Recently I commented on an article at Boxing News called “Haye vs. Klitschko: Is Wladimir Killing Boxing?” The gist of the article was to blame Wladimir Klitschko’s fairly boring style (and personality) for the current miserable state of the heavyweight division — essentially saying that such a statuesque (not in a good way) champion is dragging it down.
With Wlad holding two of the major alphabet titles, and refusing to fight his brother, Vitali, who holds one more, there is some weight to the argument. But as you can see in my comments to the initial story, I feel that the Klitschkos are more of a symptom of the division’s woes than its actual problem. So what’s wrong with the heavyweights? What’s tarnished the luster off of what has in the past been a collection of the world’s most renowned and beloved athletes?
The Klitschko brothers: Scourges or Scapegoats?
In one way or another, I have in the past made it quite clear what I think about the division as it currently stands. However, the situation does merit more discussion than me making a few jokes about Hostess cupcakes. And with the heavyweight division still carrying the flag for the sport of boxing — the public at large still seems to view the slump in this division as the “canary in a coal mine” for the entire sport — I’ve decided to start a several-part series of articles to diagnose the state of the division… and, where possible, offer suggestions as to what, if anything, we could do to change this. I’ll say in advance, though, that I honestly doubt I will find much of the latter that is particularly constructive.
