I heard someone say the other day the reason for the heavyweight divisions decline in boxing is that these huge boxers can’t move and don’t have athleticism. I disagree with this assessment. Plenty of big men in professional sports are mobile and athletic, there are many heavies thriving in the NFL and fight sport of MMA. These are men that are very big with good mobility, quickness and coordination. Had some of these MMA fighters and NFL players grown up boxing, I’m sure we would have a more competitive and exciting heavyweight division.
The heavyweight division is lacking American stars and that is the reason for its decline. In the U.S. all the big mobile athletes are being swallowed up by the NFL, wrestling and MMA. Wrestling and MMA go hand in hand because wrestlers can’t box so after college, wrestlers naturally go into MMA where they can utilize their fighting style. A big reason athletes of all sizes (especially big men) choose football and wrestling is the way the different sports are marketed. In America the sports of football and wrestling are heavily promoted in high school where they have competing teams for both sports. There is no boxing team in high school, at least not where I am from. Even
pop-warner football and wrestling are promoted in jr. high and elementary schools. So kids hear about these sports and because they have teams within their schools, these are the sports kids are going to choose to compete in more often than not.
It just so happens that wrestling and football are sports where big men thrive. They thrive in boxing as well but in most states boxing is not marketed to kids much. Where I grew up, the only time I heard about boxing is when I saw it on TV. There were no boxing gyms that I knew of around my neighborhood, I did not have any friends that were boxers. This isn’t to say there were no boxing gyms in San Diego where I grew up, I’m just saying I did not know about them. Boxing wasn’t marketed well to kids where I grew up and I am sure there are more neighborhoods like this in the U.S. than not. So all the big talented athletes in this country strive to make the NFL, the Olympic wrestling team or UFC, while few choose boxing. The fact that the sport of boxing is perceived as a corrupt sport doesn’t help it much when deciding what sport to compete in either.
The heavyweight division needs American stars that can bang and put their opponents to sleep (it’s the heavyweight division). People tune in to see kayos not fighters like Eddie Chambers (35-2, 18KO) and Kevin Johnson (22-1-1, 9KO). If you are a heavyweight that wins mainly by decisions, you better be one seriously flashy and exciting boxer who lays down beatings over twelve rounds. Even the king of the division, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine champion, Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48KO), is boring more often than not, even though he does knock people out, the fight is usually boring up until the kayo. These European heavyweights do not hold the interest of the American public largely due to their repetitive robot like style. Europeans style is technically sound and effective but not very flashy or aggressive. There are also a lot of undisciplined American heavyweights today that are fat and out of shape. Chris Arreola is the closest thing to an exciting American heavyweight with knock-out power but he can’t stay away from the buffet. If Arreola could get his weight under control, he could become a serious threat to become a world champion and would no doubt be a fan favorite but he is only one person and it is not likely we will ever see a trim Arreola.
Eventually an American heavyweight will come along blasting people unconscious with all the star power but the division needs a plethora of big Americans, not just one. Without good marketing to the youth, the division will never return to the most popular among boxing. Boxing will probably never be available to students as a high school sport which I do not think is right. Boxing builds self-respect, character, responsibility, discipline, work ethic, restraint and is a great tool to keep youth off the streets and away from drugs. Though it’s not part of school sports, boxing could still market itself to the youth much better than it does now. It really comes down to boxing gyms, trainers, promoters, fighters etc… getting themselves out there to be seen with posters, flyers, internet-ads, commercials, whatever it takes. For boxing, without great marketing, the big men will keep going into MMA and football while the division will be dominated by Europeans for decades to come, granted we make it past December 21, 2012!
If you would have told me a decade ago that in 2010 HBO would not be interested in televising the heavyweight champion of the world defending his strap against a top five contender, I would of laughed at a ridiculous statement like that. What a difference a decade makes. These are not the only reasons for the decline of the division but they are three major ones in my opinion. Poor marketing on the behalf of boxing, American high school football and American high school wrestling are killing boxings heavyweight division.