Current Heavyweights: Worst Division Of Any Weight Class In History?

Some are describing Leapai as the worst mandatory challenger to a lineal title in the history of boxing.

Now we know Ali fought the likes of the undeserving Coopman but as an era the current HW division must be up there with the worst ever era of any weight class in the history of boxing.

Can anyone think of worse?




Edit: spelled Coopman incorrectly.

It could very well be strongy, the line of "Leapai, a delivery truck driver" says it all for me, the people who rank these guys must be ashamed of themselves!

Question is who does wlad face next

wheelchair1991 wrote:Question is who does wlad face next

Will be a mandatory for one of his other belts would be my guess. Tends to just face mandatories until a clear number two emerges

The difficulty here is that Leapai beat Boytsov, and in theory was deserving because he beat a man who hadn't been topped in over 30 fights and was touted as a potential heavyweight champion. Boytsov was also WBO #1. If Leapai hadn't have beaten Boytsov and it was Boytsov in there, I can't see there would've been much of a different outcome.

Getting inside Wlad's spoiling style is a far harder task than it appears. We all know Wlad will go down when hit in the sweet spot, but actually reaching it is a nigh-on impossible task.

There apparently is talk it will be pulev next

Well as far as contenders go, a literally shot Cleveland Williams was given a shot... his four opponents prior to Ali, post shooting, records aggregate 53-29-3. World-beating form that.

Strongback wrote:Some are describing Leapai as the worst mandatory challenger to a lineal title in the history of boxing.

Now we know Ali fought the likes of the undeserving Cooperman but as an era the current HW division must be up there with the worst ever era of any weight class in the history of boxing.
Can anyone think of worse?

If Ali had fought Russ Abbot imitating tommy cooper while wearing a superman outfit, I imagine the fight wouldn't have been much different to the Jean Pierre coopman fight.

You can give Ali a few bums on his record when you consider the ATG's he faced and beat. Why people here are mentioning Ali is just silly.

I just can;t understand why the likes of Fury, Wilder and who else Areola maybe, why don't they gatecrash Wlad's weigh ins like Briggs? at least he shows interest lol

Tex Cobb wasn't exactly the second coming either. Could raise an eyebrow at a handful of Louis opponents.

kingraf wrote:Tex Cobb wasn't exactly the second coming either. Could raise an eyebrow at a handful of Louis opponents.

Prime Tyson would have destroyed Wlad. 

Its obvious Wlad does not posses the technical ability to handle a pure boxer like Iron Mike.

Why is Ali even getting mentioned here, it's almost as if some are trying to justify the crap around today by picking out the worst opponents he faced.

When Wlad has beaten 5 genuine heavyweight champions of which he's beaten none then he may start deserving to be mentioned in the same as Ali or Louis.

Wlads best wins of Haye, Byrd and Povetkin would be well down the list for Holmes let alone Ali.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Why is Ali even getting mentioned here, it's almost as if some are trying to justify the crap around today by picking out the worst opponents he faced.

When Wlad has beaten 5 genuine heavyweight champions of which he's beaten none then he may start deserving to be mentioned in the same as Ali or Louis.

Wlads best wins of Haye, Byrd and Povetkin would be well down the list for Holmes let alone Ali.

      

Not sure why strongy and King raf have this belief that Ali was no better then Wlad and over rated (in their view) its just insane.


Its INSANITY

Can probably clear that up for you one two. They don't.

Rowley wrote:Can probably clear that up for you one two. They don't.

Very good.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Why is Ali even getting mentioned here, it's almost as if some are trying to justify the crap around today by picking out the worst opponents he faced.

When Wlad has beaten 5 genuine heavyweight champions of which he's beaten none then he may start deserving to be mentioned in the same as Ali or Louis.

Wlads best wins of Haye, Byrd and Povetkin would be well down the list for Holmes let alone Ali.

I was reading some of the feedback on last nights fight and the discussions were centering on how poor Leapai was.  There were suggestions that Leapai was the worst mandatory to a lineal title ever.  I just mentioned Cooperman because he is one of the front runners as the poorest fighters to ever get a shot.   The main purpose of the OP was to suggest that Wlad's reign in terms of opponents is not consider too good but last night it hit an all time low.

The talent is certainly thin on the ground, but there have been plenty of periods before where the talent layer has looked a bit thin.

It's exaggerated by 2 factors. Firstly k2 are two physically imposing guys, wlad in particular has developed a very good technique to utilise his physical advantages. Ie they make everyone look a bit worse than they are.

Secondly, we get to watch how rubbish this lot are. The dirge of the 30's, 40's and 50's for example are largely anonymous.

That said, the current lot are especially dire.

Thing is we do actually have some genuinely interesting guys about to challenge Wlad, just none appear too interested. Arreola's style and ability to soak up punishment would give Wlad a genuine test. Bermaine Stiverne has a good whack on him and has good technical ability, far superior to the Leapai's of this world. Fury would surely at least pose something of a threat, has something of movement, will come to win and has that little bit of something different about to pose with his height and speed. Wilder, the man hits hard and is big, still none of them want it. In context Leapai was knocked out by Kevin bloody Johnson.

AlexHuckerby wrote:Thing is we do actually have some genuinely interesting guys about to challenge Wlad, just none appear too interested. Arreola's style and ability to soak up punishment would give Wlad a genuine test. Bermaine Stiverne has a good whack on him and has good technical ability, far superior to the Leapai's of this world. Fury would surely at least pose something of a threat, has something of movement, will come to win and has that little bit of something different about to pose with his height and speed. Wilder, the man hits hard and is big, still none of them want it. In context Leapai was knocked out by Kevin bloody Johnson.

Makes watching last nights fight even more frustrating Alex.

I wonder if Wlad put enough money on the table would one of the better contenders step up for a crack.

This is what amazes me. We are talking here about what was once called the greatest prize in sport. Wlad should not have to go chasing and offering inducements to people to take a crack at it. The names Alex has mentioned should be busting a gut for the opportunity.

Get the impression most would either wait it out and hope Wlad retires soon or look to pick up the WBC and milk it for a few quid.

Thing is most of them are thinking, I'm gonna try and keep my 0 and then cash in real big when Wlad goes or if he looks like he's seriously slowing down.

To me, Tyson Fury looks to have the threatening quotient of an octogenarian rabbit

Wilder has historically been a very protected fighter and he is young enough so I think he'll wait.

Arreola looks the most likely and has at least been campaigning in the Top 10 for a good few years.  He wouldn't be shy in the ring trying to force a fight but ultimately it's not a match up to get the adrenaline pumping.

Fury has the novelty factor but I can only see him taking the fight if there is a really big pay day.  Fury isn't as popular or as good as Haye.  Can't see it happening.

Well if Arreola can turn around the Stiverne result from last time, he was very much beaten, though get the feeling he didn't train as hard as he should have, but that's just down to Arreola in general. As his T-Shirt usually says.

"Talented but lazy"

Talent only gets you so far. If Mayweather was lazy he'd have lost a few by now.

It's being reported in Germany that Wlad wants the winner of Arreola and Stiverne this September so he can get his hands on the WBC belt. Last piece of the puzzle for him. It's a fight that would generate a lot of money.

Arreola and Fury are absolutely useless.

The thing with Fury and Wilder is that they are unproven. Until they lose they carry a little bit of mystique.

Wilder is hard to assess but I have seen enough of Fury to know he is pretty hopeless. Far too reckless and easy to hit.

Mystical turd is still turd

So Wilder or Fury would be crazy to fight Wlad then?

They have to make better fights than the likes of Leapai. Wlad carried him for 5 rounds.

The best fight out there for Klitschko that I want to see is Wilder. He is the only heavyweight I have watched recently that I would give a half decent chance to. All the others are just re-incanations of the junk Klitschko has already beaten.

catchweight wrote:The best fight out there for Klitschko that I want to see is Wilder. He is the only heavyweight I have watched recently that I would give a half decent chance to. All the others are just re-incanations of the junk Klitschko has already beaten.

You're probably right although Wilder may prove to be useless if somebody gets to land on his chin.

Yeah I have no idea. Even if his chin is crap though, he still has the power and style to give Klitschko a headache if he goes for it guns blazing.

And the genuine speed that all the other heavies aside from Haye had to land it. At least he is somewhere within his size level to give it a real go.

When Ali fought Coopman, he had just come off one of the most gruelling fights of all time against fellow ATG Joe Frazier.

When Wlad fought Leapai, he had just come of giving fellow mammal Alexander Povetkin and an extended grope.

I'm not criticising Wlad for the fight. Leapai earned his shot. Yes the division is baron. Yes the most talented upstarts don't appear to want to fight Wlad. No it's not Wlad's fault, but his rubbish opponents, in context, have no comparison to Ali's rubbish opponents.

Strange isn't it........If you're a heavyweight champion you earn millions of bucks per defence and yet no one seems to be interested in learning the trade.......

Yes the 80s had slobs like Page, Tubbs, Witherspoon but watch the footwork, the jab and the overall ring generalship and you can see guys that were educated in the noble art....

Maybe Foreman is to blame for winning the title with a big belly and just a punch....encouraging others..

I don't know but I haven't seen a worse time.....

In the U.S I think other sports are hoovering up all the top potential heavyweights. Only the dregs are making it into boxing these days. The U.S hasnt really been producing any top heavyweights since the 1980s.

I said this on a separate thread a year ago, it makes absolutely no sense, none at all to risk your life boxing... Comparatively, 450 NBA slots available, not to mention D-league, which says alright, and Euroleague. What 6'7 South African boxes when they can earn more as a lock/flank? Risk reward just isn't worth it.

Its an argument a fair bit older than a year kingy. Though it seems the nfl is now a life threatening sport full of punch drunk retirees too. Whichever, ultimately it comes down to mainly money, partly  culture and dreams. As you imply, there's only one  (real) heavyweight champion and a host of nfl/nba etc slots to aim for.  These sports dominate US tv coverage, and without a 'role model' (for want of a better word)  superstar like tyson to compete, boxing is a distant loser. The likelihood of finding another Tyson or Ali, from a restricted talent pool becomes an ever decreasing prospect

It goes beyond just the commercial attractiveness of american football or basketball. At schools level the number of scholarships for boxing are practically non existent but plentiful for a whole load of other sports. Boxing is not an attractive ticket to a better education. At amateur level the U.S have been suffering. Their medal tallies in recent olympics has fallen away for boxing. They are still producing the athletes, but they are not going into boxing.

Fair point catchy,  a few of  questions as I'm no expert on this. Firstly, Isn't there a minimum educational standard required for scholarships? I doubt the bar's set too high but what proportion of boxing greats do we imagine have been drawn from that demographic? Haven't they been running scholarships since back in the 60's? I'm sure there were fewer of them but if they're not a new phenomenon, would this question how big an impact they've had on recent generations of heavyweight boxers?

I think the main issue with the scholarships is that the universities and colleges just dont have boxing on the curriculum anymore and no incentive to invest in it. Very few have college boxing teams whereas most will have football, basketball, track etc. So the number of boxing scholarships available is tiny. If sports is a means to a good education then boxing is not the way to go.