The waiting game spoiling the heavyweight division?

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By Gav Duthie: Boxing changed the night Tyson Fury outpointed Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, bagging 3 of the main 4 heavyweight titles available (WBA, WBO, IBF). Fury didn’t just break the heavyweight stranglehold of Wladimir Klitschko but he blew the division wide open. That result ended a dominant reign of not only Wladimir but also his brother Vitaly and even Lennox Lewis previously.

Heavyweight boxing had been dominated by 3 people for almost 20 years. All had great skills but not always easy on the eye and acquired tastes when it came to personalities. Fast forward to now and Fury hasn’t fought since and some of the new crop of big names haven’t faced each other either. Anthony Joshua has been appointed king temporarily but with other vultures circling around him. TV figures have shown that with the right ingredients heavyweight boxing is still the crown and glory of the sport. The problem now though seems to be that the top guys are not risking good fights with the anticipation of big money future unification bouts. Heavyweight boxing changed but the wheels are turning slowly.

Here’s what has been happening and what we hope for the future.

(1 – Positives)

We want to see big fights, unification bouts, tear ups, top guys fighting each other but these occurrences are few and far between. Too often prospects around the 15-25 and ‘0’ mark are looking for title shots before they’ve even fought anyone with a pulse. The only fights I see bucking the trend recently in the last year or so are

Jarrell Miller v Gerald Washington

This was an interesting encounter and one that should have happened before Washington was allowed near Deontay Wilder. The ex-American footballer has some skills but he was worked over by the steady pressure of Miller and stopped late. I don’t think Miller can be a champ he looks a slightly better version of Dereck Chisora to me but I will say this he has paid his dues and with this win gets closer to a shot.

Dominic Breazeale v Izuagbe Ugonoh

Probably the fight of the year and a very risky fight for both. Breazeale coming off a big loss and it was Ugonoh’s first real step up. But a loss is not the end of the world. I am more impressed with Ugonoh after that loss now that I have seen his skills. Before he was just a face in the endless crowd of unbeaten but untested heavyweights. This bout announced him to the world and Breazeale puts himself back in the mix of another title shot.

Adam Kownacki v Artur Szpilka

Another fighter I’d never really heard of but wow. That one win against Szpilka counts for more than all his previous 14. After Szpilka did so well against Wilder he fought like this would be a Sunday stroll in the park but he was completely dismantled. I would now love to see this guy in against Miller or Breazeale, Luis Ortiz, Dillian Whyte but there is so much caution in heavyweight boxing especially when they don’t want to jeopardize a big title shot. Everyone wants the Charles Martin story; win a title without really having to beat much then fight Anthony Joshua for millions. If you lose who cares it beats losing the title to someone like Kownacki for a few hundred thousand pounds. It’s a mentality issue.

Tony Bellew v David Haye

I struggled to put this in the positive section because as expected nothing really came from this contest. Bellew is just looking for that one big payday and been linked to more confrontations than Donald Trump sends tweets. From Haye rematches to Wilder to Andre Ward and Joseph Parker one thing is for sure we won’t see Bellew in the ring unless we see lots of zeros in the contract. However, its positive because it was a risky non-title fight. Not risky in terms of money but certainly prestige. As Bellew says his 1 heavyweight win over Haye gives him a better CV than some of the champions, you can’t really argue with that.

Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko 1 and 2

Joshua and Klitschko are going to get it on again to repeat a fantastic fight for the ages. In the absence of any real legitimate contenders (although Kubrat Pulev is decent) it will be good to see these guys fight again to keep excitement in the division.

Alexander Povetkin v many contenders

Again, Povetkin does get a huge mention in the negatives due to the various controversies he has been under but in terms of fighting he takes the most risks out there. Since his loss to Wladimir Klitschko he has beaten Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam, Mariusz Wach, Mike Perez, Johann Duhaupus and Andriy Rudenko who are all legitimate contenders. If Povetkin doesn’t get a title shot he doesn’t mess about. Also, a big shout out to Johann Duhaupus who took on Povetkin at one days’ notice after Bermane Stiverne pulled out. Not only would he not have been in top shape, he was knocked out by a dangerous puncher who at that point had failed a drug test so credit for keeping that show alive last year.

(2 -Negatives)

Now for my many negative situations that are holding the division back and they far outweigh the positives.

Deontay Wilder

I have to start with the WBC champion. Whether his fault or not his title reign has been a joke.

1st defence – Erik Molina
2nd defence – Johann Duhaupus
3rd defence – Artur Szpilka
4th defence – Chris Arreola
5th defence – Gerald Washington

Everyone he has beaten has been knocked out since then and some of them badly apart from Arreola who should never been near a title shot anyway. Team Wilder has apparently knocked back $3 million to fight Dillian Whyte to not risk the big AJ contest. His manager said he is willing to fight Luis Ortiz but I will believe that when I see it. It wasn’t his fault about Povetkin and I do believe he would like Ortiz but unfortunately his team don’t want him taking the risks.

Luis Ortiz

Which brings me to ‘The Real King Kong himself’. The excitement after back to back knockouts over Bryant Jennings and Tony Thomson is over. His last two fights were pathetic and he appears to be jumping around promoters and every big fight mentioned never materializes.

Amir Mansour

This dangerous man in his mid-40s is saying nobody will go near him. He has given lots of prospects a scare and beat Travis Kauffman in March but the WBC don’t seem to want him anywhere near their top rankings as he went down from the top 15 to #21 without anything actually happening. Put him in with Ortiz if neither of them having anything else to do.

Kubrat Pulev

Pulev is popular enough now to make a decent living at home in Sofia, Bulgaria and the risks have stopped. His previous wins over guys like Alexander Dimitrenko and Ustinov are long past and he seems content to fight guys like Kevin Johnson at home and take step aside money to not contest Anthony Joshua for his IBF title which is his mandatory right.

WBA Regular title

This is an entire article in itself and a comedy sketch. Failed drugs tests by Lucas Browne x2 and Shannon Briggs have left this title vacant for over a year. The most recent bout mentioned for it is between Alexander Ustinov and Fres Oquendo but who in their right mind is going to meet the minimum purse bid requirement of 1 million dollars for this contest.

Robert Helenius v Dereck Chisora

Dereck Chisora is a bit of a throwback. Certainly not a huge talent but he goes from one good opponent to the next and despite losing 7 times in his career he knows any big win gets him back in the mix. He was set to fight Robert Helenius in a rematch after Chisora controversially lost to the Finn a few years ago. There was no reasonable explanation given for this fight not happening but this is par for the course these days.

Drugs Cheats

I’ve touched on the controversy regarding the WBA and there seems to be more illegal substances taken at heavyweight than any other division. On top of Shannon Briggs, Lucas Browne, Tyson Fury and Alexander Povetkin there was Erkin Teper. If there is ever a showcase example about the enhancements that drugs can give it’s Teper. This rotund fighter seemed a never-ending bundle of energy contradictory to his body shape. After he was found out his comeback he has been awful dropping decisions to Christian Hammer and Mariusz Wach. What’s worse is that there doesn’t seem to be a huge deterrent to drug taking. The WBC have introduced VADA testing which must be adhered to in order to be ranked but it isn’t hard to get a fight even if you are banned as Povetkin and Teper both found. There is always some organization and boxing federation that will take you.

Tyson Fury

By my last count Tyson Fury has retired 4,438 times. His drugs controversy still shrouds him but on top of that his weight issues, depression and motivation are all over the place. It won’t surprise anyone if he’s calling out Wilder and Joshua again in a few weeks. I feel for him in some ways. I genuinely feel he means now that he has retired but his views change so often and regularly. Now, though with the physical and mental shape he is it is right that he is retired. He is still a young man and if in the future he wants to get himself fit and is mentally strong he may return but it can’t be forced. It’s a dangerous sport to play at.

Afterthought

I just finished reading Joe Frazier’s autobiography last week and what an era he boxed in. Not just for the obvious reasons regarding himself, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, but just the willingness to fight. Apart from Ken Norton, who was a good friend and Earnie Shavers; Joe Frazier fought everyone there was in that era and all the top guys not just the elite Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Ernie Shavers, Ron Lyle, Jimmy Young, Jerry Quarry, Maunel Ramos, Leotis Martin, they all fought each other in some cases a few times. That’s all I want to see in the heavyweight division, guys in the top 20 facing each other like Jarrell Miller and Gerald Washington did last weekend. This is the only way to bring back the excitement and paint a true picture of the heavyweight division.