The Contenders: Boxing’s Forgotten Warriors

Champions are the main focus in any sport. It doesn’t matter if it is Super Bowl Champions, World Series Champions, Stanly Cup Champions or in this case, Boxing Champions. All eyes are on the holder of the title.

And rightfully so; it takes a lot of hard work to become a champion. By becoming champion, it shows for that period and time that you were the best and everyone wants to talk about who is the best, right? Besides, if it weren’t for championships, everyone would go around claiming the right to be called the best and we can’t have that now can we?

Unlike other sports who crown their champions once a year, boxing decides their champions fight by fight. Sometimes, the champion is successful and sometimes he isn’t, but it is with the help of the other guy that may decide how long a reign will last. It is the guy who isn’t champion that helps determine the quality of a championship reign. The guy I refer to is boxing’s forgotten man. The contender.

Over the years, we have had divisions that were so weak they practically went unnoticed. For years the super middleweight and cruiserweight divisions were the wastelands of boxing. The super middleweight division has had champions like Roy Jones, James Toney, Charles Brewer and Joe Calzaghe over the years to help keep interest peaked, but in between their reigns, most fans have lost interest in the second rate mundane contenders who don’t perform to a level worthy of our following while they attempt to wrestle titles from less then stellar champions.

The cruiserweight division long suffered the same fate. We have had guys like Vassiliy Jirov, Virgil Hill, and Fabrice Tiozzo, but for most of their reigns we saw a bunch of defenses against fighters we either have never heard of or were on their way down, stuck in the division due to the fact they had no where else to go.

Even now, if it were not for the outstanding performances of guys like Jean Marc Mormeck and current cruiserweight king O’Neil Bell, we would pay little or no attention to the division. Why? Lack of quality contenders to give the champions the fights needed to keep the division alive.

Throughout the era’s, we have had contenders of all types. There were some that just happened to come along in the wrong era of history like Sam McVey and Sam Langford, who were kept away from title shots due to the color of their skin.

Then there were those like the contenders of the late 60’s and early to mid 70’s who just happened to fight in the era of supermen. Men like Zora Folley, Jimmy Ellis, Cleveland Williams, Geroge Chuvalo, Ernie Shavers, Buster Mathis, Joe Bunger and Ron Lyle, who would more than likely been champion if they fought a little sooner or later in the timeline.

These men though helped cement the greatness of champions Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman because they brought out the best in these men. They helped give their reigns prestige. They helped create the “Golden Era” of heavyweight boxing.

There have been the legendary contenders, such as “Two Ton” Tony Galento, who rose to fame in the late 20’s through the early 40’s. Tony faced just about everyone there was to fight during that time. Galento was never going to be a champion fighter but he always gave the champion a good run for his money. Fans knew Tony was worth the ticket because you had to practically kill him to get him out of the ring before the final bell. He left fans in awe at his ability to take punishment. He also left his opponents glad it was over.

The 1980’s had John “The Beast” Mugabi, a Ugandan powerhouse that left his opponents on the canvas ruined. Many fans thought that he was going to be the one to finally dethrone the middleweight champion Marvin Hagler. In one of the best power punching fights of all time, Mugabi hit Hagler time after time with thunderous shots to the head and body. The fans gave ohh’s and ahh’s with every flush shot landed.

Eventually the Ugandan punched himself out and was KO’d by Hagler. That fight turned Mugabi into a legend and solidified Hagler’s jaw as one of the best in his era. We learned two things that night. One is that Mugabi did not know the meaning of the word “quit”. Second, if you came after Hagler’s belt you better not make plans because it was going to be a long one. This will forever be one of the most memorable fights in the 1980’s. Why? Because of a great contender.

The last decade has brought us a fair share of top contenders. “Irish” Mickey Ward, the tough New England native with a left hook to the body that has ended more than one night early. He thrilled fans with his willingness to trade head to head in the ring. He also took part in one of the sport,s greatest trilogies along with two division world titlist Arturo Gatti.

Awkward, slick moving slugger Emmanuel Augustus has given his fair share of fits to several champions, even pushing Floyd Mayweather to fight at his best before falling in the 9th round. David Tua spent years ridding us of pretenders while remaining a top contender through most of his career. He went the distance with both Lennox Lewis and Chris Byrd, two of this era’s top heavyweights. He starched future world title holder John Ruiz in less then 60 seconds in one of the best KO’s of all time. Tua sent a message to all; either bring your A game or be disposed of.

On occasion, even long time contenders get a break. Glen Johnson finally became champion after beating Antonio Tarver and more recently, Shannon Briggs became WBO heavyweight champion after years in the contender ranks, showing that if you keep at it, you never know what can happen.

The champions will always be our main focus and as I mentioned before, it is rightfully so. But every now and then, we need to give credit to the other guy. The guy that made sure they were credible enough to be the champion. The guys who make them perform like champions. The guys who, even without titles, show what the heart of a champion is all about. The guys that help create the highlight reels.

Everyone wants to be Champion. Then again, there is no shame in being a top contender.