New weight class talks led by WBC & Bellew!

The World Boxing Council (WBC) is in talks to consider the addition of an 18th weight class in boxing.

Sanctioning chiefs are looking for a way to narrow the gap between the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions as there is a belief amongst some, that the distance between top heavyweights like Anthony Joshua (240 pounds) & Tyson Fury (265 pounds) and the cruiserweights (200 pounds) is widening.

Former WBC world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew will lead a committee and having previously fought in both weight classes, he is well placed to assist in the investigation.

Boxing Guru’s Max Taylor previously explored some of the key things that are holding boxing back from its former glory days which included the number of weight divisions we now have. Once upon a time, boxing had only eight weight divisions. Thanks to the chronic damage fighters sustain from cutting and adding weight in their attempts to maneuver through these divisions, we now have more than double this number.

It was once a legendary feat when Bob Fitzimmons won a world title in three divisions in the early 1900s, but since the addition of more classes, we have witnessed greats like Manny Pacquiao double that record and some. The Filipino has become champion of eight different weight divisions in his 20+ year career.

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This is detrimental to the popularity of the sport as, when you consider there are four major belts in each of these 17 divisions, there can potentially be a staggering 68 world champions in boxing – making it impossible for fans to keep up and so many lose interest.

Adding another class would only add to this already diluted roster according to some fans, “Tony Bellew, do the right thing, buddy. Close the committee down. The last thing a convoluted sport needs is more divisions and more champions…”

Another agreed, “The cruiserweight division has enough problems with not being able to get the money or fighters involved that it’ll now have to compete with a super cruiser division!?”

Despite seeing greats like Roy Jones Jr move up in weight and thrive at the top as well as more recent champions like Usyk moving up to the top division, there are fans who see the need to even out the top end of the weight divisions;

“If 175 is still the light heavyweight limit, I would have 220 the start of heavyweight then there would be one at 190 and another at 205. That would be way fairer on athletes of that size.”

Sky Sports journalist Ed Draper believes the bigger problem lies between light heavyweight and cruiserweight. “Interesting. Still believe the gap between light-heavy and cruiser is a bigger issue. Lots of boxers fall in the middle of 12 1/2 stone [175 pounds] and 14 stone 4 [200 pounds].