THE MEANINGLESS CHAMPION By Jeff Mayweather

 

There was once a time when being Heavyweight Champion of the World was the most Coveted  Prize in all of Sports because you were considered the Baddest Man on the Planet. That distinction no longer carries any weight; being Heavyweight Champion today only means that you will get a bigger payday because you happen to be World Champion.

The Heavyweight Division is by far the worst division in Boxing. You have three current World Champions that the general public has no idea who they are. Chris Byrd, current IBF Champion, Lamon Brewster, current WBO Champion and John Ruiz current WBA Champion. You could drop off all three of these guys in the middle of Times Square and you would be lucky if twenty-five people even knew who they were. What happened to the days of Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and last but not least Lennox Lewis? These guys represented the Heavyweight title with long reigns that lasted longer than one or two defenses and there weren't any controversial decisions, draws or even Middleweights coming up to defeat Heavyweights.

The Heavyweight Champion was the man. The entire World knew who he was even if they didn't watch boxing. WHile being Heavyweight Champion once carried the distinction of being the baddest man on the planet, now it carries the distinction of being the guy who just happens to be Heavyweight Champion for a minute.

The heavyweight titles have changed hands so many different times within the last couple years it's hard to keep up with who is supposedly the one true Champion to carry the torch and standout above the rest to be recognized as the Heavyweight Champion.

Lennox Lewis was the last real Heavyweight Champion, since his departure the rest have been temporary substitutes like a school teacher who is sick for the week and today your new teacher is... who knows. Not one guy out there today can separate himself from the pack.

This is how sad of a state the Heavyweight Division is in, the best two Heavyweights are probably James Toney and Roy Jones Jr., both of whom started their careers in the Middleweight Division.

We are in a day and age when Hasim Rahman can become a World Champion; even worst you have John Ruiz, an above average club-fighter, who has become two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World. It is absurd, considering  he can't even beat Roy Jones Jr.; granted Jones is one of the best fighters on the planet but still he was once a Middleweight and he toyed with Ruiz.  Then you have Chris Byrd, who I consider a friend of mine, it appears as though he can only beat Holyfield. His fight with Fres Oquendo was very questionable, then his fight with Golota -who hasn't fought a meaningful fight in well over two years- wasn't much better. The last fight I saw Golota in, he was tucking his tail trying his best to get out of the ring by any means necessary against Mike Tyson.

Then you have Lamon Brewster, who I also consider a friend of mine, capturing the WBO title in a fight that still left many questions about his ability to actually fight. Brewster showed he could weather a storm and emerge victorious, yet was it a case of a Buster Douglas type situation, where having lost his longtime trainer Bill Slayton gave him the inspiration, strength and willingness to endure the punishment he received? Lamon Brewster showed no real ability to fight. He has loses to Charles Shufford and Clifford Etienne, both very marginal contenders.

On the horizon you have Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir's older brother who goes up against Corrie Sanders of South Africa. Prior to defeating Wladimir, Sanders was all but one step away from retiring to play golf. Out of all these men Klitschko is the most known, yet he has a loss to Chris Byrd when he quit in the corner of their fight, even though he was clearly winning.

It won't surprise me to see Corrie Sanders do to Vitali as he did to his brother. After all, Vitali has been given way too much credit for his performance against Lennox Lewis; a fight which was stopped not by a foul but by a punch that opened a severe cut over the Ukrainian's eye, forcing the ringside physician to call the fight.

The whole boxing world knows that when Lennox Lewis underestimated an opponent he could be had, which was the case with Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, and Lewis later reversed those verdicts.

If Mike Tyson were to get back into boxing and get serious about his training, he would be Champion again and would reign longer than any of the current Champions. Boxing needs Mike Tyson. It's so bad the sport can even use George Foreman; as sad as the state of the Heavyweight division is I would not be surprised to see George Foreman comeback and become World Heavyweight Champion again. When George announced to the World he was coming back I thought it was a farce, but now I think his return is a very real and accomplishable feat.

Foreman certainly would have a puncher's chance because he's a better puncher than all the current Champions and by far he's the most recognizable face in the division.

It's sad to have to think that the Baddest Man on the Planet could be 55 years old; it certainly doesn't say a lot for the Heavyweight Divsion.

Question: What does it mean to be Heavyweight Champion today?

Answer: The Meaningless Champion.