Klitschko vs. Chisora: Uninspiring Bout Shows Heavyweight Division's Irrelevance

If you are a boxing fan, I have a question for you: Do you think anybody other than hardcore boxing fans knows who Dereck Chisora is?

If you aren't a boxing fan, I also have a question for you: Do you know, or even care, who Dereck Chisora is?

No and no.

Why does the heavyweight division suck so much? When will we ever get another Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier or even Mike Tyson?

When will we have another compelling heavyweight, or rivalry, or even subplot?

Because I find the Klitschko Brothers to be really dull. Fair or not, I find absolutely nothing that makes me think either Vitali or Wladimir are particularly compelling figures.

I'm not sure when exactly the heavyweight division became so irrelevant, or even why. Part of it has to be the boring fighters at the top and the fact that neither of the sports two most iconic figures—Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao—are in different weight classes.

Maybe it's due to the ascension of UFC and mixed martial arts. There's no question the UFC is siphoning fans from boxing.

And it's why I'm desperately hoping that Chisora upsets Vitali Klitschko. If nothing else, it would shake up the boxing world again. It would register as a blip on the sports radar. It would be a story worth telling.

I'm not the only one hoping for an upset. Check this out from Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated:

"

Maybe I'm being too optimistic. Maybe I'm thinking about the possibilities created by having a flawed 6-foot-1 titleholder instead of an unbeatable 6-foot-7 monster. The Klitschko reign has been impressive but there is no question Vitali and Wladimir's dominance has sucked the energy out of the division. They own it.

Chisora could change all that.

"

Will he?

It seems unlikely. As Mannix notes later in the article, to do so Chisora would need to have the perfect fight.

But hey—we can always dream.

Hit me up on Twitter—I'm #Linning.