Thread: When will an American become heavyweight Champion again?

I recognize that Football and basketball being more mainstream have hurt our chances at getting back on top. America has a lot of quantity in heavyweights but not a lot of quality. Deontay Wilder had a somewhat decent run but we all knew he was in trouble when he had to face tougher competition. Andy Ruiz couldn't stay discipline after beating Joshua and had a poor performance against Jermell Miller. Jared Anderson looked like he was in the wrong weight class against Bakole and Cassius Chaney was bored or depressed in his last fight. So my question is who do you think could be the next great American heavyweight out of the top contenders and why?

I believe the next American heavyweight champion is still at High School and is not on your list.

Originally Posted by KOBoxxer

I recognize that Football and basketball being more mainstream have hurt our chances at getting back on top. America has a lot of quantity in heavyweights but not a lot of quality. Deontay Wilder had a somewhat decent run but we all knew he was in trouble when he had to face tougher competition. Andy Ruiz couldn't stay discipline after beating Joshua and had a poor performance against Jermell Miller. Jared Anderson looked like he was in the wrong weight class against Bakole and Cassius Chaney was bored or depressed in his last fight. So my question is who do you think could be the next great American heavyweight out of the top contenders and why?

Welcome to the forum... and that was a nice opening post.

With this being largely a British forum, and most of the members being British... there isn't a lot of thought about who the next great American heavyweight champion might be. Obviously the balance has totally shifted since the days of Ali-Frazier-Foreman-Holmes-Tyson. The UK now has a pretty good stranglehold on this category, and has for some time.

No issues with anything you said, except to point out that Andy Ruiz is Mexican. Jermell Miller to me has never amounted to much, except for a repeat roid offender. Jared did look out of his depth against Bakole... and I just don't see him hanging with the likes of heavy bangers like Zhang, for instance. Wilder was briefly the hope of many... but imploded with his trilogy against Fury.

Looking at your list, I don't see any givens in there. @Master might be right in that the next champion might still be in high school... but I'm a bit more pessimistic than that. Seems the allure of heavyweight boxing has diminished in the States. Not only are team sports like football and basketball more appealing with a higher risk/reward factor than heavyweight boxing. But you gotta factor in the rise of MMA as a huge part of the demise of American heavyweight boxing.

It's too bad, really. Because the truth of the matter is that a (legit) American heavyweight champion would likely stir interest in boxing again in the States... which for better or for worse remains a main mecca that fighters strive to achieve (fighting in Vegas, Madison Square Garden, etc).

I'm not saying either will be the next great heavyweight from the USA but Fernely Feliz Jr and Joshua Edwards should have been on the poll over others listed.

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Originally Posted by KOBoxxer

I recognize that Football and basketball being more mainstream have hurt our chances at getting back on top. America has a lot of quantity in heavyweights but not a lot of quality. Deontay Wilder had a somewhat decent run but we all knew he was in trouble when he had to face tougher competition. Andy Ruiz couldn't stay discipline after beating Joshua and had a poor performance against Jermell Miller. Jared Anderson looked like he was in the wrong weight class against Bakole and Cassius Chaney was bored or depressed in his last fight. So my question is who do you think could be the next great American heavyweight out of the top contenders and why?

Welcome to the forum... and that was a nice opening post.

With this being largely a British forum, and most of the members being British... there isn't a lot of thought about who the next great American heavyweight champion might be. Obviously the balance has totally shifted since the days of Ali-Frazier-Foreman-Holmes-Tyson. The UK now has a pretty good stranglehold on this category, and has for some time.

No issues with anything you said, except to point out that Andy Ruiz is Mexican. Jermell Miller to me has never amounted to much, except for a repeat roid offender. Jared did look out of his depth against Bakole... and I just don't see him hanging with the likes of heavy bangers like Zhang, for instance. Wilder was briefly the hope of many... but imploded with his trilogy against Fury.

Looking at your list, I don't see any givens in there. @Master might be right in that the next champion might still be in high school... but I'm a bit more pessimistic than that. Seems the allure of heavyweight boxing has diminished in the States. Not only are team sports like football and basketball more appealing with a higher risk/reward factor than heavyweight boxing. But you gotta factor in the rise of MMA as a huge part of the demise of American heavyweight boxing.

It's too bad, really. Because the truth of the matter is that a (legit) American heavyweight champion would likely stir interest in boxing again in the States... which for better or for worse remains a main mecca that fighters strive to achieve (fighting in Vegas, Madison Square Garden, etc).

Yeah, I definitely acknowledge that UFC and MMA generally speaking has surpassed Boxing in America. Another factor is that boxing isn't very mainstream anymore so if the youth aren't expose to it at an early age then it will be difficult for them to become a champion. HBO and Showtime both use to invest a lot of money into boxing but it bad ratings so the networks dropped it. Fortunately, it's on ESPN which is pretty big and DAZN which I would imagine most people don't know about.

I would also add that Andy Ruiz was born in California and he's one of our many Mexican Americans. So his brief reign was a Championship for Mexico and USA, but yeah, he probably isn't going to get back on top.

Originally Posted by KOBoxxer

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Originally Posted by KOBoxxer

I recognize that Football and basketball being more mainstream have hurt our chances at getting back on top. America has a lot of quantity in heavyweights but not a lot of quality. Deontay Wilder had a somewhat decent run but we all knew he was in trouble when he had to face tougher competition. Andy Ruiz couldn't stay discipline after beating Joshua and had a poor performance against Jermell Miller. Jared Anderson looked like he was in the wrong weight class against Bakole and Cassius Chaney was bored or depressed in his last fight. So my question is who do you think could be the next great American heavyweight out of the top contenders and why?

Welcome to the forum... and that was a nice opening post.

With this being largely a British forum, and most of the members being British... there isn't a lot of thought about who the next great American heavyweight champion might be. Obviously the balance has totally shifted since the days of Ali-Frazier-Foreman-Holmes-Tyson. The UK now has a pretty good stranglehold on this category, and has for some time.

No issues with anything you said, except to point out that Andy Ruiz is Mexican. Jermell Miller to me has never amounted to much, except for a repeat roid offender. Jared did look out of his depth against Bakole... and I just don't see him hanging with the likes of heavy bangers like Zhang, for instance. Wilder was briefly the hope of many... but imploded with his trilogy against Fury.

Looking at your list, I don't see any givens in there. @Master might be right in that the next champion might still be in high school... but I'm a bit more pessimistic than that. Seems the allure of heavyweight boxing has diminished in the States. Not only are team sports like football and basketball more appealing with a higher risk/reward factor than heavyweight boxing. But you gotta factor in the rise of MMA as a huge part of the demise of American heavyweight boxing.

It's too bad, really. Because the truth of the matter is that a (legit) American heavyweight champion would likely stir interest in boxing again in the States... which for better or for worse remains a main mecca that fighters strive to achieve (fighting in Vegas, Madison Square Garden, etc).

Yeah, I definitely acknowledge that UFC and MMA generally speaking has surpassed Boxing in America. Another factor is that boxing isn't very mainstream anymore so if the youth aren't expose to it at an early age then it will be difficult for them to become a champion. HBO and Showtime both use to invest a lot of money into boxing but it bad ratings so the networks dropped it. Fortunately, it's on ESPN which is pretty big and DAZN which I would imagine most people don't know about.

I would also add that Andy Ruiz was born in California and he's one of our many Mexican Americans. So his brief reign was a Championship for Mexico and USA, but yeah, he probably isn't going to get back on top.

The U.S. fanbase isn't big on sports they don't dominate. Hence, their lukewarm reception to soccer over the years... and now their disinterest in boxing, particularly the heavyweights. Which is why I normally root for Americans to do well in various sports, such as soccer for instance. If the U.S. men ever made even the semifinals in a World Cup... seems to me the boon to soccer in the States would quadruple. It's growing already, but it would multiply with a good result in a World Cup.

As far as boxing, once again... the lack of quality heavyweights from the States is draining whatever interest there was left in boxing in the States. Thank God for ESPN, like you mention. They still do a pretty good job in trying to fill the void left by HBO and Showtime. Reason why I was kind of hoping Deontay would amount to something. But he crashed and burned.

Is the lack of quality heavyweights from the U.S. a part of a cyclical process? I tend not to think so. Too many alternative sports exist to catch the attention of young athletes, with better risk/reward ratios. Too bad, though.

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Thank God for ESPN

top rank might be taking their archive & product elsewhere mid next year, that won't leave espn with much boxing content

Originally Posted by TIC

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Thank God for ESPN

top rank might be taking their archive & product elsewhere mid next year, that won't leave espn with much boxing content

That's really not good for the product of boxing. Bob Arum needs to find a new network and try to work something out. I remember when Al Haymon and PBC were putting fights on NBC and I'm just about positive that ended.

Any mainstream TV exposure for boxing is good.

I would count ESPN as that even if they have moved to the PPV market. Boxing got greedy with PPV and their quality has been going down whilst the price has gone up.

Originally Posted by Master

Any mainstream TV exposure for boxing is good.

I would count ESPN as that even if they have moved to the PPV market. Boxing got greedy with PPV and their quality has been going down whilst the price has gone up.

100 percent agree with your first statement. ANY mainstream TV exposure for boxing is good. Unfortunately, we seem to be headed away from that... and from what I can see, the shift seems to be toward streaming services. If that is the case, boxing will lose even more fans. It's not like boxing doesn't already have other problems that have already driven fans away.

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Originally Posted by Master

Any mainstream TV exposure for boxing is good.

I would count ESPN as that even if they have moved to the PPV market. Boxing got greedy with PPV and their quality has been going down whilst the price has gone up.

100 percent agree with your first statement. ANY mainstream TV exposure for boxing is good. Unfortunately, we seem to be headed away from that... and from what I can see, the shift seems to be toward streaming services. If that is the case, boxing will lose even more fans. It's not like boxing doesn't already have other problems that have already driven fans away.

One of the major reasons why boxing loses fans is because of rigged score cards. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard people saying they were done after one of those ridiculous Horn - Pacquiao scores. I still remember watching the first Pacquiao and Bradley fight and laughing so hard at the score card and my friend fuming because he just lost 100 dollars. He hasn't watch a boxing event with me since then.

There are other reasons why we're losing fans but that's up there.