowley Fri 21 Jun 2013, 9:42 am

Never a fan of the superheavyweight division idea Mamba. Think all we need is a small heavyweight of actual talent to remind us it is not necessary. Nobody was calling for such a division when Tyson was in his pomp and can be fairly certain that was he around today there would be similarly few calls for its introduction. For me the last thing the sport needs is more divisions.

by BlakkMamba Fri 21 Jun 2013, 9:50 am

I think this discussion probably needs a thread of its own, as I don't want hijack Truss's thread - a rare disagreement though Wink

by Rowley Fri 21 Jun 2013, 9:56 am

I think it varies across the junior/super divisions Truss. As you know I am a bluff old traditionalist and would prefer to see us only have eight divisions, but even I would have to acknowledge the ones that exist further up the weights were the gap is a little larger such as light middle and super middle and even light welter are not too bad and normally have a decent talent pool. Do think though that at the smaller weight classes where the difference between the classes is a good meal many could be dumped without too much damage to the sport.

Funnily enough given the size of the average heavy now the one division that does make sense is a cruiser division but as we all know this has traditionally been deathly dull

by bellchees Fri 21 Jun 2013, 10:22 am

The last thing the Heavyweight division needs is to further dilute its small talent pool with another division.

On the actual subject I think some of the divisions hold as much prestige as the original 8. It's only cruiser and everything below Super Bantam that is pretty lightly regarded I think, strange really as Cruiser is an essential for the sport really but has always been terrible and poorly regarded.

by TRUSSMAN66 Fri 21 Jun 2013, 11:15 am

Have to agree......A superheavyweight champion would probably demean the greatest title in sports.......

Could get rid of cruiser though for me..

by kingraf Fri 21 Jun 2013, 3:34 pm

Im not a fan of the Cruiserweight division, but when you look at how big the current Heavies are, I can't see how you would in good conscience allow a 176lbs man fight a 250lbs man. Its all good and well mentioning skilled little guys, but no rule gets set just because there are exceptions.

by TRUSSMAN66 Fri 21 Jun 2013, 3:46 pm

In fairness though how many 175ers fight at heavy at 176........Whole point is to bulk up....

by Guest Fri 21 Jun 2013, 5:03 pm

Rowley wrote:I think it varies across the junior/super divisions Truss. As you know I am a bluff old traditionalist and would prefer to see us only have eight divisions, but even I would have to acknowledge the ones that exist further up the weights were the gap is a little larger such as light middle and super middle and even light welter are not too bad and normally have a decent talent pool. Do think though that at the smaller weight classes where the difference between the classes is a good meal many could be dumped without too much damage to the sport.

You could say where the difference is a good dump!

Funnily enough given the size of the average heavy now the one division that does make sense is a cruiser division but as we all know this has traditionally been deathly dull

Thats exactly what I think, guys 6ft - 6ft 4 fighting at 14st makes a lot of sense to me, would also potentially make for some more exciting fighters what with more athletic fighters. Expecting LHW's to bulk up 220 plus to fighting even bigger fighters is unrealistic, especially if we want clean/natural fighters.

by jimdig Fri 21 Jun 2013, 5:22 pm

Junior welterweight has been around since the 20's, but never seemed to garner anything more than an "on the move" weight class.

I think the diluted nature of belts along with catchweights has diluted the prestige of all the weight classes, we just want to see the best fight the best, the background of belts and division is fastly becoming window dressing.

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Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

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Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??

Re: Are Junior divisions just as respected as the sacred 8 now ??