By Daxx Kahn November 20th, 2008 All Boxing Articles
Heavyweight boxing has always been the flagstone of our sport, with the exception of a few weak years here and there throughout the gloved era, yet even during those durations the heavyweight champion was always known as the single most dominant figure in all of sport.
In the 1990ʼs, heavyweight boxing may have been the strongest and talented it ever had been in its history, except for the glorious 1970ʼs.
During the 1990's, we had not only established contenders and former champions, but perhaps some of the most exciting prospects in recent memory. We were flooded with names like Hasim Rahman, Shannon Briggs, Henry Akinwande, Michael Grant, Frans Botha, Frank Bruno, Bruce Seldon, Andrew Golota, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison, Oliver McCall, Razor Ruddock, David Tua, Fres Oquendo, Chris Byrd, Larry Donald, Lou Savarese and Michael Moorer.
Although not all turned out to be superstars in the end, during that time all were exceptional. The only thing we were missing was a single dominant champion.
Mike Tyson, the most famous man in boxing, was in serious decline. He had lost several big bouts and was not taking the sport seriously, and to make matters worse, he disgraced not only himself but boxing itself by biting Evander Holyfieldʼs ear in their 1997 rematch of a bout in which Tyson lost to Holyfield via TKO.
There had been even a bigger problem during the 1990ʼs as the heavyweight championship had been changing hands far too often. Tommy Morrison, Michael Moorer, Bruce Seldon, Mike Tyson, Oliver McCall, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer, Shannon Briggs and Frank Bruno had all held one version or another of the heavyweight crown for a short period, but with all of the talent in the most revered division in boxing, there was not one single dominant man to carry the reigns. More...
