So, About that Heavyweight Renaissance…
By Cliff Rold
There was a real feeling of change in the air.
After years of almost casual dominance at the top of the class, and oft-malignant mediocrity beneath it, heavyweight was showing new signs of life in the last year or so. One could see it coming longer than that.
The class was getting younger and more aggressive. New personalities, and new displays of power, came together in 2015 with the coronation of a new heavyweight king. Tyson Fury outboxed Wladimir Klitschko.
The status quo was shaken for the first time in nearly a decade.
Heading into 2016, the possibility of fresh matches and a sort of round robin mixing the new and established generations was palpable. There would be a rematch between Fury and Klitschko, a showdown between Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin, and the continued emergence of Anthony Joshua, Luis Ortiz, and Joseph Parker as fresh threats to the top.
It hasn’t worked out that way.
The heavyweight renaissance has hit some stumbling blocks.
On Wednesday, lineal heavyweight champion Fury vacated all of his sanctioning body titles as he seeks help for reported mental health issues and documented drug problems. His promoter made clear they maintain he is history’s champion for future purposes. That won’t mean much until he comes back.
If he comes back.
Wilder is out with a hand injury until next year. Povetkin and Wilder are still set to do battle, but in court after controversies over the drug test results from their collapsed encounter. Povetkin will instead face Bermane Stiverne in a decent fight that doesn’t look like a scorcher.
Ortiz is set to face Malik Scott, which is the same as wait until next year as well.
Joshua has stayed active, winning a belt this year and with a potential mandatory against Parker that may not happen. Fury’s abdication allows Parker a chance to win a vacant belt against untested Andy Ruiz.
We might get Joshua-Klitschko as a salve for the year, but network issues abound. Joshua has an agreement for his fights to be aired in the US by Showtime. Klitschko is still tied in the US to HBO. That’s never been an easy fix.
HBO has rarely played well with others, particularly when it comes to the heavyweight division. They were a major stumbling block to attempts to make a fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson as early as 1996 and played a role in delaying a unification bout between Lewis and Holyfield until it was aired through their network.
While we’ve seen record riches below heavyweight in this still young century, heavyweight is still the most consistent cash cow in boxing. Right now, Klitschko is HBO’s big chip in the division and the most recognizable name in the class. They’re going to protect their interests.
Maybe we get Joshua-Klitschko; maybe not.
Without it, this year will be as disappointing as it was once promising.
For most of the Klitschko years, there has been a feeling in the US press that the division was unhealthy. It was a parochial point of view and completely untrue. Heavyweight has remained vibrant at the box office. Klitschko became a regular stadium attraction that drew millions of eyes globally, if with less in the US than once was the case for the big men. His bout with David Haye was a generational superfight in terms of audience and butts in seats.
Unhealthy was being confused with an in-ring product that was ordinary. That had less to do with Klitschko than the rest of the class. It’s been noted in this space before but bears repeating:
the last truly great heavyweight fight, the last genuine classic at the title level, was the WBO title clash between Lamon Brewster and Sergey Liakhovich.
That was a great fight by any measure, the fight of the year in 2006 if not for the Jr. featherweight war between Somsak Sithchatchawal and Mahyar Monshipour.
Heavyweight hasn’t had a fight in that conversation since and only a handful of bouts anyone really remembers. That’s what made, and makes, the crop of Wilder, Ortiz, Parker, and Joshua so intriguing. Along with the big talking, if sometimes less thrilling, Fury, we’re sitting on a heavyweight division with real power punchers who come to score knockouts.
We’re still waiting to see them start fighting each other.
The heavyweight renaissance doesn’t really begin until they do.
2017 could be the year we were hoping to see in 2016. It couldn’t be any worse.
The camera man funny as hell. .nikka turned that camera on jack quick as fukk. 
for $400k?!