June 21, 2003 was the last waking hour of the heavyweight division in boxing for the next decade and a half. On that night an underappreciated champion named Lennox Lewis escaped with his title stopping Vitali Klitschko on cuts in a bout he was losing.
The British champ was 38 and had established himself as the best heavyweight in a very underrated era. The 1970s are rightfully regarded as the best time in heavyweight boxing history.
The brand names of the 70s are well-known. But after the Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes tier you had terrific contenders who would have been champions in a lesser era; guys like Ron Lyle, Jerry Quarry, George Chuvalo, Ernie Shavers, Jimmy Young just to scratch the surface.
But after that golden age, the next best post-WWII heavyweight era was the 1990s into the early 2000s. Lewis emerged as the king of a span that included Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, George Foreman 2.0, Michael Moorer, Larry Holmes 3.0, Andrew Golota, Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison and several more quality badasses.
Lewis, with his gentleman’s disposition and British accent made him have to earn every drop of respect. Those qualities kept him from ever being truly embraced States-side.
The audience on our side of the pond warmed up more to Tyson’s thug image or Holyfield’s noble warrior image. However, when Lewis beat Holyfield then dropped Tyson into his boxing grave there was no denying his greatness.
And boy did we learn to miss him. After the Klitschko fight the writing was on the wall that Vitali and his brother Wladimir were on their way to stamping their own era.
Rather than stick around for a lucrative but dangerous rematch with Vitali, the champ took his titles, money and faculties home calling it a hall-of-fame career. The Klitschkos were really good fighters who would have been a handful for anyone in any era with their size, power and underrated defense but the American audience warmed up to them even less.
The competition to make their talent shine just wasn’t there and they were boring. The Ukrainian brothers ran through other less talented Eastern Europeans and third tier American tough guys (as the top tier athletes went for the NFL and NBA) for over a decade.
It became clear that the only competition they could find was with each other. This was something they understandably refused to entertain.
They were stars in Europe, especially Germany. However, they caused the lure of the Heavyweight Championship of the World (once the standard of manhood) to become folklore in the United States. There are simple reasons for that.
Poverty, desperation and hunger make for championship fighters. The poor in this country are no longer hungry and desperate. Everyone has cable, internet, full stomachs and brand name clothes.
Then there is the recruitment of athletes at younger and younger ages. What is a kid in the inner city or some rural nowhere going to chose between free sneakers and a major university versus a busted nose in a sweltering, smelly hell-hole?
Father Time has ended the Klitschko era. Vitali is long retired and Wladimir went out on his shield this past Summer passing the torch to a new Brit named Anthony Joshua.
Joshua is a 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist carved out of stone. He is strong, athletic and powerful. He showed championship heart getting off the deck to finish Wladimir.
On top of that he is intelligent and has the looks to be a crossover star. He is already packing 80-90,000 into stadiums in the UK.
At 20-0, 20 KOs he holds the IBF and WBA titles. The only knock I have on him so far is that he is not busy enough with his punches, especially the jab.
Joshua’s overly muscular physique chokes his punch output and fatigues him. I would like to see him drop 10-20 lbs. of that bulk; the extra flexibility may actually increase his punching power by putting more snap on his punches.
The other thing he needs is exposure to the biggest market in the world here in the USA. Coincidentally, he has the perfect dance partner here to do just that.
Deontay Wilder from Tuscaloosa, AL holds the WBC strap. The 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist is 38-0 with 37 KOs heading into this weekend’s rematch with Bermane Stiverne in Brooklyn (aired on Showtime).
Joshua-Wilder can grab the public’s attention and bring some of the charm back to the greatest title in the world. If Wilder takes care of business tomorrow night it would behoove both men to get it on next.
Heavyweights are always fragile because one punch can completely upset the applecart. There are other good heavyweights on the scene like Joseph Parker who holds the WBO strap. Daniel Dubois is only 5 fights into his career but his power has put all five opponents out in under two minutes.
If the NFL continues to turn off the public the financial repercussions will trickle down from the owners to the players. Could that bring just a tiny bit of that talent pool back?
We are unlikely to ever see another heavyweight golden age like the 1970s or even the 1990s again. But maybe, just maybe the division is on it’s way back from its 15-year slumber. Talk soon.
-Marksman
PS: I will be subjectively ranking the top-10 heavyweights of all time in the near future. Just a little tidbit: Mike Tyson doesn’t make the list.