Quote Originally Posted by Bilbo View Post
Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Lyle View Post
It seems that in the heavyweight division that the fans are never pleased with the here and now.

When Holyfield was around he couldn't punch, when Lewis was around he boxed too much and had a weak chin, and I'm sure people had issues with Bowe and Tyson as well
Lyle, you're pretty consistent in your defense of the HW division, and for that I gotta give you some credit. Especially in the face of the general consensus, which is that the division is CRAP (and I'm part of the general consensus).



On the other hand, maybe it's all relative. Maybe the HWs only look so bad because there are other divisions that are SO MUCH BETTER. So in comparison, the HWs look like shit.

And yet... when you compare today's crop of HWs with those of past eras, I think you're doing the past HWs a disservice. Holyfield, Lewis, and Tyson in their peaks were head and shoulders above any of the HWs in the Top 10 today. Only the Klitschko brothers could probably hang with those guys, and I'm not sure I'm sold on the "post-comeback" Vitali just yet. It's the Klitschko brothers... and then a bunch of "roadkill."

And it's too bad, too. 'Cause a lot of people (the casual fans) only watch boxing when the big boys fight. We need someone to shake things up.... SOON!

In defense of Lyle with the exception of the 70's fightfans have always harkened back to an earlier era when heavyweights were good.

In the 80's when Tyson was at his peak everybody said at the time that it was a weak division, when Holyfield came along and Tyson went inside against it was a weak division hence why Foreman came back. Then during the Lewis prime when both Tyson and Holyfield were fade it was again seen as a weak division then Lewis left and we were left with Vitali and again a weak division.

I'm 35 and cannot recall a time in my memory when people said the heavyweight division was stacked and strong.

It was literally only in those golden 70's with Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Norton etc and few years earlier to Liston and Patterson when the heavyweight division was seen as strong.
The thing is you can look back at the 90s (especially early to mid) and say in hindsight that it was a very strong division, whereas I just don't ever see people saying that about todays crop!