Cruiserweight

I'm not expecting a thread entitled 'Cruiserweight' to get many views, but seeing a recent comment regarding this unloved division recently made me think more generally about the place of the weight division in modern boxing, and more generally about Boxing's weight division structure in general. Cruiserweight is perhaps the least well regarded division in the sport. Most of its top fighters are regarded as essentially undersized heavyweights, biding their time before moving up to face the big men. Of the best cruiser weights in recent history, almost all have eventually journeyed north to swap punches with the big beasts of the heavyweights, with extremely mixed results. Evander Holyfield Marco Huck, Tomasz Adamek, Steve Cunningham and, yes, David Haye have all moved up, with Holyfield the only one whose move is generally considered to be a complete success.

So why is Cruiserweight held in such lowly regard withing boxing? Part of this can surely be attributed to its relatively recent invention in boxing, the first contest for an officially sanctioned title coming on December 8th 1979, when Marvin Camel and Mate Parlov squared off for the WBC strap. This doesn't wholly explain things however. Super Middleweight has only been around in its present form since 1984, when Murray Sutherland defeated Ernie Singletary for the IBF version of the title, but in the last couple of decades it has developed into a viable and commercially successful division. Obviously part of this is down to promotions like the Super Six, but even before that, boxers like Benn, Eubank, Roy Jones, Gerald Mclellan and James Toney were making good money at the weight. So why has Cruiserweight not matched the rise relevancy of Super Middleweight? This is what lead me to think about the way in which the weight divisions in boxing are organised.

After the WBC and WBA split in the 60's, the original 8 weight divisions were added to over time by the four bodies that emerged as the main sanctioning authorities. Cruiserweight was originally created because in the 70's when it became the normal for heavyweights to come in at over 230 pounds and it was considered unfair for men of around 190 pounds, similar to what heavyweight champions Marciano, Dempsey, Tunney and Sharkey weighed in their prime, to have to offset such a large advantage in size. As heavyweights became even bigger in the ensuing years, the division grew in accordance, beefing up to the current 200 pound limit in 2003. Is the placement of the weight the problem? The reasoning behind a buffer division between Heavy and Light Heavy seems sound, but does it mean that will always be overshadowed by its more senior neighbours? I think in some ways, the problems with cruiserweight stem from larger questions about how weight divisions are organised in general. In the lower divisions, weight classes are generally seperated by a value of pounds between 4 and 7, but when it gets to Light Heavy we suddenly vault 25 pounds to Cruiserweight, and from there into the territory of the 250 pound behemoths we currently see in the heavyweight division. This has always seemed incredibly arbitrary to me, there is little appetite for the current amount of divisions, but could they not be organised more sensibly with standardised ranges between each class? The fact is that if you're 210, you're at a huge disadvantage to someone like the Klitschko's who are 250 pounds, Adamek got manhandled by Vitali and he regularly comes in at 215! I think there would be more point in that division existing than there is in having a Light Flyweight division that has a limit only 3 pounds more than Straweight below it. In my opinion Cruiserweight definitely has its 'neither her nor there' image problem exacerbated by the fact that Light Heavyweights are so much lighter, and genuine heavyweights are so much heavier.

Maybe it will all change for Cruiserweight, but I don't really see it. People still just aren't that bothered about it, and there doesn't seem to be any major outfit ready to gamble on a large scale promotion like the Super 6 to raise the profile of the division's top fighters. I would like to see boxing address the weight it's weight categories are organized, but this probably won't happen for fear it will confuse fans and there may be some truth in that, but until this is addressed I can't see Cruiserweight becoming radically more well regarded.

Good article mate. As far as I'm concerned, I still haven't got over watching Sam Resson, De Leon and Jonny Nelson. The problem seems to me that the division has never had enough quality performers at any given time to hold our collective attention. Had the likes of Holy, Haye and Hide all been around at the same time then it may have been different- it's the fighter that make a division, not the other way round.

Nice article. I used to wonder about it too. As a boxing fan how could you not like 14stone men, prime athletes, no fatties, hammering it out against each other? 
The only answer I could come up with was talent. It's never been a talent rich division, sure every now and again there'll be ticket seller, Marco huck being the current marque name but, that's it really. 

If Canelo alveraz and miguel Cotto can basically make up their own division of 155lbs, then for me all crusierweight needs is some marque names from light heavyweight to move up and legitimise the division, adding a touch of glamour to the others plying their trade at 200lbs. 

Though I can't see it happening this generation with Stevenson and kovelev being the only fighters of note in LHW.

Kovalev looks a pretty big light heavy, I can envision him draining off a little less and whoopin' the lot of 'em at cruiser.

Can only echo the earlier comments. It's all about the names, but more to the point, it's all about the names one of two places are producing.
- Your country
- America

I say this because, for a division apparently lacking in interest... the big dogs do seem to attract a lot of 10 000+ crowds in their neck of the woods. Look at Oleksandr Usyk, who I suppose is the Ukranian answer to Anthony Joshua. His fifth fight was a stadium fight. 30 000 (can't verify, but my Bloc friends told me itbwas a full house, and Ring magazine suggested the same). How far is Joshua from a 30 000 attendance on a card he's headlining?

Just think a bit like the heavy division, the problem isn't a lack of interest. But a lack of interest in traditional pro boxing regions. Also, isn't a lack of names, but a lack if names which can be easily pronounced.