Super Heavyweight

Pardon the pun, but boxing has had a bit of a black eye for several years now. One thing people like to point to as a reason for this is the lack of American talent in the Heavyweight division. Although that is a major factor, I believe it goes deeper than that. The Heavyweight division is loaded with men who have no business stepping in to the ring as "Heavyweights."

If you take out the Heavyweight division, you are left with 18 divisions. Those divisions start at Strawweight (105) and end at Cruiserweight (200). There is a 5.3 lb average in weight increase from one division to the next within those 18, and if you take out the 15 lb jump from Light Heavy (175) to Cruiser (200) the average drops a full lb. This makes for very exciting, and more often than not, very fair fights.

In Muhammad Ali's prime, he fought between 205-220. Evander Holyfield also fought in that same range. He actually started his career at 175 lbs. Even "Big" George Foreman was in the 220 lb range in his early days. Mike Tyson was at his best when he weighed  215-220 lbs. These guys were true Heavyweights.

The men who are on top of the division now, and have been for a while, are NOT in the same weight class as those other men. Lennox Lewis was one of the first to break on to the scene. Lewis was 6'5" tall, and in his prime weighed in at around 245 lbs! Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko stand at 6'6" & 6'7" respectively, and weigh in the 245 lb range. It is normal for these fighters to get in the ring with an opponent who is not only 3-4 inches shorter, but outweighed by as much as 30 lbs. Go back to the first 18 weight divisions....5.3 lb average in weight increase. Go to Heavyweight.....30 lb difference within a single fight.

The way to revive the Heavyweight division in boxing is simple, put the extraordinarily big men in their own division, the Super Heavyweight division. Guys who are 6'2" 215 lb should not be penalized because boxing is too lazy to add another division. Give these guys a cut off at around 225 lbs, and let the "bigs" slug it out in their own division. There are already 19, whats one more?