154 needs to get it's act together Options

[Drago]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination. Lightheavyweight has a collision course ahead for the winners of Cloud/Johnson and Dawson/Pascal. 168 has the super six. 160 has nothing going on, but it is a weak division. 147 has Pacquiao/Clottey vs Mayweather/Mosley (hopefully), and 140 is a highly talented division that will come to a head soon enough.

Meanwhile, 154 has been in relative disarray since Winky Wright vacated the division 5 and a half years ago. It is a pretty talented division, too, containing fighters like the undefeated Sergei Dzinziruk, Cory Spinks, Yuri Foreman (undefeated as well), Sergio Gabriel Martinez, Paul Williams, and the soon to be returning James Kirkland. Fights need to happen. A couple of semi-interesting fights are coming up, like Alfredo Angulo vs Joel Julio (should be an entertaining scrap, and it's for the vacant WBO title), and Yuri Foreman vs Miguel Cotto, but none of the champions are fighting eachother. Dzinziruk has been tied up in litigation and hasn't fought in over a year. Spinks hasn't defended his title in a year. Martinez is busy fighting at Middleweight and not defending his title at 154.

Here are the fights I want to see happen this year:

Sergei Dzinziruk vs Alfredo Angulo for the WBO Strap
Cory Spinks vs DeAndre Latimore II for the IBF Strap
Sergio Martinez vs Kermit Cintron II for the WBC Strap
Yuri Foreman/Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout for the WBA Strap

Then the beltholders can start fighting eachother. I also want Erislandy Lara to sweep in and start kicking some serious ass. Vanes Martirosyan, Austin Trout, and Joe Greene are looking like worthy prospects as well. The weight division, with James Kirkland and Paul Williams still hanging around, is quite a promising one.

These things also need to happen for the division to improve:

James Kirkland needs to clean up his act and set his sights on fighting for a title.
Sergio Martinez needs to stop masquarading as a middleweight
The titleholders need to start giving a shit
Erislandy Lara needs to assert his domination

[Antrizzle]

Sounds like one big pipe dream to me.

[D-GenerationX]

Drago's post up there seems to make sense from a boxing fan's perspective.

But what about financially? As we know, if it don't make dollars it don't make sense. Is there a real financial incentive to stage the fights Drago proposes?

I can maybe see the incentive to get to an undisputed champ. But is the road to that undisputed champ a financially attractive one? There is not one fight on that list up there that is a PPV event, not one. And even on regular HBO or Showtime, I'm not sure any of them are appointment television, save for the diehards. But money is not made on boxing dieheards, its made on being able to draw in the more casual fan. Will that happen here?

[Mr P Dick Esq.]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination.

So no nearer to having an undisputed champion. And Cloud/Johnson is off.

[Drago]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination.

And Cloud/Johnson is off.

It's delayed. Johnson is still the mandatory.

[GOAT]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination.

So no nearer to having an undisputed champion. And Cloud/Johnson is off.

Exactly. Like many other divisions, we have two elite guys on top, only they refuse to fight each other. Wonderful.

[Mr P Dick Esq.]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination.

And Cloud/Johnson is off.

It's delayed. Johnson is still the mandatory.

If Johnson takes a replacement fight he loses his mandatory status. At his age, do you expect him to hang around?

[Drago]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination.

And Cloud/Johnson is off.

It's delayed. Johnson is still the mandatory.

If Johnson takes a replacement fight he loses his mandatory status. At his age, do you expect him to hang around?

Of course. Why Wouldn't he?

[Mr P Dick Esq.]

Boxing is doing well lately with trying to steer towards undisputed champions. The Heavyweight division is only 1 fight away from the Klitschkos asserting 100% domination.

And Cloud/Johnson is off.

It's delayed. Johnson is still the mandatory.

If Johnson takes a replacement fight he loses his mandatory status. At his age, do you expect him to hang around?

Of course. Why Wouldn't he?

A clue is in the question.