Thread: Why are USA Heavyweights so poor?

What’s going on with American Heavyweights?
For almost 100 years America has dominated Boxings heaviest division but now no one.

Lamon Brewster's non effort last night against the china chinned Wladimir Klitschko just about summed up the pathetic state of the USA Heavyweights.

Americas other best Heavyweight Shannon Briggs surrendered his WBO title meekly and now Brewster does the same. Currently no American Heavyweight holds a version of the title (with the main 4 bodies)

Why are American Heavyweights so poor? Are there any prospects on the way?

Their are two resons for the decline in U.S heavyweights:

1. Most of young kids these days want to fight straight away, they don't want to have to wait 6 months to spar for the first time. They need to learn their trade before they start fighting. This frustrates the kids and they go back to the street which is easier, faster and infinitely more profitable.

2. Some potential fighters quit to try to play in the NFL.

This needs to change if U.S.A are going to have some top class heavies again.

Originally Posted by WelshDevilRob

What’s going on with American Heavyweights?
For almost 100 years America has dominated Boxings heaviest division but now no one.

Lamon Brewster's non effort last night against the china chinned Wladimir Klitschko just about summed up the pathetic state of the USA Heavyweights.

Americas other best Heavyweight Shannon Briggs surrendered his WBO title meekly and now Brewster does the same. Currently no American Heavyweight holds a version of the title (with the main 4 bodies)

Why are American Heavyweights so poor? Are there any prospects on the way?

It's simple. If you're a young American, and you're big, strong, and have athletic ability, why in the world would you want to become a boxer?
Why deal with a corrupt sport where only a very few make lots of money, and get punched in the head over and over? Instead, you can pursue football or basketball, unionized sports where virutally every professional player earns millions, and those sports are safer by comparison.

Everyone always asks where did the Fraziers, Alis, and Foremans all go.... It's simple, the next generation does exist, they're just playing in the NFL and the NBA.

Summed up well by those above. Good, big American alteletes can go into football or basketball, with more chance of making alot of money, more chance of being a star, and less chance of getting hurt. Smaller Americans aren't so desired in other sports, which is why they are still prevailent in alot of other weight classes, and the top heavyweights are now coming from Europe, where boxing is still a top way for a big man to make himself some money. Football (soccer) tends to favour smaller, nimble men.

I just believe America's hold on the heavyweight division is over for now ( i am American by the way). Their Era is over, and now it's time for someone else to have it...can't be on top forever right (with the exception of PBF,,, )

Originally Posted by Sugar_Shaw

Their are two resons for the decline in U.S heavyweights:

1. Most of young kids these days want to fight straight away, they don't want to have to wait 6 months to spar for the first time. They need to learn their trade before they start fighting. This frustrates the kids and they go back to the street which is easier, faster and infinitely more profitable.

2. Some potential fighters quit to try to play in the NFL.

This needs to change if U.S.A are going to have some top class heavies again.

SO WAS THAT FROM YOUR OWN EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS or are you just saying the same thing everyone else is saying

throw ray lewis in the ring with Wlad and Wlad will beat his a$$ back to Baltimore....

There are a few good young American Heavyweights right now. One in particular is Chris Arreola. He is coming up strong, is aggressive and exciting to watch.

Originally Posted by Fire

throw ray lewis in the ring with Wlad and Wlad will beat his a$$ back to Baltimore....

Of course Wlad would beat him, because Wlad has trained as a professional boxer and Ray Lewis hasn't.
Throw Wlad on a football field and Ray Lewis would break Wlad in half, because Ray is a professional football player and Wlad isn't.

I'm not sure what you meant with that line...

Better question, why are ALL the heavyweights today mostly bad? We'll be back, it's only a matter of time. People just have to want to box. Some people play football (i'm sure money is a factor) because they actually like the game and its history. You have a chance to be mentioned a long side other all time greats so it gives you something to work towards other than just the money.

The same's true with boxing but the problem is that there's been a gap of boxers to look up to. The only way a sport can perpetuate itself is if its current stars bring interest to its future stars. People know too much about Tyson and not enough about Ali or Joe Louis. All they've seen in the sport over the last 20 years almost is corruption by king and arrest after arrest with tyson. You can say "What about holyfield?" but say holyfield to somebody and by word association they will automatically think of tyson biting his ear not all the great fights he was in with heart. Yeah tyson brought fans to the sport while he was at his best but at the same time did the aftermath of his actions also drive away boxing stars of the future?

Boxing will find away to fix itself, it always has. It's gonna take awhile and its gonna take a great heavyweight fighter from america to do it. All the champs are from europe and asia so if someone doesn't show up soon, boxing is gonna suffer from a soccer effect. Which is "We don't have any good people in it so why bother watching it?" There's still plenty of great american boxers in the lower weight classes but the heavyweights have always been the best of the best. The whole sport could be greatly improved if all the crooked ass promoters and orgs quit having the mindset of "If WE'RE not broke, why fix it".

The fighters from esaten Europe are by and large not up to much.

If they were fighting 10 or 15 years ago they would be lucky to break the top ten.

Its just a case that all the other HW are so bad.

Originally Posted by WelshDevilRob

What’s going on with American Heavyweights?
For almost 100 years America has dominated Boxings heaviest division but now no one.

Lamon Brewster's non effort last night against the china chinned Wladimir Klitschko just about summed up the pathetic state of the USA Heavyweights.

Americas other best Heavyweight Shannon Briggs surrendered his WBO title meekly and now Brewster does the same. Currently no American Heavyweight holds a version of the title (with the main 4 bodies)

Why are American Heavyweights so poor? Are there any prospects on the way?

Because they're all in the NFL. There are much better options these days for outstanding athletes than boxing, the NFL being the biggest one. Even if you don't make the grade eventually you get a free university education. Also, life is much easier economy-wise than it used to be. Not so much economic hardship, much better athletic opportunities = the current situation.

NFL,NBA & MLB is full of 200+ lb people. The Americans will return but the dominance is over.

They don't take time to develop they start out with piss poor trainers and they are smaller right now

Originally Posted by Larryboy

Summed up well by those above. Good, big American alteletes can go into football or basketball, with more chance of making alot of money, more chance of being a star, and less chance of getting hurt. Smaller Americans aren't so desired in other sports, which is why they are still prevailent in alot of other weight classes, and the top heavyweights are now coming from Europe, where boxing is still a top way for a big man to make himself some money. Football (soccer) tends to favour smaller, nimble men.

It has nothing to do with desire to play other sports... You can be an incredibly gifted athlete, strong fast, powerful, with cat like reflexes... But if you're 5'8 and in shape you weigh 147 pounds your not exactly going to make waves in the NFL or NBA. that's why America will always produce great boxers at the lower weights, as will many other countries. You have a good point about soccer though, it's just that it isn't terribly popular in the states.. In many many countries I'd guarentee the best athletes below 200 lbs are playing soccer as that's where the money and prestige is.

Originally Posted by porkypara

The fighters from esaten Europe are by and large not up to much.

If they were fighting 10 or 15 years ago they would be lucky to break the top ten.

Its just a case that all the other HW are so bad.

You said the magic word IF. IF they were here 10 or 15 years ago the story would have been the same maybe more exciting.Don,t make excuses for the ifs that never happened.What makes you think things would have been any different?