Talk:Middleweight
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[edit] Change in Line-up
The page needs expansion, but it is my belief that the original author did a decent job. I edited those listed among the division's notable. While an argument might occur over what constitutes "notable," I didn't feel Benevenuti or Griffith or any of the others that I omitted, qualified. Quite simply, holding a title or fighting for a Mw title doesn't equate w/ being a notable Mw. For eaxmple, Leonard won the Mw title (even going on to win titles in heavier weight classes) and did so by beating the great MMH, but his best weight was clearly @ 147 and his career as a "Middleweight" wasn't significant enough to classify him among the division's notable. Even for the Hagler match, Leonard was hyped as a Welterweight coming up to fight the Mw champ.
I added Burley and Fitzsimmons because I think they're among that division's best. Burley's omission hurt, but it was expected since he is (unfortuantely) not a well known fighter. There was no excuse for Fitzsimmons' absense, however. Worst was not seeing Greb there. Naming great Mw's and failing to include Greb is like trying to make a cake without batter, it's like listing the 20th century's greatest and most famous scientists and omitting Einstein. Would you make a list of notable Hw's and forget Ali, Louis or Tyson? I think not. He's there now - top of the list, no less - so I won't complain any further, but I needed to say this.
I tried to improve the chronological order of the list, and I made a few edits. I removed the part that said that Greb is arguably the greatest middleweight, since the same could be said of Robinson or Monzon or Hagler. I also removed the statement that Greb is among the all time best pound for pound, since this can be said of any of the fighters on the list. I also changed where it says that Hagler unified the title; Hagler inherited the unified title, he did not unify it himself, Monzon and Hopkins did unify the titles, however, so I put that in. What I did say was that Hagler was the first to hold all three belts (WBA, WBC, and IBF) at once; since he was granted the IBF title. I also added some info, like Hopkins holding the defense record, and Robinson winning the title a record five times. Last but not least I decided to remove Charley Burley. He was a great fighter, but he never won the middleweight title (not his fault, he was discriminated against.) He was a great middleweight contender, however, I felt it was unfair to include Burley and leave out Ezzard Charles who was another great fighter who fought at that weight, and who destroyed Burley twice. I didn't think Charles belonged on the list either, however, since he also never won the middleweight title and only fought there for a small amount of time in his career, and if Charles doesn't make the list then I don't think Burley should either, considering the results of their two fights, and the fact that Charles defeated a few one-time middleweight champions in his career. If we're going to start naming middleweight contenders we could name any number of fighters, like Archie Moore or Hurricane Carter or Winky Wright, and that'll be a rather large, confusing list.-12/30/06
what size gloves do middleweights use?
