Is light heavyweight the next big division?
Date: 29th June 2010 at 11:30 pm
Chad Dawson could soon face some stiffer competition at 75
If the 168 tournament wasn’t enough drama, I believe a lot of this excitement could spill over into the Light Heavyweight Division in the upcoming years.
A lot of the fighters at super middleweight have struggled to make weight, such as Andre Ward, Allan Green, Andre Dirrell, and Mikkell Kessler. If or when these fighters at Super Middleweight come up, I think we will really see some real g fireworks.
As of now, we have Chad Dawson reigning supreme at light heavyweight with a supporting cast of Bernard Hopkins, Glenn Johnson, Jean Pascal, Tavoris Cloud, and many others. With a roster like that, the 175 division isn’t great but its a solid division. But add Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell, Allan Green, Jermain Taylor(?), Kelly Pavlik, Mikkell Kessler and rising British star Nathan Cleverley to that division and it becomes the best in boxing.
I haven’t heard that Carl Froch has any intentions of moving up, but here in the US we don’t get as much news about the fighters from across the pond as we do our own superstars. So if Carl Froch did have the intentions to move up, the more the better. The other fighters that I listed with the exception of Jermain Taylor, who’s future is still somewhat of a question mark, have all expressed interest in moving up to 175.
Andre Ward won an Olympic medal at Light Heavyweight and has said that 175 is his most comfortable weight. He specifically said on Twitter that he will be moving up after the Super 6 Tournament, and would like to fight Lucian Bute. I received word from a fighter close to Dirrell (who I wont name) that when Dirrell got “injured” prior to the Abraham fight, he was having a hard time getting down to 168.
Whether there actually was an injury isn’t clear to me, but many believe that he needed more time to cut weight. Andre Dirrell has already fought a couple fights in the 170′s and even had a fight in the 180′s. So I believe a jump to 175 is in his near future. Kelly Pavlik has already moved up to 175 and from what I heard he plans to stay there.
The commentators on Showtime said that Allan Green plans on moving up after the Super 6 Tournament also, which I think would be a good move for him. It appears that he has a hard time making 168 or he may possibly not be as disciplined as he needs to be.
Boxing is a science and making weight is part of that. If a fighter doesn’t have a strict science for cutting weight it will affect him in the ring, I believe this is Allan Green’s problem. If Jermain Taylor does come back, which he has said that he plans to do, I can’t see him making his comeback at 168. He’s obviously has a hard time making weight because he’s always gassed by the 7th round, so moving to 175 would help him out because he wont have to leave as much in the gym.
Looking into this division there could be some huge fights! Imagine Andre Ward vs Chad Dawson, Tavoris Cloud vs Allan Green, Andre Dirrell vs Lucian Bute, or Kelly Pavlik vs Mikkell Kessler. I believe we have a lot to look forward to in this division in the upcoming years.
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I agree. It definitely has the potential to be one of the best divisions around. I think that if enough of those fighters were to move up, then I can definitely see Froch moving up as well.
He is a big talker and if there is no challenges left for him at 168, he’ll move up.
Nathan Cleverly is a big talent and I can’t wait to see what he does against better opponents.
I’d like to see Nathan Cleverly finish more fights. But his talent is undoubted.