As we all know, there are 17 divisions of professional boxing - 105 mini lightweight - 200+ pound heavyweight, but in 2019, the WBC took the lead in establishing a new division, called the "Bridgeweight" or "Bridgeweight", which is between the welterweight and heavyweight classes, with a weight range of 200-224 pounds, and then officially implemented in 2020, Oscar Rivas became the first champion of the WBC "bridgeweight" boxing division.
At first, there was a lot of discussion about the establishment of the "bridgeweight" division in the WBC, and many people criticized it, but despite this, the WBC "bridgeweight" event is still going on today, although it seems cold, but it is also decent.
This week, following the WBC, the WBA also officially announced the creation of a new class, which is also between the welterweight and heavyweight classes, and the weight range is also 200-224 pounds.
Unlike the WBC, the WBA has a more understandable name for the new division - "super welterweight", but ironically, when the WBC created a new division, the WBA was the first to jump out against it, and now the same division has been created
Right now, the WBC and WBA are all setting new divisions in the 200-224 pounds, so that fans are saying that there will be an 18th division in professional boxing
The WBA wrote in its official briefing:We decided to create a new division, named Super Welterweight, which will bePound fighters provide the necessary bridges. wbaWe will continue to work on making boxing a fair sport that provides opportunities for all participants, especially the fighters.
It is understood that the WBA put the creation of a new division on the agenda a few months ago, during which there was a lot of analysis, and after passing a vote, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza officially announced the establishment of the super heavyweight division. It is also understood that the WBA ranking committee has begun to create super-heavyweight rankings, which are expected to be announced soon.
The heavyweight class is an open class where fighters weighing more than 200 pounds can compete, but due to the "no cap" nature of the class, the weight gap between fighters is huge, and when a 220-pound fighter goes against a 300-pound fighter, the advantages and disadvantages are obvious, and although boxing is all about strength, the weight difference is undoubtedly a key factor in winning or losing.
WBC and WBA both said when setting up a new level that the purpose is to obtain weight fairness in the boxing competition, so from this point of view, the establishment of a new level is of positive significance, but some people believe that WBC and WBA set up a new level to earn extra sanctions, after all, if the new level is used for the boxing championship, a certain percentage of the cost needs to be "tribute" to the boxing organization, so that WBC and WBA will benefit, but it is still from the fairness of the game. From an impartial point of view, especially given the huge weight gap in the weight divisions, the creation of a new division is reasonable, if not necessary.
The well-known ** "World Boxing News" listed a WBC heavyweight boxing champion weight from the last century to the present**, and the above data is very intuitive, that is, the weight of the boxer is gradually increasing. Note: The weight of the champion in the list is the average weight of the championship at its peak.
Century
Jack Dempsey: 187 lbs.
Keane Tenney: 189 lbs.
Max Schmelin: 188 lbs.
Jack Shaki: 205 pounds.
Max Bell: 209 lbs.
Jim Braddock: 193 pounds.
Joe Lewis: 197 lbs.
Ezad Charles: 181 pounds.
Joe Walcott: 194 lbs.
Rocky Marcano: 184 lbs.
Floyd Patterson: 182 pounds.
Ingmar Johansen: 196 pounds.
Sonny Liston: 214 lbs.
Muhammad Ali: 210 pounds.
Joe Fraser: 205 lbs.
George Foreman: 217 pounds.
Leon Spinks: 197 lbs.
Larry Holmes: 209 lbs.
Michael Spinks: 200 lbs.
Mike Tyson: 221 pounds.
Buster Douglas: 231 lbs.
Evan Holyfield: 208 lbs
Riddick Bowe: 235 pounds.
Lennox Lewis: 235 lbs.
Century
Hasim Raman: 238 lbs.
Ogre Maskov: 238 lbs.
Samuel Pitt: 250 lbs.
Vitaly Krychko: 247 pounds.
Berman-Stevenne: 239 lbs.
Deontay-Wild: 219 pounds.
Tyson Fury: 273 lbs.
Now, one of the biggest problems with the new division is that there are very few fighters competing in the 220-224 pound division, and many are either working in the heavyweight division or staying in the welterweight division, and instead the number of fighters who are involved in the new division is limited. However, this problem needs to be solved through time, I believe that the number of participants will gradually increase, and eventually gradually form a scale, and the operation will be more standardized, and if nothing else, IBF and WBO will also follow suit in the near future, when professional boxing will really become 18 levels, after all, from the law of historical development, things are always changing, new things are not necessarily the best, and they are certainly not the worst, and at the same time need to be gradually improved in development.
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