The impressively named Tyson Fury and Christian Hammer sound like superheroes from Marvel or DC Comics.
A shrinking demographic of mainstream boxing fans might be able to pick them out, however, as world-ranked heavyweights. They’re real people, and Tyson Fury is the real name of an undefeated 25-year-old Englishman whose father was a Mike Tyson fan.
While Christian Hammer, according to research, was actually born Cristian Ciocan in Romania, the resident of Germany certainly has an evocatively powerful moniker as well as 10 knockouts in 14 victories (to three defeats).
Be honest, though. Most of us wouldn’t know any of the current heavyweight class — outside of brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko — if they walked up in boxing trunks and threw a right cross. And do you know your Wladimir from your Vitali?
That’s just one of the sport’s problems. To pump up interest, at least for the majority of sports fans in America, boxing needs the baddest men on the planet to be household names beyond their own households.
This division of 200-plus-pounders lacks the transcendent figures that I grew up with — Ali, Frazier, Foreman, even Ken Norton — and those in the next generation — Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Foreman (again!), even Lennox Lewis. Credit the classy and talented Klitschko brothers and pity their lack of suitable foils. (They won’t fight each other.)
The sad death of Tommy Morrison earlier this week evoked memories of his brief hold on a world title in 1993 and his acting turn in “Rocky V,” as well being one of the highest-profile athletes to test positive for HIV.
The tragic fact that this troubled soul was only 44 also brings to mind that for a skilled heavyweight, that’s old but not ancient.
Pro boxing’s chapters are populated with colorful characters such as Morrison, who came from little to nothing and used the blood sport as a desperate way out. You don’t find many from the country club set choosing to box for more than exercise. For generations, the lowest rungs of America’s socioeconomic classes produced the scrappiest fighters. If they weren’t born into a boxing family, prospects found familial appeal and support in neighborhood and backyard gyms.
Boxing still has reverence internationally, and world champions in all weight classes can be national heroes back home. The popularity of welterweight Manny Pacquiao is so enormous in his native Philippines, the 147-pounder not only could run for office, but he actually did and won.
Other than those with amazing longevity at the top such as Pacquiao, the Klitschkos, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bernard Hopkins and few others, boxing lacks in star power and name recognition, and its once-lofty place among our national sports pastimes has slipped.
Like a fighter on wobbly legs, the sport of boxing appears one big blow away from a faceplant on the canvas, only to keep its equilibrium and continue on.
Boxing’s not going anywhere. It’s been around since men first balled up their fists — predated about 5 minutes by slapfights, according to historians. But changes are necessary if boxing is to rise above the fringe.
The easiest targets for blame are the alphabet soup of sanctioning bodies, who usually prefer their own champions in 17 or so weight divisions. Too many champions makes for a watered-down title.
Television networks long ago moved boxing programs from free broadcast television to cable and pay-per-view outlets where exposure for up-and-coming fighters is extremely limited. Championship bouts featuring big names drive ratings and dollars.
Boxers might have better developed a name gradually through coverage in media outlets, but boxing-only beat writers at daily newspapers form a small club and, like a lot of things, have moved to niches of the Internet.
Some also believe mixed martial arts is a rival, not complement, to boxing, and for years now Americans have grown up with MMA at boxing’s expense. Consider the rising popularity and seeming omnipresence of UFC, in contrast to boxing, in the mainstream.
Must-see TV
One thing boxing does, every once in a while, is produce an event, the “Fight of the Year” — sometimes more than once a year. This super bout has, in the past, pulled in casual sports fans and crossed over into the national consciousness — a must-see event. While it’s rare to impossible in this era to have the impact of a Dempsey-Tunney, Louis-Schmeling or Ali-Frazier, it’s a showcase for the sport at its best.
A week from tonight in Las Vegas, Mayweather will put his WBA 154-pound title against the WBC belt of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Showtime PPV. Mayweather (44-0, 26 knockouts), at 36, is the long-standing pound-for-pound champion in the ring and at the bank. He will receive a reported guaranteed purse of $41.5 million for this second of a six-fight deal with Showtime. He earned $32 million for his last fight in May, a 12-round unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero that was as exciting as it sounds.
You may have heard this before about Mayweather’s opposition, but this one could be different — meaning truly compelling and a real threat to his unblemished record. A star in Mexico, Alavarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) is 23 without much of a track record but he has skills and power, if not Mayweather’s experience and other-worldy reflexes and speed.
Maybe he’s “The One,” as this promotion is called, to knock off Mayweather. It’s such a curious possibility, when it’s one man against another, that makes boxing attractive. The sport needs more such battles, beginning at the top with the big guys.
Nathan Dominitz is a sports reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at 912-652-0350 or nathan.dominitz@savannahnow.com.