SONAHR: September 28, 2014 – Since its inception back in 1980, the cruiserweight division has been the Rodney Dangerfield of the boxing?s higher weight classes ? it gets no respect. It tends to be regarded as something of a dumping ground for fighters who are too big to comfortably make the light-heavyweight limit of 175 pounds, but not big enough to compete with the super-sized heavyweights of today. Ironically, boxers who fight at the current cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds would have been considered big in the days of Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. But those days are long gone.
Yet for all the disregard that has been the lot of the division, there are glimmers of hope. A very bright glimmer flashed on Saturday, when cruiserweights topped the bill of a star-studded card held in Moscow. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland defended his WBC title against Russian Grigory Drozd, and Russian WBA champion Denis Lebedev took on Polish challenger Pavel Kolodziej. The Russians pounded the Poles, with Lebedev annihilating the unheralded Kolodziej in two rounds; and Drozd claiming the WBC crown by way of a hard-fought 12-round decision over Wlodarczyk. Lebedev?s blowout win was expected. Drozd and Wlodarczyk were much more evenly-matched, as their close contest indicated.
Lebedev and Drozd have company at the top of their division, with German Marco Huck as long-time holder of the WBO title and Cuban Yoan Pablo Hernandez wearing the IBF?s belt. Possibilities for unification bouts abound, and in Europe there?s a strong market for such matchups. Indeed, a lot at the Top 10 cruiserweight rankings in The Ring and Boxing Monthly magazines shows a predominance of European and British contenders, as well as a smattering of Africans. There is also on South American ? Guillermo Jones of Panama. Of North Americans, there?s nary a one, which might help to explain why the division gets such short shrift on the western side of the Atlantic.
Of course, the greatest champion in the cruiserweights? 34-year history is an American ? Evander Holyfield, who went on to become an outstanding heavyweight champion as well. Other U.S. champions ? such as Orlin Norris, Al ?Ice? Cole, James Warring and Steve Cunningham ? followed Holyfield. But none of those fighters could match the accomplishments and charisma of ?The Real Deal,? and the division has become pretty much an afterthought in a sport that is struggling to retain its relevance north of the Mexican border.
That?s a shame, really. Cruiserweights are more than capable of producing exciting contests, such as the Drozd-Wlodarczyk battle. The benchmark is the 1986 15-round war of attrition between Holyfield and Dwight Muhammad Qawi, which has to be seen to be believed. Also, considering that cruisers have to make a weight limit, fighters in that division are far less prone to enter the ring with jiggly torsos, unlike certain heavyweights.
The reality is, Europe is where the cruiserweight action is today, and will be in the future. It?s the place where the division is not treated like Rodney Dangerfield. The best advice an American or Canadian 200-pound prospect can take would be: ?Go East, young man.?
