With all the talent blooming at CW......could this mean that in 2-3 years....the HW division might actually begin to look up if these talented guys start moving up?

Everybody knows HW is where the $$$ is at....With all these guys coming up in this division I could very easily see a mass exodus to HW. If that were to happen coupled with the 6-7 decent/good HWs in the division at present.....that would REALLY turn things around.

Let's pray this takes place!

Well asided big Len there have been no excellent heavyweight in excess of 220-230lbs. The Cruisers should step up & fight at 210-220lbs which is where all the best heavyweight fighters have weighed in at anyway.

What about Wlad?

I think that the only one who could actually make a successful transition to heavy, and in turn make some noise, is David Haye...and I see him getting waxed by Wlad.

At cruiser, we have some good fights though...so I am looking forward to Bell, Adamek, Mormeck, Macaranelli, Byrd, Cunningham, Jirov and whoever else, get it on.

I don't classify him as elite. He is good & could be great but I doubt it. He is just waiting to be stretched if he fights someone with a skerrick of talent.

Here's Dan Rafael's "Insider" Blog on ESPN.COM on Cruiserweights moving up to the Heavyweights

If you're paying attention to boxing besides what is going on with the never-ending Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Floyd Mayweather Sr.-Roger Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya saga, you might have noticed that the cruiserweight division, the little division that could, is in a golden era.

It kicks butt right now.

The fighters in the 28-year-old, 200-pound weight class aren't household names, but you know what? Pound-for-pound, they make some of the most interesting and exciting fights in the sport and they deserve our attention.

Keep in mind that these guys are the same size as the old-time great heavyweights, such as Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Floyd Patterson and Jack Dempsey, all of whom routinely fought in the low 200s or below before the 250-pound heavyweight became the norm. Even Muhammad Ali fought many early bouts under 200 pounds and many more in the low 200s. If they were fighting today, they'd be cruiserweights.

This division is no longer a joke, the so-called halfway house for small heavyweights and fat light heavyweights.

Just look at today's exciting cruiserweight landscape.

Former undisputed champ O'Neil Bell and former unified titleholder Jean-Marc Mormeck put on two outstanding battles in the last two years. Their rematch last March was one of the fights of the year.

Now, Bell is set to meet Tomasz Adamek on April 19 in Adamek's native Poland in a fight that deserves American television coverage and figures to be a hard-hitting affair.

Those familiar with Adamek, a former light heavyweight beltholder, know that he is one of the most exciting fighters in the world. His two slugfests with Paul Briggs were unforgettable: two majority decision wins for Adamek in similar blood-soaked brawls.

On March 8, Showtime, looking for exciting matchups that won't break its bank, wisely picked up rights to televise British world champion David Haye's showdown with beltholder Enzo Maccarinelli of Wales. As they say in Britain, it should be a cracker. A sellout crowd of 20,000ish is expected at London's O2 Arena, so don't go telling me that nobody cares about cruiserweights.

I do.

So too, apparently, do a whole lot of Brits.

And if you want to stay on this side of the Atlantic, look no further than this week's "Friday Night Fights" main event on ESPN2. The cruiserweight headliner looks like a terrific fight on paper. It features top-10 contender Darnell "Ding-A-Ling Man" Wilson, author of last year's knockout of the year against Emmanuel Nwodo, facing undefeated B.J. Flores. The winner is going to be in a strong position for an eventual title fight.

The "Friday Night Fights" studio guest this week will be titleholder Steve "USS" Cunningham of Philadelphia. Unless you are a true fight freak, you've never seen him fight because he's never been on American television, a shame considering his ability.

But if you trade DVDs or scour the Internet for video, you know all about Cunningham. His 12th-round TKO in Germany against Marco Huck on Dec. 29 was as entertaining a fight as I have seen in a while. Thankfully, I was able to watch it live on the Web. Cunningham will have to defend his belt against the Bell-Adamek winner, so there's another can't-miss fight in a division filled with them.

Throw in quality contenders Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (a former titleholder), Vadim Tokarev, Matt Godfrey, Johnathon Banks (trained and managed by Emanuel Steward) and Yoan Pablo Hernandez, and the division even has some depth, though much of it resides overseas.

But I will take today's cruiserweights any day of the week over the lackluster heavyweights.

And you know what? Maybe the heavyweight division should now be viewed as the weight class for fat cruiserweights.

The next guy he fights who has a pulse, is coordinated, and has a punch will KO Wlad....

Good post.


I CANNOT WAIT for Haye-Macca.....what a shoot out that'll be.

The CW division has such a stigma though, I'm not sure it will ever really be able to thrive the way it is. The best time would have been right after the Toney-Jirov fight, a terrific slugfest for a title between two fighters with name recognition. But what happened? Both guys immediately went up to heavyweight. That's the norm it seems. Once a cruiserweight reaches the cusp of greatness they shit on the division and go up for the big money where their careers inevitably suffer.

Would it be such a ridiculous idea to rename it the heavyweight division, increase its weight limit to around 210-215, and rename the heavyweight division the superheavyweight division? Human beings are generally much larger physically now than 100 years ago when these weight classes first came into effect. And considering there's no linear heavyweight championship legacy right now to protect, what would be the harm? Then perhaps there could be some meaning to the term heavyweight champion again. Or would all the heavies just go up to get their asses kicked at superheavy?

I myself think both Jirov and Toney came in at a time when the talent may have been old but still had a few tricks up their collective sleeves and a few of the young guys were decent.

Look at who they fought...and it's not as if they were slaughtered...Jirov fought an undefeated HW in Mesi and damn near got the win....then lost to an older ex title holder in Moorer. Toney fought good young guys in Peter and Guinn and a still capable Rock.

Now...those names may not have been the best ever....but they are IMHO better than what we have now with Chagiev, Austin, Thompson, Arreola and the like.

I also think the Super Heavyweight is something that came and went....sure their are a couple at HW now in Wlad and Valuev and McCline....but most HWs that are younger and that will be active for a few years are smaller....Sultan, Povetkin, Chambers.

So IMHO the HW landscape could accomodate CWs EASY without the size difference being so great, with the exception of a handful of fighters.

The current stock of cruisers is very good right now. All the division needs is one major attraction to draw attention to it.

A few years ago the top three guys in the division were Jirov, Gomez and Tiozzo with other good fighters like Vrigil Hill, James Toney and an upcoming Wayne Braithwaite. I always thought that was a good division but for most people it was a joke. Kind of the same way the super middleweight was considered crap 5 years ago.

But now the supermiddleweight division is considered one of the best in the sport wtih guys like Calzaghe, Kessler, Bute, Green, Mundine, Froch, Andrade, Bika, Pascal, Miranda and more. All the cruisers need is a major star and they will be set.

I actually see Haye getting waxed by Enzo. I may be wrong but I was ringside at Mormeck-Haye and this guy is so beatable. He is the Teddy Reid of the CW division.

Yeah, the guy can punch for sure, but something tells me he doesn't really have the best chin....

I think that adds to the excitement with Haye though. He has the power to knock most fighters spark out but by the same token he looks vulnerable himself. His fight against Enzo Mac will be thrilling whilst it lasts. Enzo will be the stronger man on the night because he won't be weight drained and it'll be interesting to see if Haye's weight troubles will be his undoing.

Cruiserweight will always be a stepping stone for heavyweight simply because the money is at heavyweight.