by Ron Robbins

Created on: October 19, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Do names like Ruslan Chagaev and Wladimir Klitschko ring a bell to you? Do they make you remember special nights in front of your television watching the sport you love? Probably not at all to a casual reader or viewer. To a seasoned fanatic like myself, they certainly do ring a bell. One that reverberates all through your head and causes migraine headaches. But that's for an entirely different article. Here I'm going to talk about what's wrong with the heavyweight division in it's entirety.

Probably the most overwhelmingly obvious problem is the recent lack of excitement in the division. Boxing is supposed to be an exciting spectacle... two guys beating each other up unscripted, with only a small set of parameters to govern the contest. Lately heavyweight boxing has fallen into a dull pattern of contenders without the desire to excite the masses. Everyone remembers the destructive power of Mike Tyson, and the brilliant master performances of Muhammad Ali,

Furthermore, in lighter weight classes, only a small difference can exist between the two competitors in weight. This creates fairly even matched fights, which rely more on the skill and tenacity of the two men. Take one of history's greatest set of match-ups between little guys - Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales. These guys put on three savage masterpieces, and were excellently matched as far as skill, weight, and size. The answers which would come in the end were decided by style and desire.

In heavyweight boxing, the only rule about weight is the two fighters must weigh in over the 200 pound (90.7 kilogram) limit. The obvious side effect here is that you can have two men who are completely unmatched in size and body type fighting each other. This doesn't often create a lot of excitement, and lends a hand in creating awkward match-ups between guys who should otherwise be fighting opponents who are at least vaguely similar in weight.

Eric "Butterbean" Esch, who may be nothing more than a sideshow in boxing really can be used as an example here. In Butterbean's last fight (March 9, 2007), he weighed in at 417+ pounds (about 189 kgs). His opponent weighed in at 313+ pounds (roughly 142kgs). Butterbean was fighting with over 100 pounds, or 45 kilograms of weight advantage, and could obviously create a higher momentum of thrust behind punches than his opponent, Joe Siciliano.

Butterbean won by TKO at 1:10 of the second round, which is probably the outcome you would expect, knowing each fighter's background,

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