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Unfortunately, today's millennium of
heavyweight boxing isn't the attractive
colony of bumblebees circling the hive
as we anticipated. There are less and
less marquee heavyweight pay per view
options for HBO and Showtime networks.
For the most part, 2006 hasn't been too
bad a year for heavyweight boxing, amen.
Lamon Brewster vs. Sergei Lyakhovich for
the WBO championship on April 1st was
quite exciting. Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir
Klitschko for the IBF on April 22 was a
great showcasing as well. Samuel Peter
and James Toney was also an exciting
Showtime feature. Thus, lets be thankful
because were gradually getting better
and better fights.
The problem is there simply aren't
enough exciting heavyweight title or
non-title fights that fans can enjoy.
The gaps in between each intriguing
heavyweight matchup are too wide apart.
Ultimately about as wide as Superbowl
Sundays.
Slowly but surely, it seems as if the
existing heavyweights are looking to
emerge upon the threshold of supremacy.
As for right now, we have to be patient
and wait for the right fellow to come
along and make that happen. For all we
know, this guy could move up in weight,
come in better shape or stay right where
he is but just begin to dominate.
Ringmaster Bernard Hopkins has even
threatened to pack on extra muscle and
move up to fight for the heavyweight
championship. It would be the third time
in less than five years that a
middleweight fighter has moved up to
heavyweight to fight for a belt. We
remember Roy Jones Jr and James Toney's
move to heavyweight.
Evander Holyfield was originally a
cruiserweight that jumped ship and made
a heavy name and status for himself;
exploding on the scene and blowing away
top faces.
As the 2006-year comes to a close, we
don't know what to expect with the
remaining few heavyweight matchups.
Shannon Briggs is promising a KO victory
over Serguei Lyakhovich. Calvin Brock is
training like a mad man for his first
heavyweight title shot, Samuel Peter is
chasing Oleg Maskaev and Nikolay Valuev
has just got his third teaspoon of
American boxing. The state of the
division is in a little disarray at the
present moment.
We have to think outside the box on this
one folks. There are several possible
candidates out there who could very well
be prominent heavyweight figures. We
don't necessarily have to rely on the
inside man. We can hire a contractor in
Bernard Hopkins, or a temp assignment in
an Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver. What
about a volunteer in Cruiserweight
champion, O'Neil Bell. Just remember,
one man's bloated pretender is another
man's new heavyweight champion of the
world.
Possibilities remain endless in this
game, so think outside the box on this
one. It's the only way we may be able to
keep our sanity.
* Jerrell's questionnaire *
(Please select one of the following)
Who is the best heavyweight champion?
A) Wladimir Klitschko (IBF – Def
Chris Byrd April 22, 06)
B) Serguei Lyakhovich (WBO – Def
Lamon Brewster April 1, 06)
C) Oleg Maskaev (WBC – Def Hasim
Rahman August 12, 06)
D) Nikolay Valuev (WBA – Def
Monte Barrett October 7, 06)
E) "Ahh hell, I'll do it myself!"
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