Making Sense of Boxing's Muddled Heavyweight Division
These days, there’s a fairly good chance if you ask a random stranger on the street who the current heavyweight champion of the world is, that the poor soul, caught unaware by your casual candor, will simply stare back at you in a state of quizzical bewilderment.
That, or if the person is under the age of 30, he or she might simply offer you the name of a mixed martial artist.
At one point in time, everyone knew the name of boxing’s heavyweight champion. The honors bestowed upon those wearing the crown, the likes of Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield, rivaled those of the world’s most glamorous sporting celebrities.
But today?
Boxing’s heavyweight championship doesn’t hold the same amount of swagger. Perhaps Wladimir Klitschko’s long reign as champion, coupled with a dearth of talent from this side of the planet, was just too much to overcome. Or maybe there just wasn’t enough action.
Or maybe we’re being impatient.
Whatever the case, changes are afoot in boxing’s glamour division, and Bleacher Report is here to help make sense of it all.
Who’s the Champ?
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Imagine walking into a bar and asking someone who the NCAA basketball champion was last year. The bartender snarls at you because he’s too busy for such a loaded question, then proceeds to tell you Duke won the title, but there were three other champions, too, because Kentucky, Wisconsin and Gonzaga all paid sanctioning fees to various groups of sporting ne’er-do-wells.
Such is boxing.
Tyson Fury is the heavyweight champion of the world. The tall, brash and awkward-styled Fury, an Irish traveler from England, shockingly dethroned Klitschko last year by simply throwing more punches than the Ukrainian was willing or able to return. The bout was dull and somewhat abysmal, but in the end, Fury became the lineal heavyweight champion of the world, the true king of the division.
Indeed, Fury is the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion, and he also holds the WBA and WBO titles. While he also won the IBF title by beating Klitschko, Fury was subsequently stripped for not following orders.
What About Deontay Wilder?
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The one meaningful heavyweight title Fury didn’t win by defeating Klitschko was the WBC belt. If you watch any of Showtime’s various fight promotions or the myriad of Premier Boxing Champions programming available on TV today, it’s already been beaten into your brain that Wilder is the heavyweight champion of the world.
He’s not.
Wilder is the WBC belt-holder, a title he won by defeating Bermane Stiverne. For the historians among you, the WBC belt is the one long held by Wladimir Klitschko’s older brother, Vitali Klitschko. After Klitschko’s retirement, Stiverne was crowned WBC champion by defeating Chris Arreola two times in a row (which is ludicrous if you think about it).
Still, Wilder is an intriguing titleholder. He’s undefeated, incredibly powerful and a tremendous athlete. Perhaps more importantly, at least for fans in this half of the world, is that Wilder is an American. Born and raised in Alabama, Wilder is the United States’ best hope at returning, at least partially, to its heavyweight glory days.
Isn’t There Another Title-Holder?
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Unfortunately, there is yet another man in the world who claims to be the heavyweight champion. After Fury defeated Klitschko and refused to meet mandatory IBF challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov, the IBF stripped Fury and allowed Glazkov to duke it out with Charles Martin for its version of the title.
Martin, a 29-year-old southpaw from California, won the belt via TKO when Glazkov suffered a knee injury while throwing punches in the third round. Yes, that actually happened.
So Martin is the IBF titleholder. To his credit, he’s already signed to face perhaps the best young heavyweight prospect in the world, England’s newfound wrecking ball Anthony Joshua. The winner of that fight figures to be in the heavyweight mix for years to come.
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Who Are the Division's Top Contenders?
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Joshua leads the pack as far as young heavyweight contenders go, but the best heavyweight not wearing a title belt is former WBA titleholder Alexander Povetkin. Since the Russian was outpointed by Klitschko in 2013, the former Olympic gold medalist has looked fantastic, reeling off four straight knockout wins over some solid opposition.
Cuban defector Luis Ortiz might rival Povetkin soon. The slick-boxing, hard-punching Ortiz clobbered top contender Bryant Jennings in seven rounds to give a shot in the arm to heavyweight fans hoping for at least a somewhat deep field of good heavyweight fighters.
There is a serious drop-off after those three, but the aforementioned Jennings, Stiverne and once-beaten Kubrat Pulev offer intriguing matchups against both the three heavyweight titleholders and each other.
Then, of course, there is the elephant in the room. At age 39, Klitschko looked old and brittle against Fury. He didn’t look particularly stellar in the fight before either. So is Klitschko done as an elite heavyweight?
The answer to that question will be revealed in the planned rematch against Fury.
Will Heavyweight Glory Days Ever Return?
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The heavyweight division is always dead.
The heavyweight division is never dead.
Both are of those things are true. In my possession is a Ring Magazine from the Rocky Marciano era where the writers in it lament about one of boxing's most celebrated eras.
Boxing folks are a notoriously cynical lot.
Boxing is cyclical. Great heavyweight eras come and go just as great middleweight and welterweight eras come and go. There haven’t always been great middleweights or welterweights or lightweights or light heavyweights. In fact, truly great eras for any division are rare.
The heavyweight division is no different. There have been two historically great times in modern heavyweight history: the 1970s and 1990s. The rest of the time, the division was what it was: boxing.
Another great era for the heavyweights will come around someday. Heck, with Fury, Joshua and Wilder, it could be soon. Or maybe it won’t. Maybe the 1970s and 1990s are as good as it’s ever going to get for us.
It shouldn’t matter.
Ultimately, it’s almost always best to enjoy heavyweight boxing for what it is in any era: two giants with incredible courage standing in a square ring knocking the snot out of each other.
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