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Boxing's Heavyweight Division Is Boring

Saturday, September 26, 2009 11:02 PM
Written By: Joel Huerto

If Cris Arreola is the best America has to offer in the heavyweight division then the abyss that American heavyweight boxers have fallen into for more than a decade has gotten significantly deeper and larger.

The WBC championship fight on Saturday night between world champion Vitali Klitschko and challenger Arreola was ... in the words of Homer Simpson ... BORING!

I've seen better fights in the stands at a Raiders-Chargers game.

Arreola, 28, was overmatched and way over his head against Klitschko, who despite his advanced age of 38 and being so mechanical methodically dismantled the Mexican-American fighter from Riverside, Calif., and the fight was mercifully stopped after 10 rounds.

The sellout crowd at Staples Center, a fired-up audience that included Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pete Rose, Kobe Bryant and Mike Tyson, paid a lot of money to watch two big guys - considered two of the best in the world by many publications - to slug it out in the ring. Instead, it was so one-side it almost looked like a divorce settlement between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

Tyson probably would have done better than Arreola, and he's 20 years past his prime.

The previously unbeaten Arreola (27-1, 24 KOs) was so upset after the fight that he was overcome with emotion and had to be consoled. Now, I'm not sure if he was upset because the bout was halted or disturbed at how he performed during the fight. Either way, he apologized to the fans and began to cry. Yes, a man who considers himself a modern-day gladiator who says he's willing to die in the ring was weeping like a baby.

There's no crying in boxing!

Joe Louis must be turning over in his grave. George Foreman just knocked over his grill. Evander Holyfield just bit off his own ear. And Muhammad Ali is shaking his head.

Arreola claimed he was in great shape, weighing in at 251 on Friday. Now, I'm not the most finely tuned athlete in the world but if Arreola is in "great shape" then this whole diet craze is overrated. Arreola had more love handles than a VH1 reality TV special. His wife looked to be in better shape than he was.

What has happened to American heavyweight boxers? Did they all go to the UFC? Are they all playing football? The sport of boxing is suffering because the American audience just does not gravitate to European pugilists. Vitali Klitschko and his brother, Wladimir, are dominating the heavyweight ranks because they have very little competition.

Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs) doesn't excite me at all. He's good but not great. He's like a robot. He throws punches as if he has 10-pound weights in his gloves (hmmm ... maybe he does), and he drops his hands. But amazingly, nobody has been able to take advantage of Vitali's deficiencies. What is it about this guy that American fighters, or any fighter, can't figure out? He is about as predictable as a Joe Paterno offense.

About the only interesting storyline in the heavyweight division is a fight between the Klitschko brothers, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

In years past, a heavyweight championship bout would have attracted a large pay-per-view audience. On Saturday night, the Klitschko-Arreola fight was reduced to second billing to a replay of the Mayweather-Marquez welterweight contest on HBO that happened a week ago.

Boxing's heavyweight division is in a serious recession and there is no telling when it will recover.

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11 Takes


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Takes

Steve Z

Let's not under-rate Vitali. His footwork against game but lumbering Christobal was impeccable. He moves beautifully and generated so many punches from so many angles while moving backward and escaping often to the sides. One objective in boxing is not to be hit. That artistry may not mean much to the blood-hungry fan, but to students of the art, it measures greatness. Vitali reminded me of Joe Calzaghe at many moments in this fight, only he did it all moving away from his opponent. Vitali is a phenomenon -- an intelligent fighter and man, who honors his opponents after crushing them, who stays in shape and respects the game. At 6' 8", 252, he is a monster. I liked Larry Merchant's sermon after the fight, advising American heavyweights to be devoted and disciplined and honorable about their sport. One could say this about more things than boxing.

Mtw2010

Joel, you said it perfectly man! BORING!!! Never dreamed this division would be so anemic, especially for Americans. UFC is much more action, much better fights. I'm done with boring boxing... it's punch, punch, hug break, punch, punch, hug break, not to mention one dimensional! The MMA fighter is trained in boxing, wrestling, Muy Thai, Ju-jutsu, ect. And no professional boxer would stand much of a chance against a well rounded MMA fighter... once on the ground they are competely out of their element and defenseless. Unless your a big fan of Klitschko, who would want to pay to see some over matched garbage like the last fight? Him and his brother have not beat any great fighters or been in any great fights, but how could they? With no great fighters in the division, including them! I'm not even going to watch for free two guys punch and hold each other for 12 rounds, then at the end one guy has his hands raised saying that he's the winner, and the other one has his hands raised saying that he's the winner... so now we go to the judges!! Uh, Oh! The decision. I don't even care it it's a unanimous decision, I like KNOCKOUTS, and SUBMISSIONS! So I make my decision before the fight... not to watch it!

Mtw2010

JOEL. YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT. THANK YOU.

Brian Lee

-So what about the "fight of the century "- in lille ol'NZ this saurday? --The blood will flow...No gamemanship down in lil ol' clean and green NZ -The home of real men..

nday

MMA can be very exciting but frankly when they start wrestling its very boring.

Randy

"The sport of boxing is suffering because the American audience just does not gravitate to European pugilists." hmm, i didnt know that the sport of boxing was american? thanks for that info!

619 in da house

David Tua is BaaaaaCK. KO in 2 against #6 in the world. But you know everyone is gonna avoid fighting him cos they know he'll knock anyone out.

Castro

Huerto doesn't seem to understand the nuances of boxing at all. Vitali's record speaks for itself. He's never ducked anyone and never lost a fight (he's retired due to injury), and has only had one decision in all his victories. Many boxing fans could appreciate the technical proficiency he showed in his destruction of Arreola. Boxing isn't always slug matches. It's easy to appreciate the hard fighting of a Barrera-Morales or a Gatti-Ward, but it's equally easy to appreciate the artistry of good technical boxing. Boxing, like soccer, is a world sport. Ukrainian Klitschkos are dominating the heavyweight division through scientific boxing. To MMA fans, yes they are trained in multiple fighting arts, a boxer wouldn't last long in an MMA fight, that being said, many MMA fighters wouldn't last long in a Queensbury boxing match against a real boxer either... I agree Steve Z, Vitali and Wladimir are both good sportsmen, who do a lot of good outsde the ring. Jim Lampley's comments after the fight were some of the best I've heard in a while from sports announcers. Hopefully some heavyweights took them to heart.

garry b.

IT is funny how the boxing world loved to watch ali "roper dope" and hold his opponents.. or watch joe louis mechanically track down his opponents....but.. when it is a european fighter doin these things it is boring or he looks like a robot . I am not a fan of either klitchko brother but i will say this, after losing a fight or two as young men they both turned into great fighters after hiring a good manager... they are both phenomenal looking athletes with lots of power and very good technique... the younger brother can literally destroy an opponent with just his jab..... it is not their fault that we dont have a heavyweight that can beat them......lets give credit where it is due

Luther

Yeah, it's boring because the Klirschkos eat American cows for lunch. As soon as some American wins it'll get exciting. Vitali has no deficiencies. Stop whining!