A lack of stars has turned the division into faceless champions and contenders.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published April 17, 2004
TAMPA - From Joe Louis to Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson to Lennox Lewis to
John Ruiz?
Chris Byrd?
Lamon Brewster?
Yes, indeed, these are your heavyweight champions, the supposed best fighters in the world, the faces of boxing.
Inspired yet?
Well, DaVarryl Williamson is. So is Lance Whitaker. Both fight tonight at the Florida State Fairgrounds Entertainment Hall for relatively minor heavyweight belts.
But they know the time is ripe to step onto a bigger stage.
"The door is open," said Williamson, who fights Elieser Castillo for the North American Boxing Federation title. "You can see through it. And you know you better get through it because if you win tonight, you're just another fight or two away from a title shot."
It's never quite that simple in boxing, but the 35-year-old Williamson is more encouraged than ever, hoping to capitalize on the weak state of boxing's marquee division.
"Right now, it's musical chairs," said Teddy Atlas, an ESPN analyst and former Tyson trainer. "These guys now, they're just caretakers."
Tyson saved boxing from champions such as Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs and Trevor Berbick in the 1980s. Evander Holyfield and Lewis saved it in the '90s from Bruce Seldon and Frank Bruno.
Who will save it now?
"The thing about greatness is you can't wish it into existence," Fox Sports Net analyst Max Kellerman said. "There's no heavyweight on the scene right now I see with even the potential for greatness. There's no one great heavyweight who can clean it up."
It has been two of the busiest weeks in heavyweight history. Brewster won his share last week. Tonight in New York, Byrd defends his IBF title against Andrew Golota and Ruiz defends his WBA title against Fres Oquendo. Next week, Vitali Klitschko and Corrie Sanders fight for the vacant WBC belt.
Williamson, Castillo, Whitaker and his opponent tonight, Friday Ahunanya, look at the collection of champs and contenders and wonder, why not us?
"It's wide open," said the 6-foot-8 Whitaker, who was ranked as high as No. 5 in the WBA last year and currently is No. 8.
"I think the division is a little weak right now. There's nobody up there, so it's good for me."
Good for Whitaker but bad for boxing.
The heavyweight division is sagging beneath the enormous expectations established by its famous forefathers, once the most recognizable faces in all the sporting world.
"At one point, the heavyweight champion was like being the president of the world," Ruiz said. "It was that big. Now people have lost the interest."
Lewis' retirement in February left a mammoth void. The Klitschko brothers were supposed to rule in his absence before Wladimir was knocked out by Brewster, whose claim to fame was having no claim to fame.
Vitali, whose effort against Lewis last year helped push the champ into retirement, is regarded as having the best chance to dominate the division and unify the belts by both Kellerman and Atlas. But he is no sure bet against the 36-year-old Sanders, a scratch golfer with visions of playing on the PGA Tour.
If the deck gets shuffled just wrong, in one week the champs could be Brewster, Oquendo, Golota and Sanders, who New York Daily News columnist Tim Smith dubbed "the four horsemen of boxing's apocalypse."
Even the romanticism of the division can't save it now.
"It's a barren landscape out there," Atlas said. "It used to be, "Wow, we're going to a heavyweight fight.' Not anymore."
There is no surer sign the heavyweight division desperately craves a star than this: 55-year old George Foreman announces a comeback fans don't immediately dismiss; a spent Holyfield continues to be included in the mix; and fans still clamor for the return of Tyson, who has fought 49 seconds since Lewis destroyed him 22 months ago.
For Whitaker, Williamson, Castillo and Ahunanya, the glass is half full. Most say it's half empty.
"This is bad for boxing because since there's no centralized authority, the sport is dependent on its stars," Kellerman said. "There's no real long-term planning. It's very reliant on a Muhammad Ali or a Mike Tyson appearing on the scene. So absent that, yeah, it's not good.
