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If you're buying the idea that the heavyweight division is the flagship of boxing, you've definitely been thinking that the sport is dying. The rationale is pretty much elementary. The health of the heavyweight division is supposed to dictate the health of the sport in its entirety. And what happens if you have a bunch of mediocre big guys that not only lacked the talent and power of the great heavyweights who have been considered as faces of boxing in their respective eras, but also the charisma (read: utmost machismo) that sells the sport even to novice bystanders? You have a sport that needs reviving, badly.
While I find the logic above to be a little bit ridiculous -- as the widely considered greatest of them all, Sugar Ray Robinson (173-19-6, 108 KOs), could only go and fight competitively as high as the middleweight -- I think the sport is losing popularity. It is not what it used to be like during the circa 70s and 80s when even casual pedestrians talk about Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs), George Foreman (76-5, 68 KOs), Ray Leonard (36-3, 25 KOs), and Marvin Hagler (62-3, 52 KOs) among a host of great others. For one, it now pales in comparison to the attractiveness and popularity that MMA fights have been gaining since its conception. Go check the PPV buys and you'll get a drift of what I'm talking about.
To hook others into the sport, we need them to see fighters who have the ferocity in the ring that spells excitement, the power that spells blood, and the talent that spells methodical violent end to the other guy in the ring. Here are my top five exciting fighters I greatly recommend to beginners (and none of them is a heavyweight):
5. Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KOs) - A brutal power that sends people into coma, an unorthodox but very tentative lunging style and a glass jaw, Armenian Darchinyan by way of Australia is a highly entertaining fighter who can end a fight with just a swing, or a single whack in his chin. Put this super flyweight in the ring against somebody with a scary hook and you get an action packed thriller that you would wish it doesn't end early. But with his murderous power, weak chin and questionable defensive ability, the probability of his fights lasting the distance is very little.
But that's excitement: a huge left thrown from his unorthodox stance and its over; or a well-timed left hook connecting to his chin and it's all over. His last two fights though, which happen to be his career defining bouts, have been both entertaining and brilliant. His raw power and all-out offensive style have proved to be too much for Christian Mijares (36-5-2, 15 KOs) and Jorge Arce (51-5-1, 39 KOs), whom he was able to overwhelm with accurate punches from a variety of angles. It's important to note that those two he decidedly defeated by brutal stoppage are fighters of contrasting styles. One is a very quick and scientific operator; the other is a powerful brawler. That says everything about the new found talent of Vic Darchinyan which helped him become the first fighter in history to unify the three major belts of the super flyweight division. And yeah, I love the way he taunt his opponents by his awkward dances.
4. Miguel Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) - A dangerous pressure fighter who throws bombs on both hands with pinpoint accuracy, this Puerto Rican welterweight will surely raise you on your seat when he steps on the gas and intensifies his aggression further. You know when he had his man hurt. He'll be all out on offense, throwing bombs after bombs, even trading huge punches at sometimes, and increasing the pressure even more by pressing it forward which leaves him open in the process. With his brute power, quick hands and accurate punching, he built his reputation as an aggressive pressure puncher by slashing through the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions and capturing and depending titles via brutal stoppages and action-packed but brilliant decisions until finally letting go the "O" in his record courtesy of the iron-chinned Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs).
Cotto is a talented and a very dangerous fighter that his ways of ending a fight ranges from a good boxing performance, to savage beating using barrages of punches, to a single body shot. Don't get deceive by his reputation of being a fighter-gentleman who exemplifies the true, the good and the beautiful about boxing. He can throw unintentional low blows too.
3. Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) - A heavy hitter who never takes a backward step whenever he performs, the junior welterweight Hitman of Manchester, England, can only maneuver forward and he's very-very good at it. He loves to trade it off and he's not really hard to find, Hatton is excitement personified. His undefeated record at junior welterweight is a testament of his pressure punching prowess that takes it out of you even if you're a seasoned fighter ranked so highly in the pound for pound list. His landmark win against Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs) can be described as both brilliant and ugly as he was able to overwhelm the elite fighter with his swarming offense while clinching a lot to prevent him from retaliating with his own. But one word never leaves when describing his performances: excitement.
You want to see an all out war? Put him in the ring against anybody of whatever styles and hell be charging forward in an all out action. His recent brilliant win against slick boxer Paulie Malignaggi (25-2, 5 KOs) has revealed something about his style. His quick left jab can catch you at any angle. That's great as he would be needing lots of it when he squares off against the reigning pound for pound king on May 2. By the way, you're forgiven if you call him a wrestler and Hatton is forgiven too for doing some clinching that sometimes borders to being excessive as his willingness to draw action, trade punches, and end a fight with a bang is his major trait.
2. 'Sugar' Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) - He's brilliant, relentless, powerful, very much willing to take a punch and he's 37 years old. Who says this Californian welterweight no longer has what it would take to beat a hard-nosed Mexican brawler in Margarito who was widely recognized as the one of the most avoided fighters? Well, he did not only beat him, he destroyed him! He treated him like a kid, spanking him with precision punches, took him to school with his superb ability to control distance with his beautiful jabs and footwork and eventually KOed him after a round after round of non-stop beating that saw a night raining with countless overhand right that would make Thomas Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KOs) damn proud, with Margarito unable to land anything meaningful. Even with his advancing age and despite of the many brutal wars he has endured, Mosley proved to the world that he's still the Sugarman we all remember trading punches at lightweight and mercilessly clubbing his man around the ring.
What I love the most about this guy is his willingness to stand toe to toe and trade punches off even with dangerous punchers yet we all know he can easily beat them with his lightning quick reflexes, excellent jabs and brilliant footwork. A purist with an insatiable desire for blood and action, I can't wait to see him back in the ring again, hopefully against his conqueror Cotto or against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs).
1. Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) - I can't remember seeing him giving us a dull fight, even during his OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation) days. It's either its him getting rough-up by fighters with superior talent or its him delivering a violently overwhelming offense. Either way, the Filipino lefty thrills us with his capacity to end a fight with just a punch, especially during the early days of his championship career, as well as his trademark distance punches that none (so far) could handle. The guy who has journeyed through ten weight classes while twice leapfrogging divisions has vastly improved from Chatchai Sasakul (65-4, 40 KOs), to Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KOs), to Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) to Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs).
By learning how to combine patience and footwork with his ferocity, he has now fully upgraded himself from being a one handed fighter to an even more dangerous well-rounded fighter, which could only add up to the excitement he offers every time he steps into the ring. He belongs to a rare bred of fighters who constantly moves up in weight and yet exhibits a remarkable ability to carry his power and speed at each stops. The Filipino southpaw whose left hand was once described by his first trainer as "may sa demonyo" (literally translates to "possessed by the devil"), is such a very dangerous swinger that he delivers his goods with blinding speed and lethal power. That he was the first and only guy to floor and beat Erik Morales (48-6, 34 KOs) by stoppage, and the only guy to utterly dominate De La Hoya all through out the fight and eventually force him to quit on his stool tell all about it.
And whats more? He came as a heavy underdog on his biggest fights and greatest wins. Beat that.
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