Cruiserweight Division Continues To Be Overlooked
In a division where even Antonio Tarver was able to capture another world title when he defeated Australian Danny Green for the IBO portion of the cruiserweight crown back in July of this year, the cruiserweight division has been overlooked for years. This can be traced to a number of reasons, from its relatively new arrival to the boxing scene, to the popularity of other boxing divisions that have bigger household names and the lack of exposure that major boxing networks in the U.S. and have given this underrated, and deserving, weight class.
The cruiserweight division is filled with talented boxers that deserve to be put on the superstar stage in boxing, but the majority of casual boxing fans would be hardpressed to name who they are. Marco Huck, Steve Cunningham, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, and Krzysztof Wlodarczyk are just a few of the good fighters that compete in the cruiserweight division, and these fighters do not get the full recognition they deserve.
It seems as though all of the top fighters in the cruiserweight division have faced off against each other at some point of time, which makes this division even more intriguing. When it’s time to put up or shut up, these fighters do not run from each other, they face the music and fight. So with all of that said, here are 5 reasons why I feel the cruiserweight division is underrated…
—> Check out the latest top 10 cruiserweight division rankings from ProBoxing-Fans.com
5. Division Status
What is the cruiserweight division? Since the cruiserweight division only came into existence within the last several decades, many fans still don’t take to it. You can say that the cruiserweight division is in limbo to the light-heavyweight division and heavyweight division. The great aspect of that many of the top fighters possess much of the power and strength of good-sized heavyweights, with all of the athleticism and speed that their bulkier brethren don’t possess.
4. Location
A lot of the top cruiserweight fighters are not from the United States, and most of the top fighters in this division spend the majority of their careers in their native countries, taking on mandatory challenger after mandatory challenger. Most of these good cruiserweight fighters prefer to stay home and fight, so the American boxing world is not able to see the great fights that have transpired over the past four to five years. Of course, which came the first – their preference for fighting at home in front of good crowds, and our inability to see the fights as a result, or our lack of interest in the division causing it to be almost exclusively the terrain of Europe?
3. Competition
With all of the great fights in this division, it can seem like the top fighters are on a carousel as they keep fighting each other over and over. In the process, these top cruiserweights have produced great fireworks in past years, but again no one can see these great fights; great fights like Marko Huck vs. Steve Cunningham, Troy Ross vs. Steve Cunningham, Marco Huck vs. Denis Lebedev, and both fights between Steve Cunningham and Krzysztof Wlodarczyk just to name a few. The boxing world, particularly in America, has been deprived of watching these great fights simply because sanctioning and television media rights were given to countries other than the U.S., with the exception of a few notable encounters such as Cunningham vs. Tomasz Adamek, a thrilling back and forth affair, and the James Toney vs. Vassiliy Jirov from the beginning of the last decade, which turned out to be one of the best fights of the entire era.
2. Exposure
Again, I would like to emphasize the point that one of the biggest reasons why the cruiserweight division does not get its proper respect is because most of these fights do not get viewed enough in the United States. There is just not enough exposure for fans to really understand and invest themselves into grasp this division.
And now the number one reason why the cruiserweight division is underrated:
1. WBO Cruiserweight Champ – Marco Huck
There are a lot of good fighters in the cruiserweight division that are on the cusp of being great fighters, but right now Marco Huck is the king of the cruiserweight division and he is increasingly becoming one of the best fighters in our great sport of boxing. But no one knows it because Huck chooses to fight in his homeland of Germany and most of Huck’s opponents are usually from countries other than the U.S., so most boxing fans do not get to see Huck on television unless you watch on steaming media on the internet.
Besides a setback against great American cruiserweight Steve Cunningham, Marco Huck has pretty much ran through the division. Ultimately, if this division wants to get the respect that it deserves, superstars like Marco Huck needs to start taking fights in the U.S. to gain exposure and acceptance.
Conclusion
No one really knows how the cruiserweight division will fare in the future, however, I feel strongly that because the top fighters in this division are actually willing to fight each other in search of respect and cruiserweight supremacy, it’s intriguing and has some of the best action in the sport.
