The myth of heavyweight

Bangkok ready d1

Bangkok ready d1

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I hear a lot combat sports journalists saying that the heavyweight division is the most prestigious and covered division in combat sports, but both in boxing and mma the biggest ppv are all from the light weigh classes, so my question is how this myth was born?
 
Like most Sherdoggers who have insane log time they're stuck in the past.
 
PPV is a very modern thing. Muhammad Ali literally had the entire world watching his fights, reaching way more people than PPV. By the time PPV became popular, Heavyweight was already in decline because of all the other sports big men can go into

it’s a historical thing but also still viewed as the best division because the big man will always be better when both fighters are skilled, so the HW champion is the best champion
 
Heavyweights in early to mid 20th century boxing truly meant you were the baddest mother fucker out there. Guys would start at 140-160 pounds and end up fighting at heavyweight

At certain points the heavyweight division was a shark tank with guys ranging from 175ish on up....it was like the ultimate test of pound for pound greatness for some guys

But then all the sudden there was 17 divisions and multiple belts in each of them....and we end up with fatties.

Guys like Dempsey, Tunney and Greb were fighting heavyweights as a test of p4p prowess.
 
Yacob said:
Heavyweights in early to mid 20th century boxing truly meant you were the baddest mother fucker out there. Guys would start at 140-160 pounds and end up fighting at heavyweight

At certain points the heavyweight division was a shark tank with guys ranging from 175ish on up....it was like the ultimate test of pound for pound greatness for some guys

But then all the sudden there was 17 divisions and multiple belts in each of them....and we end up with fatties.

Guys like Dempsey, Tunney and Greb were fighting heavyweights as a test of p4p prowess.
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I agree this might be the case for boxing but it was never for mma, i do still see journalist claiming that the heavyweight division is the most pretigious and famous in mma when this was never the truth
 
It used to be the flagship division in boxing, but around the late 70s Pro-Wrestling had become a national sensation, and NFL and Basketball offer more money to big guys, lessening the talent pool. Boxers like Sugar Ray and Duran also demonstrated to fight fans that the lesser weights can just as be entertaining and more technical than the heavier class.
 
Then why do so many guys starve themselves, and dehydrate down to 205 or 185 if HW is so easy?
 
Bangkok ready d1 said:
I hear a lot combat sports journalists saying that the heavyweight division is the most prestigious and covered division in combat sports, but both in boxing and mma the biggest ppv are all from the light weigh classes, so my question is how this myth was born?
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because most of the time, the HW champ is de facto king in that he has the ability to beat everyone else below him. INB4 jones nuthuggers come in.
 
Bangkok ready d1 said:
I hear a lot combat sports journalists saying that the heavyweight division is the most prestigious and covered division in combat sports, but both in boxing and mma the biggest ppv are all from the light weigh classes, so my question is how this myth was born?
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Really. The hw's beat all the other divisions thats why. shame the ufc has the stupid limit. meaning the true unlimited weight fighers cant compete
 
Bangkok ready d1 said:
What the hell are you talking about?
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He is asking why people are cutting weight if they could naturally be above 205 and just fight the other big dudes. Be the king if HW sucks. But I think you're saying HW isnt as much of a draw, not that it necessarily sucks.

HW boxers used to be the baddest mother fucker on the planet and the most popular, but for whatever reason right talent/entertainment pool is shallow. Mike Tyson was a HUGE draw, so was Evander Holyfield. Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua are drawing well now, but not like the 90s.

Mirko, Fedor, Noguiera, Cain, Brock, JDS, Ubereem were all pretty big draws.

Weight class talent pools fluctuate. LHW was the freaking BEST for so long, and now its a wasteland. There arent that many exciting heavyweights right now except Ngannou. Hopefully a few more like him pop up.
 
ostlerrage said:
Really. The hw's beat all the other divisions thats why. shame the ufc has the stupid limit. meaning the true unlimited weight fighers cant compete
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Im not talking about fighting ability im talking about money and bringuing people to watch the sport and no they dont defeat everybody thats why lhws became hws champions and not the contrary
 
bananaeyes said:
He is asking why people are cutting weight if they could naturally be above 205 and just fight the other big dudes. Be the king if HW sucks. But I think you're saying HW isnt as much of a draw, not that it necessarily sucks.

HW boxers used to be the baddest mother fucker on the planet and the most popular, but for whatever reason right talent/entertainment pool is shallow. Mike Tyson was a HUGE draw, so was Evander Holyfield. Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua are drawing well now, but not like the 90s.

Mirko, Fedor, Noguiera, Cain, Brock, JDS, Ubereem were all pretty big draws.

Weight class talent pools fluctuate. LHW was the freaking BEST for so long, and now its a wasteland. There arent that many exciting heavyweights right now except Ngannou. Hopefully a few more like him pop up.
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The heavyweight division in boxing was good because was not so heavy, heavyweight in mma with rare exceptions are just fat lightheavyweights
 
HW in MMA was actually great at one point.

There is a reason HWs generally get higher pay and more prominent main card slots.
People like to see the big boys duke it out.
 
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