By Troy Ondrizek

There are moments in a fighter's career where stagnation incurs.  It could be a myriad of reasons like injury, promotional issues, avoidance by perspective opponents, or even mental fatigue from any combination of those problems.  It’s the unfortunate existence of being a prize fighter.  Usually freedom from the doldrums comes from activity, but the best cure could also be retirement.  This harsh reality affects career after career, so it’s bound to happen to an entire division as well.  Recently we’ve seen the light middleweights come into the limelight and maybe soon they’ll crown a new champion; beating them to the punch the heavyweights finally found an heir to their much maligned throne, and now the young light heavyweights are starting to find relevance under the regime of the very old guard. 

The light heavyweight division has long been a premier location in boxing. Too many greats to mention have graced the canvas under the light heavyweight banner.  Unfortunately the division has experienced a lull the past quarter century.  About ten years ago, high profile, talented fighters decided to rectify that and made 175 their home.   Men like Antonio Tarver, Roy Jones Jr., Glencoffe Johnson, Virgil Hill, and Dariusz Michalczewski made being a light heavyweight fashionable and more importantly, profitable again.  A handful of good fights were made within the division. 

There was one notable fight that didn’t happen (Jones/Michalczewski), and that helped create a situation that we have yet to overcome.  No worries, we enjoyed the fights and fell in love with the fighters.  They apparently were enamored with it all as well, because they refuse to leave.  Five years after their version of the division hit its peak; most of these names still sit atop the rankings and are still forces to be dealt with. 

Chad Dawson became the first prominent young fighter in the division in more than five years.  His arrival at the top came two and a half years ago with his phenomenal performance by capturing the WBC title from the current linear Cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek.

After that bout much was anticipated from Dawson, but for over a year little progress was seen due to opponents pulling out of fights (Adrian Diaconu) or just a lack of quality opportunities.  In stepped the “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson, a stalwart of the division for nearly a decade.  The fight was easily the best high caliber light heavyweight fight of this era, but it was a microcosm of what’s wrong with the division.

Glencoffe Johnson has been one of the top dogs for so long it’s hard to imagine the division without him, and the same can be said of Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver, Zsolt Erdei, and Clinton Woods.  In fact four out of five of these men are currently ranked in the top 10 of The Ring rankings just as they were there 5 years ago.  Until last week it was all five of them.  Antonio Tarver was the publication’s titlist and Zsolt Erdei was the newly crowned linear champion.  Only the WBA’s faux title wasn’t held by one of these men, no the formidable Fabrice Tiozzo was the sanctioning body’s representative in September of 04’. 

Fast forward five years to the present and you will see that Zsolt Erdei is still the division’s champion, even though he hasn’t had a defense against a real threat in the nearly six years he’s been on top.  When Hugo Hernan Garay ranks as his highest profile defense, it can be reasonably argued that Zsolt Erdei has overseen the weakest title reign of any true champion in any weightclass in the history of this respected sport.  Erdei’s championship run has been so pathetic that The Ring refuses to list him as champion and they rank 44 year old Bernard Hopkins as the best in the division.  I have no problem with this because occasionally (and this is one of them) the champion in any given division isn’t necessarily the best fighter in their division.    

Out of the current top ten in this division, none are under the age of 25. Jean Pascal is the youngest at 26; Dawson, Tavoris Cloud, and Yusaf Mack are the only others that are under 30; even though Mack will be 30 by the time he fights again.  The top of the division is still rather old, but at least it’s trending in the opposite direction.  Tavoris Cloud just knocked Clinton Woods out of the rankings by bludgeoning the longtime contender last weekend over twelve hard-fought rounds. 

Woods has been the best English light heavyweight for many years, so as his career is ending, the founders of modern boxing need a replacement, in steps Nathan Cleverly (17-0, 7KO).  The lad from Wales is tearing up the local scene and is finally growing into his power.  An emerging star on the European circuit soon we’ll see the math wiz vie for global recognition. 

If more international talent is what you seek, look no further than Beibut Shumenov (8-1, 6KO).  Backed financially by his own promotional company complements of a fiscally endowed family, the former amateur standout has been fortunate enough to afford a handful of past their prime but recognizable opponents like Montell Griffin, Epifanio Mendoza, and Byron Mitchell.  Defeating them all he was able to lure Gabriel Campillo and his WBA title to his backyard in what was his 9th pro bout.  Falling short to Campillo where he lost the fight in the championship rounds after being dropped by a body shot, should prepare the 26 year old from Kazakhstan for greater success down the road. 

The WBC is represented by Jean Pascal (23-1, 15Ko), a former super middleweight contender. He beat Adrian Diaconu in a very entertaining bout, thrusting him into top ten status.  His next contest is against the ancient Silvio Branco (43), in a fight where Pascal should put a merciful end to a drawn-out career. 

The aforementioned Tavoris Cloud (20-0, 18Ko) first garnered attention by blowing out former linear champion Julio Cesar Gonzalez last August.  That win made him an undeserving mandatory for Chad Dawson. Dawson smartly moved on to bigger more pressing fights all the while letting Cloud dispose of aging middle tier fighters like Gonzalez and Woods while Dawson is heading to take out the top tier old guys like Tarver, Johnson, and hopefully Hopkins. 

Roy Jones Jr. is taking himself out of the equation by pursuing a future at cruiserweight.  I doubt he’ll duplicate Adamek’s accomplishments, but Roy has been pretty entertaining to watch in his last two bouts and his next one against Danny Green should have more action than a NASCAR pileup. 

The division hasn’t changed much over the past five years.  Consistency is deemed appropriate if you’re the one benefiting from it, but the fans aren’t.  So older fighters must make way for younger guys, but youth must push them out of the way, and that’s not happened here.  This stagnation is the testament to the skill of Tarver, Johnson, Erdei, Woods, and Jones.  It also speaks volumes on the lack of talented young light heavyweights over the past decade. 

Chad Dawson was the first to make headway, and for that, he is busy laying a foundation for what promises to be an exciting few years to come.  Now it’s up to the rest to do their part in dispatching the old and developing an identity of their own.  Soon this transformation will be complete, but the old guard is making it more difficult than anyone anticipated.