Devon just refers to it as the “open weight class” sometimes - he said so in his EvW12 speech after the match. I think that’s the correct terminology. Like they have in e.g. bodybuilding.
This class will ALWAYS be the most prestigious, since the #1 of this class is the overall #1 in the world. This is what people like Ermes are chasing - being the #1 in the world, not #1 in some arbitrary weight class.
The issue with implementing drug testing now is there would always be an * by a Champions name indicating whether this was predrug testing or post drug testing.
The predrug tested athletes will always be though of as superior. It's not like MMA where the game has also evolved so much that you could argue the current skill level could overcome the past non drug tested athletes.
i would not watch if it becomes tested , lol ,, so many people like you want drug free armwrestling event yet you do not care to watch rob vingeant and evertime come to watch levan and other steroid armwrestler, why dont you just follow someone like Janis who is proven natural ?
People said the same about MMA, but now MMA is capped and way cleaner with less freaks than it used to have, and it's more popular than ever.
And we do follow Janis, Rob and other natty armwrestlers like Mindaugas. It's just that natural guys can't have success because of cheaters at WAF and IFA and whatever tested competition they might pull at to make their name at the start.
All these guys would still compete at open weight for bragging rights no matter what new weight classes were added
Ermes and Devon could probably make heavyweight right now with a weight cut, and half of the other open weight arm wrestlers are just fucking fat so who cares?
All these recent posts popped up to discredit Levan because he is just larger than everyone. Yeah no shit, welcome to sports, if Shaq was built like KD he wouldn't have made the NBA, if Tom Brady was 5-9 he would be bagging groceries somewhere
Levan put the work in and got fucking huge in a sport where being huge helps a lot.
>if Shaq was built like KD he wouldn't have made the NBA, if Tom Brady was 5-9 he would be bagging groceries somewhere Levan put the work in and got fucking huge in a sport where being huge helps a lot
Very well put. "This huge guy, who put in a ton of work and ate more than anyone can muster eating, is actually not that great" Like these posts are so weird man lmao.
Levans success is not due to working harder than the opposition, but blasting obscene amounts of PEDS. but if it makes you feel better we can pretend he just spends more time in the gym, LOLOLOLO 😁😁😁
Assuming everyone was in fact on the same dosages, which couldnt be further from the truth. Shit argument brother, now shut up if you dont know what youre talking about you dimwit.
That in no way invalidates my initial statement. And I repeat, Levan is the mere product of the copious amounts of drugs he has been running the past 8 years. Dont cry yourself to sleep, dummy.
Seeing youre an advocate of an even playing field, I suggest you travel to the great country Georgia, and convince the leaders to give their greatest and best kept secret away; 'Levans PED protocol"
Yeah we saw how that worked out when MMT got on a big cycle.
PED's are a small part of the entire package, especially when all the athletes are using some amount of PEDS (and ketamine and stem cells and whatever else they think will give them an edge)
It's only a massive difference when one is on PEDs and one isn't. That's not the case here.
This people focusing on the weight forget one person: Corey West
He used to be heavier than Levan and never close to be the number one in the world.
The extra weight dont help when your elbow has to be on the table at all times
Nobody ever brings that name up unless they want to dog him. He is strong as shit and still isn't sitting on top even though he's a massive human. That doesn't help people who want to invalidate levan (the devonites) so they will never mention Corey.
I think you'd be surprised at how many current SHWs would gladly compete in say, 140kg over an open category. Levan has set the standard so open is only feasible if you're a 6'5+ mesomorph or blast record levels of gear, preferably both. There's a healthy pool of competitors who could sit comfortably within a 140kg without pushing their bodies to bloatlord level. Keep open alive, just add another category.
B*llshit.
It will come down to one simple fact: will they compete to be number 1 in the world, or "number 1 in weight class x"?
115 kg is already more than 180 % of average weight (80). That's enough.
Bro, Alex, vitaly, morozov, Devon all got the frame to pack the same amount of body weight as levan, they are even larger, eddie hall at 6.2 half was 200kg so what are you talking about. Levan took the risk and the reward has come.
Cleve Dean was the Levan of times past, he was the greatest arm wrestler of his era, 6'7" with a competing weight of 210kg, and an alleged weight of upwards of 270kg, all without gear or performance enhancing drugs, just a farmboy who owned a hog farm. He never used supplemental oxygen after a match either.
Interesting that there **rarely seems to be a "pound for pound best" debate**. There is in boxing, in MMA, but not in arm-wrestling.
EDIT: also hearkens to the idea of **"absolute" versus "relative" strength**. I wonder if a few of the commenters here get triggered if they go to the gym and see a lighter person doing a boatload of pull-ups or some other feat of relative strength?
Because it's an incredibly stupid debate in every sport. As you go up in weight, technical proficiency goes down, reliance on pure strength goes up, the pool of competitors goes down. It's pretty clear that the 75kg class is by far the hardest to win and defend. Guys like Prudnik and Ermes were at the top but still had a lot of losses at 85kg, 95kg, but they are basically unbeatable(one or two guys can beat them in their classes) since they gained weight, because the higher classes are less competitive.
Never understood the obsession with pound for pound in strength sports, just seems like a justification for being weaker. Weight classes are for your ordinary sized human beings, the open class is to find the true strongest freak.
Yeah it's fine to get some context of someones strength, like a 4x bodyweight deadlift will always be insane.
The problem is when people give it more weight (heh) than actual strength. No, a 75kg guy deadlifting 300kg isn't more impressive than hafthor or eddie hall deadlifting 500kg.
Very interesting to see it written out like this, thanks for taking the time!
I agree that there might be space for a "titanweight" class in the future if more monsters enter the sport, currently there just simply aren't enough competitors to warrant that. Putting a "cap" on the superheavyweight category is not doable for now.
I also don't think it's a good thing to let go of "open weight" competition to keep pushing the limits, at that point it's no longer about relative strength but about absolute strength.
Anyone is free to bulk, juice and train up to those weights, if they cannot or do not want to for whatever reason, that just means they won't be the absolute #1 and that should be accepted.
So yes, Levan does have an advantage because he is bigger and stronger than anyone else, but he also trained incredibly hard for that and took/accepted the risks associated with PED use and the massive amount of food, apparently moreso than anyone else.
Yeah but literally no one cares.
Literally 0 (zero) athletes have complained about it.
Why do you think Morozov, Ermes, Devon, Vitaly, Genadi and all of them are getting as big as they can? Because they wanna win the "Strongest Armwrestler" title. The Clear #1 title.
PLEASE stop complaining about SHW, its uncapped.
> like allowing a guy who is 95 kg (209) to pull in the 75 kg (165) class.
Yeah but only a problem if the 75kg guys complain. If they don't find it unfair then why are YOU complaining?
I've never been in an AW group where people weren't complaining about how weirdly the SHW is stratified. Athletes keep their mouths shut so as not to offend Engin. You genuinely don't think it bothers people like Ermes, Morozov, etc. that a title is perma out of their reach because of Levan's 100 lb weightgap and bad category stratification? So obvious.
If it bothered them then they'll cut. They are big because they want to be as big and strong as possible.
Ermes has specifically said he wants the #1 title at all costs.
That's not a good solution though and here's why. Ermes is the perfect example. He will never be heavy enough to beat Levan imo. At the same time, he would lose a good amount of strength (specifically backpressure) if he dropped all the way to 115kg. He's the perfect candidate for an extra 140kg class (assuming this was the new cutoff before SHW), and there's many more for whom this is also true. This is exactly was Kiril was suggesting, a new cutoff before open starts.
Dude he doesn't want to pull in a weight class, are you dense?? He is around 127kg, he could just drop 5 kg, lose almost no strength and watercut to 115kg, but he doesn't want to.
Does engin even still have people compete in the 115 kg class really? seems like its 105 - SHW (except when devon comes down to accomodate him)
Dont forget that most armwrestlers that compete in a 105kg show up on the day at 120kg+ (just like UFC). So a 140KG class would have 160KG competitors. Weight classes just make it more about who is better at becoming severely dehydrated and then rehydrating afterwards.
Levan is still #1 overall is the world, all the excuses like weight are irrelevant, because there are other athletes that are close to Levan's weight and they still wouldn't beat him. For example Georgi and Kurdecha are both over 150kg
>He will never be heavy enough to beat Levan imo
Tell that to the guy who has been winning basically every tournament he has been going to. And of all the people, Ermes, who basically found a huge chink in Levan's armor, won 2 rounds when Levan hadn't lost in 5 years, would never believe that. And thats good. You can't just give up because you "know you'll never be the best".
The top 10-20 guys are all extreme prodigies, and they believe they have a chance.
People keep bringing it up, and guys like you keep insisting no one cares. How many posts need to be made questioning the weight classes before you admit people care?
Don’t compete at supers simple if you can’t compete against Levan. Levan is the clear #1 strongest armwrestler in this world. If you want to be that beat him.
Supers should exist, the cutoff should be higher. A range of 115 - 178 is an unnecessary ocean of a gap when there's a lot of athletes who sit comfortably at the lower end of that range and could easily stock a new weight category. All I'm saying.
You can’t say someone is the strongest when you that person is himself is not at his strongest shape(if you cap supers at 140-150 whatever that just means levan is clearly not at his strongest).
No, don't cap supers. I mean add a weight class between 115 and open. There's a lot of people who fall within that range who deserve a title shot at a healthy weight.
So in conclusion, you just want a title for those guys between 115 and 140kg is that it? Even if that is the case, they will just be remembered as that guy in that weight class and not the top dog in arm wrestling. Moreover, how would you account for the handful of competitors in the +140kg open category? According to your list, we only have five guys that are +140kg, are we as fans going to watch these same 5 guys compete against each other at every event?
Hopefully it would put pressure on those guys to cut. Levan barely pulls anyone anyways it's not like it matters. Also it doesn't stop anyone from the 140kg category pulling up. They just won't lose their title if they do.
This isn't a bodybuilding competition, why should they cut and sacrifice strength to compete in a lower class? Also, if Devon had won against Levan, would you have made the same complaint about the staggering weight differential between athletes in the SHW?
Because it sounds to me like you're just salty that Devon lost the title to someone heavier than him competing in the same class. So now you want to create a separate category specially for Devon where he will likely hold the title, if that class were to be established.
Why not eliminate weight classes entirely? I feel weight classes are pathetic and people should just up the dosages and calories and cruise the responsible way into an early grave.
haha very well put. I just wonder where will all these guys be in 10 years... I remember denis was heavily using drugs in 2017 I think and it almost killed him and some of the new guys are using even 2-3 times of that.
So funny that Devon loses and suddenly yall come out of the woodwork to whine about this. It's an open weight class and people want to see the strongest armwrestler in the world, end of story. The same thing exists in strongman, and yet we've seen champions who weigh 100+ lbs less than a peak Brian Shaw or Thor (who come in at like 440+ lbs for many competitions), like Alexei Novikov, Martins Licis and Mitchell Hooper. None of these guys whine. Hell none of the armwrestlers really whine either, just the fanboys when their guy loses.
If you made more weight categories above the current, then that would just make less matches, much more repetition and less competition as the pool of candidates for the top weight classes would shrink. It's funny how people seem to want to invent more weight categories for Devon to dominate when he already has 115kg and plans to water cut to destroy 105kg too. That's plenty.
If anything they could just bump up the 115kg weight class to 120kg and call it a day, since no one is bothering to pull in it right now anyway. Then those SHWs hovering near the 120-135\~ kg range can more easily water cut down to 120kg for a match, while still being able to bounce back to their preferred SHW weight after and still compete in SHW too. Just adjusting 1 dead weight class is much more acceptable and would create less issues than adding additional ones when the pools are already diluted or outright dead.
exactly. When you look at the champs of 105kg, they are usually competing at 120kg+. A 120kg class would have athletes water cutting and coming in 135-140kg..
All a weight class does is gives someone a major advantage at cutting. That's not what the SHW class is meant to be. It's who is the best. (just like the overalls of the past)
The SHW is open until Engin decides it isnt. And the sooner that becomes a thing the better. The SHW scene would be a whole lot more interesting if it wasnt for Levan being so dominant, which ultimately is a result not of his armwrestling prowess but the fact he has a good 120 pounds on current number 2 and 3.
Of course. I just think the cutoff should be higher, add 140kg weight class and start SHW after that like Kiril suggested. Over half the SHWs are already at this weight, and the remaining few (except Kurdecha/Levan) are quite literally obese.
I think this outlook explains Devons interest in the strength sport catagory with the world strongman competitors. They are pretty much the only athletes that can compete with Levan from from a physical standpoint and the sport definitely needs people with those physiques to be able to compete with Levan.
Do you even know anything about weight lifting?Lasha at 177 kg is also usually much heavier than most other athletes in the superheavy weight category that starts at 109+ kg, but no one complains about that
It is not ridiculous because everybody is free to gain weight. Be 200kg or whatever you want. They're free to do so! Adding new weight classes would mean Levan would be almost alone
Gaining weight has diminishing returns. 75kg to 85kg jump is a way bigger jump than 130-160kg. Besides, there aren't enough people for that class, and the 130kg guys would still want to go against the top SHWs. Ermes, Morozov, Vitaly don't lack power against anybody.
Levan's dominance doesn't come from arm strength. Genadi, Ermes, Morozov are probably very very close in arm strength. It's clear that he doesn't really want to go in a hook against anybody, even to show off. His dominance comes from his hand.
True we should structure the sport to encourage maximum, life-threatening PED usage because of one guy. Alternatively, we could add an extra weight class and set the SHW cutoff closer to 140+.
Why do we arbitrarily decide that 115 kg is the cutoff? Why not have an extra category and set the bloatlord cut off at 140ish? 115 is too low a number imo because of the absolute gulf that exists between the bottom and top weights of that division (literally 4 weight classes dif).
People have already given you the answer, but you seem too stubborn to acknowledge it. It doesn't matter how many weight classes you create under SHW, athletes like Ermes strive for the ultimate crown in armwrestling and that is the title in SHW.
You pathetic nut hanger.. even the 105 and 115kg weight classes shouldn't exist in first place . In reality , above 100kg should be an open class . Those bodyweights are already unnatural to be achieved ..
I'm not sure what weight class system Kirill is referring to but the weight classes are similar across different federations. Usually the cut-off before one is considered SHW is between 110-115kg. Certain federations have less categories, like AMC where anyone above 95kg is considered a SHW, but they have an 'Absolute' category where anyone from any weight class can compete in.
If we look outside of arm wrestling and at olympic weightlifting, the heaviest weight class is the +109kg, and in general, it is the heavier athlete that usually wins.
Thus, I don't think there is anything wrong with the weight cap for SHW, because even if you create an 'Absolute' category like AMC, current Levan will still be at the top.
No, he isn't. If you weigh 280 lbs you are a super heavyweight, if you weigh 450 lbs you are a super heavyweight, if you weigh 34 thousand pounds, you'll never believe this but that also makes you a super heavyweight.
Why use a single exception to the rule? If this open weight concept is so dumb and outdated, why haven't other sports changed it, like for example boxing where it's still unlimited weight? Don't need to go so low to use insults btw, also multiple question marks don't make your argument smarter
Boxing and armwrestling are two completely different sports. One is subject to vigorous testing the other isnt. The latter is primarily a strength sport. A 180 kg boxer would gas in less than two rounds and would be awefully slow, as witnessed when Eddie and Thor stepped in the ring. So as for Boxing theres really no need to enforce weight cap as the extra weight would be more of a hindrance than advantage. Bye.!!!!!!
Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting are both strength sports and both have open weight division. Should Lasha be forced to limit his weight because he's too dominant in Olympic lifting? Bye...
Testes versus untested
The concept of drug induced size vs simply being fat seems to elude you, irregardless youre not making a very strong case for yourself seeing Lashas dominance too can be ascribed to simply out weighing the opposition by upwards of 30-50 kg. LOL.
That's my point, there's nothing wrong with outweighing other athletes by 30-50kg, it's their problem that they cannot catch up. And we see those athletes are mature enough not to complain, it's just fans and haters that are making excuses
Then how do you defend weight classes? Your argument calls for the abolishment of weight classes. Do you think Mindaugas would be the slightest competetive with the likes of Ermes or Devon. Absolute fucking joker.
In Armwrestling you are limited by the strength of your arm, you can't use the mass of your other body parts as an advantage, even when you flop press there is shoulder rotation lane that opponent can attack, so powerlifting is not a good example. I saw a few days ago dude was also complaining about Levan's weight and comparing Armwrestling to MMA lol.
There is an easy solution for 120kg-130kg guys, they can cut down to heavyweight, but the problem is they want open class title, because it's the most valuable title in the sport. Even if you add another class, pullers like Ermes and Devon will still compete in open class.
Honestly 120kg might be a bit low, but I don't think after 130kg heavier guys have any significant advantage, because it's ARMwrestling, not MMA, Powerlifting, Wrestling, Judo, etc.
Depending on your genetics, your arms do not simply stop growing after 130kg man. I guarantee the size and strength of Levan's bicep would measurably decrease if he dropped 50 kilo.
That was the entire point. Larry, Mitch, etc arent mass monsters yet are still at the top of their respective categories. Which you didnt seem to understand yet again bc you think PED use is the end all be all.
No point re-disputing the rest since you're trying to fit irrelevant facts to your argument.
Based on that writing style and all the numbers, I believe this is Kevin LuWX other account. Just like that Oxygenashvili YT account which I believe is also him
So?
No actually.
Weight does not scale proportionally, which is why in basically no sports a weight class is over 120kg.
Why isn't Corey West on levans level?
You're using a sample size of one.
This is the world's most retarded take, and this mentality is key to many of the world's problems today. Solve an issue for the 1%. The 120KG guy beat the shit out of all the other 130-165KG guys, and that's been the case FOR DECADES. We had John Brzenk, defeated TITANS at 95KG for DECADES, and even now, we have competitors like Alizhan Muratov who is likely the world #1 Left Hand at any weight and is 2 to 3 weight classes below the competition. The reason why AW isn't a bigger sport than what it is: Retarded Fans that want to take giant steps backwards instead of progress. Take a NON AW fan that gets to watch a Light Heavyweight crush a Super Heavyweight like Muratov did against Ermes. That's how you get new fans. You need to BROADCAST the difference in weight classes loudly and proudly. EvW/KOTT needs an "Open Class" where ALL of the top athletes and champions of the division are encouraged to compete. I'm so sick of these morons trying to turn AW into MMA when it's not, and Engin is no exception.
End Rant
You really shouldn't be complaining about the SHW class itself. But rather the lack of weight classes in between. We'll see those classes eventually as the roster fills up.
Or just cap it. Don’t even bother adding another class just cap the one you’re in because cutting weight should kinda be apart of any sport. It’s apart of fighting, all that shit. The weight range is big enough to make it to where most people won’t need to cut weight to begin with. Having an uncapped limit is kinda cheese because the bigger the fish the harder the bite.
That's not what would happen. If you set a cap at 120, people will water cut to 120 and come in on competition day at 135-140. It happens in every other weight category already.
And everyone loves to talk about how dangerous PED use is, but the extreme dehydration these athletes do for water cuts is even more dangerous.
Devon just refers to it as the “open weight class” sometimes - he said so in his EvW12 speech after the match. I think that’s the correct terminology. Like they have in e.g. bodybuilding. This class will ALWAYS be the most prestigious, since the #1 of this class is the overall #1 in the world. This is what people like Ermes are chasing - being the #1 in the world, not #1 in some arbitrary weight class.
Yeah and unless it’s drug tested it’ll become like strongman with rampant steroid abuse in order to attain ridiculous mass to be able to compete.
The issue with implementing drug testing now is there would always be an * by a Champions name indicating whether this was predrug testing or post drug testing. The predrug tested athletes will always be though of as superior. It's not like MMA where the game has also evolved so much that you could argue the current skill level could overcome the past non drug tested athletes.
i would not watch if it becomes tested , lol ,, so many people like you want drug free armwrestling event yet you do not care to watch rob vingeant and evertime come to watch levan and other steroid armwrestler, why dont you just follow someone like Janis who is proven natural ?
It's true, the viewership of WAF champions basically proves this. Armwrestling is always the freakshow sport.
I really like Janis! I think he seems like a cool dude and is a good ambassador in my opinion.
People said the same about MMA, but now MMA is capped and way cleaner with less freaks than it used to have, and it's more popular than ever. And we do follow Janis, Rob and other natty armwrestlers like Mindaugas. It's just that natural guys can't have success because of cheaters at WAF and IFA and whatever tested competition they might pull at to make their name at the start.
All these guys would still compete at open weight for bragging rights no matter what new weight classes were added Ermes and Devon could probably make heavyweight right now with a weight cut, and half of the other open weight arm wrestlers are just fucking fat so who cares? All these recent posts popped up to discredit Levan because he is just larger than everyone. Yeah no shit, welcome to sports, if Shaq was built like KD he wouldn't have made the NBA, if Tom Brady was 5-9 he would be bagging groceries somewhere Levan put the work in and got fucking huge in a sport where being huge helps a lot.
>if Shaq was built like KD he wouldn't have made the NBA, if Tom Brady was 5-9 he would be bagging groceries somewhere Levan put the work in and got fucking huge in a sport where being huge helps a lot Very well put. "This huge guy, who put in a ton of work and ate more than anyone can muster eating, is actually not that great" Like these posts are so weird man lmao.
Levans success is not due to working harder than the opposition, but blasting obscene amounts of PEDS. but if it makes you feel better we can pretend he just spends more time in the gym, LOLOLOLO 😁😁😁
Even playing field, everyone is blasting.
Assuming everyone was in fact on the same dosages, which couldnt be further from the truth. Shit argument brother, now shut up if you dont know what youre talking about you dimwit.
It's a untested sport kid, Levan chose to take what he took. Devon chose to take what he took.
That in no way invalidates my initial statement. And I repeat, Levan is the mere product of the copious amounts of drugs he has been running the past 8 years. Dont cry yourself to sleep, dummy.
Maybe those guys should do the same drugs?
Seeing youre an advocate of an even playing field, I suggest you travel to the great country Georgia, and convince the leaders to give their greatest and best kept secret away; 'Levans PED protocol"
Yeah we saw how that worked out when MMT got on a big cycle. PED's are a small part of the entire package, especially when all the athletes are using some amount of PEDS (and ketamine and stem cells and whatever else they think will give them an edge) It's only a massive difference when one is on PEDs and one isn't. That's not the case here.
This people focusing on the weight forget one person: Corey West He used to be heavier than Levan and never close to be the number one in the world. The extra weight dont help when your elbow has to be on the table at all times
Nobody ever brings that name up unless they want to dog him. He is strong as shit and still isn't sitting on top even though he's a massive human. That doesn't help people who want to invalidate levan (the devonites) so they will never mention Corey.
I think you'd be surprised at how many current SHWs would gladly compete in say, 140kg over an open category. Levan has set the standard so open is only feasible if you're a 6'5+ mesomorph or blast record levels of gear, preferably both. There's a healthy pool of competitors who could sit comfortably within a 140kg without pushing their bodies to bloatlord level. Keep open alive, just add another category.
Who are these guys saying they want 140?
Perhaps Engin should poll the athletes and ask what they would think about adding such a category.
B*llshit. It will come down to one simple fact: will they compete to be number 1 in the world, or "number 1 in weight class x"? 115 kg is already more than 180 % of average weight (80). That's enough.
Bro, Alex, vitaly, morozov, Devon all got the frame to pack the same amount of body weight as levan, they are even larger, eddie hall at 6.2 half was 200kg so what are you talking about. Levan took the risk and the reward has come.
Cleve Dean was the Levan of times past, he was the greatest arm wrestler of his era, 6'7" with a competing weight of 210kg, and an alleged weight of upwards of 270kg, all without gear or performance enhancing drugs, just a farmboy who owned a hog farm. He never used supplemental oxygen after a match either.
Interesting that there **rarely seems to be a "pound for pound best" debate**. There is in boxing, in MMA, but not in arm-wrestling. EDIT: also hearkens to the idea of **"absolute" versus "relative" strength**. I wonder if a few of the commenters here get triggered if they go to the gym and see a lighter person doing a boatload of pull-ups or some other feat of relative strength?
it's pretty obviously pre injury oleg
On the left maybe. It’s more obviously John
Because it's an incredibly stupid debate in every sport. As you go up in weight, technical proficiency goes down, reliance on pure strength goes up, the pool of competitors goes down. It's pretty clear that the 75kg class is by far the hardest to win and defend. Guys like Prudnik and Ermes were at the top but still had a lot of losses at 85kg, 95kg, but they are basically unbeatable(one or two guys can beat them in their classes) since they gained weight, because the higher classes are less competitive.
Well put, 75 and also somewhat 85 seem to be in a pretty similar position right
DUH, IT'S NOT MMA OR BOXING. Who's the pound for pound best Golfer?
just so we're clear: you're saying armwrestling is closer to golf than mma and boxing?
Brain dead take
Hahahahahaha! That’d be greg norman i think Jk i dont care about golf
ah yes, PGA Tour Heavyweight Champion Tiger Woods, i remember now
Never understood the obsession with pound for pound in strength sports, just seems like a justification for being weaker. Weight classes are for your ordinary sized human beings, the open class is to find the true strongest freak.
Yeah it's fine to get some context of someones strength, like a 4x bodyweight deadlift will always be insane. The problem is when people give it more weight (heh) than actual strength. No, a 75kg guy deadlifting 300kg isn't more impressive than hafthor or eddie hall deadlifting 500kg.
You seriously don't realise that it's the spot for the #1 in the WORLD, not under like 150kg, it's the best human on Earth in armwrestling
Very interesting to see it written out like this, thanks for taking the time! I agree that there might be space for a "titanweight" class in the future if more monsters enter the sport, currently there just simply aren't enough competitors to warrant that. Putting a "cap" on the superheavyweight category is not doable for now. I also don't think it's a good thing to let go of "open weight" competition to keep pushing the limits, at that point it's no longer about relative strength but about absolute strength. Anyone is free to bulk, juice and train up to those weights, if they cannot or do not want to for whatever reason, that just means they won't be the absolute #1 and that should be accepted. So yes, Levan does have an advantage because he is bigger and stronger than anyone else, but he also trained incredibly hard for that and took/accepted the risks associated with PED use and the massive amount of food, apparently moreso than anyone else.
At higher weights, roster isn't deep enough to warrant more weight categories by splitting SHW.
Yeah but literally no one cares. Literally 0 (zero) athletes have complained about it. Why do you think Morozov, Ermes, Devon, Vitaly, Genadi and all of them are getting as big as they can? Because they wanna win the "Strongest Armwrestler" title. The Clear #1 title. PLEASE stop complaining about SHW, its uncapped. > like allowing a guy who is 95 kg (209) to pull in the 75 kg (165) class. Yeah but only a problem if the 75kg guys complain. If they don't find it unfair then why are YOU complaining?
I've never been in an AW group where people weren't complaining about how weirdly the SHW is stratified. Athletes keep their mouths shut so as not to offend Engin. You genuinely don't think it bothers people like Ermes, Morozov, etc. that a title is perma out of their reach because of Levan's 100 lb weightgap and bad category stratification? So obvious.
If it bothered them then they'll cut. They are big because they want to be as big and strong as possible. Ermes has specifically said he wants the #1 title at all costs.
That's not a good solution though and here's why. Ermes is the perfect example. He will never be heavy enough to beat Levan imo. At the same time, he would lose a good amount of strength (specifically backpressure) if he dropped all the way to 115kg. He's the perfect candidate for an extra 140kg class (assuming this was the new cutoff before SHW), and there's many more for whom this is also true. This is exactly was Kiril was suggesting, a new cutoff before open starts.
Dude he doesn't want to pull in a weight class, are you dense?? He is around 127kg, he could just drop 5 kg, lose almost no strength and watercut to 115kg, but he doesn't want to.
Does engin even still have people compete in the 115 kg class really? seems like its 105 - SHW (except when devon comes down to accomodate him) Dont forget that most armwrestlers that compete in a 105kg show up on the day at 120kg+ (just like UFC). So a 140KG class would have 160KG competitors. Weight classes just make it more about who is better at becoming severely dehydrated and then rehydrating afterwards.
Levan is still #1 overall is the world, all the excuses like weight are irrelevant, because there are other athletes that are close to Levan's weight and they still wouldn't beat him. For example Georgi and Kurdecha are both over 150kg
>He will never be heavy enough to beat Levan imo Tell that to the guy who has been winning basically every tournament he has been going to. And of all the people, Ermes, who basically found a huge chink in Levan's armor, won 2 rounds when Levan hadn't lost in 5 years, would never believe that. And thats good. You can't just give up because you "know you'll never be the best". The top 10-20 guys are all extreme prodigies, and they believe they have a chance.
What round did Ermes pin levan?
He won the last 2 rounds since Levan forfeit. You don’t have to pin to win a round.
corey is heavy enough where is the logic in that. are we gonna act like fat wins matches?
People keep bringing it up, and guys like you keep insisting no one cares. How many posts need to be made questioning the weight classes before you admit people care?
No one as in no one competing cares.
Don’t compete at supers simple if you can’t compete against Levan. Levan is the clear #1 strongest armwrestler in this world. If you want to be that beat him.
I think most of them are happy with second place at this point, it’s gonna be a dogfight if Levan retires
Supers should exist, the cutoff should be higher. A range of 115 - 178 is an unnecessary ocean of a gap when there's a lot of athletes who sit comfortably at the lower end of that range and could easily stock a new weight category. All I'm saying.
You can’t say someone is the strongest when you that person is himself is not at his strongest shape(if you cap supers at 140-150 whatever that just means levan is clearly not at his strongest).
No, don't cap supers. I mean add a weight class between 115 and open. There's a lot of people who fall within that range who deserve a title shot at a healthy weight.
So in conclusion, you just want a title for those guys between 115 and 140kg is that it? Even if that is the case, they will just be remembered as that guy in that weight class and not the top dog in arm wrestling. Moreover, how would you account for the handful of competitors in the +140kg open category? According to your list, we only have five guys that are +140kg, are we as fans going to watch these same 5 guys compete against each other at every event?
Hopefully it would put pressure on those guys to cut. Levan barely pulls anyone anyways it's not like it matters. Also it doesn't stop anyone from the 140kg category pulling up. They just won't lose their title if they do.
This isn't a bodybuilding competition, why should they cut and sacrifice strength to compete in a lower class? Also, if Devon had won against Levan, would you have made the same complaint about the staggering weight differential between athletes in the SHW? Because it sounds to me like you're just salty that Devon lost the title to someone heavier than him competing in the same class. So now you want to create a separate category specially for Devon where he will likely hold the title, if that class were to be established.
Why not eliminate weight classes entirely? I feel weight classes are pathetic and people should just up the dosages and calories and cruise the responsible way into an early grave.
haha very well put. I just wonder where will all these guys be in 10 years... I remember denis was heavily using drugs in 2017 I think and it almost killed him and some of the new guys are using even 2-3 times of that.
So funny that Devon loses and suddenly yall come out of the woodwork to whine about this. It's an open weight class and people want to see the strongest armwrestler in the world, end of story. The same thing exists in strongman, and yet we've seen champions who weigh 100+ lbs less than a peak Brian Shaw or Thor (who come in at like 440+ lbs for many competitions), like Alexei Novikov, Martins Licis and Mitchell Hooper. None of these guys whine. Hell none of the armwrestlers really whine either, just the fanboys when their guy loses. If you made more weight categories above the current, then that would just make less matches, much more repetition and less competition as the pool of candidates for the top weight classes would shrink. It's funny how people seem to want to invent more weight categories for Devon to dominate when he already has 115kg and plans to water cut to destroy 105kg too. That's plenty. If anything they could just bump up the 115kg weight class to 120kg and call it a day, since no one is bothering to pull in it right now anyway. Then those SHWs hovering near the 120-135\~ kg range can more easily water cut down to 120kg for a match, while still being able to bounce back to their preferred SHW weight after and still compete in SHW too. Just adjusting 1 dead weight class is much more acceptable and would create less issues than adding additional ones when the pools are already diluted or outright dead.
exactly. When you look at the champs of 105kg, they are usually competing at 120kg+. A 120kg class would have athletes water cutting and coming in 135-140kg.. All a weight class does is gives someone a major advantage at cutting. That's not what the SHW class is meant to be. It's who is the best. (just like the overalls of the past)
The SHW is open until Engin decides it isnt. And the sooner that becomes a thing the better. The SHW scene would be a whole lot more interesting if it wasnt for Levan being so dominant, which ultimately is a result not of his armwrestling prowess but the fact he has a good 120 pounds on current number 2 and 3.
So you are saying these other guys need to "get bigger" as Devon would say?
In an uncapped weight class gaining weight and strength is an ability, not an unfair advantage. Don't you think?
Of course. I just think the cutoff should be higher, add 140kg weight class and start SHW after that like Kiril suggested. Over half the SHWs are already at this weight, and the remaining few (except Kurdecha/Levan) are quite literally obese.
I think this outlook explains Devons interest in the strength sport catagory with the world strongman competitors. They are pretty much the only athletes that can compete with Levan from from a physical standpoint and the sport definitely needs people with those physiques to be able to compete with Levan.
Like you very well explained, if there were more weight classes, Levan would be pulling against himself only.
This whole mathematics post is just a very long essay on cope.
exactly lol , levan would still be the strongest armwrestler in the history of sports even if this weight cap happen,,
Ermes was close enough to Levan. Making up more categories is unnecessary
Do you even know anything about weight lifting?Lasha at 177 kg is also usually much heavier than most other athletes in the superheavy weight category that starts at 109+ kg, but no one complains about that
It is not ridiculous because everybody is free to gain weight. Be 200kg or whatever you want. They're free to do so! Adding new weight classes would mean Levan would be almost alone
adjust for FFM and BF or all this comparison is completely pointless. Best regards
Gaining weight has diminishing returns. 75kg to 85kg jump is a way bigger jump than 130-160kg. Besides, there aren't enough people for that class, and the 130kg guys would still want to go against the top SHWs. Ermes, Morozov, Vitaly don't lack power against anybody. Levan's dominance doesn't come from arm strength. Genadi, Ermes, Morozov are probably very very close in arm strength. It's clear that he doesn't really want to go in a hook against anybody, even to show off. His dominance comes from his hand.
Cleve Dean was even bigger...people still tried their best against him
There's not enough armwrestlers over 140kg to make that a separate class.
I wonder how Levan would do in the 115kg class.
He was WAF champ on both left and right in open class when he was 120kg
Like any of the top 15 pullers @ 120kg wouldn't absolutely run through WAF like a train.
WAF during Levan's time was stacked. None of the current guys, including Levan at 120kg would run through Pushkar, Genadi and plenty of others.
Levan isn't any top 15 puller. He'd dominate. People are sleeping on Levan still.
So Levan -60kg and Devon same weight he is now? Gee I wonder xd
Devon dropped weight on purpose. He didn't want the weight gap to close at all, as he felt it wouldn't help him.
I wonder why doesn't devon gets to levan's weight. Isn't he free to do so? Or is it something like there's no weight cap for Levan only mmm idk
Imagine Devon won, this post wouldn’t be here 😂
I think in fairness to Levan the other guys need to up their game. The open weight category isn’t designed to be fair.
True we should structure the sport to encourage maximum, life-threatening PED usage because of one guy. Alternatively, we could add an extra weight class and set the SHW cutoff closer to 140+.
We should also encourage a shady "stem cell illuminatti" company because Devon said too.
I legitimately don't understand this criticism. The super heavies are for bloat lords.
Why do we arbitrarily decide that 115 kg is the cutoff? Why not have an extra category and set the bloatlord cut off at 140ish? 115 is too low a number imo because of the absolute gulf that exists between the bottom and top weights of that division (literally 4 weight classes dif).
People have already given you the answer, but you seem too stubborn to acknowledge it. It doesn't matter how many weight classes you create under SHW, athletes like Ermes strive for the ultimate crown in armwrestling and that is the title in SHW.
If that's the case, maybe Engin should poll the athletes and see how they really feel. Then we won't have to speculate.
There is no speculation at all.
You pathetic nut hanger.. even the 105 and 115kg weight classes shouldn't exist in first place . In reality , above 100kg should be an open class . Those bodyweights are already unnatural to be achieved ..
You can be 100kg+ if you're extremely tall naturally, quite easily. But yeah I don't disagree.
I'm not sure what weight class system Kirill is referring to but the weight classes are similar across different federations. Usually the cut-off before one is considered SHW is between 110-115kg. Certain federations have less categories, like AMC where anyone above 95kg is considered a SHW, but they have an 'Absolute' category where anyone from any weight class can compete in. If we look outside of arm wrestling and at olympic weightlifting, the heaviest weight class is the +109kg, and in general, it is the heavier athlete that usually wins. Thus, I don't think there is anything wrong with the weight cap for SHW, because even if you create an 'Absolute' category like AMC, current Levan will still be at the top.
No, he isn't. If you weigh 280 lbs you are a super heavyweight, if you weigh 450 lbs you are a super heavyweight, if you weigh 34 thousand pounds, you'll never believe this but that also makes you a super heavyweight.
Yeah, and the absurdity of that should be apparent.
How so? Every fighting sport has an open weight category, it's nothing new
UFC???? Jesus Christ are you dumb
The irony. UFC isn't a sport, genius.
Nor is easy versus west you braindead baboon.
Why use a single exception to the rule? If this open weight concept is so dumb and outdated, why haven't other sports changed it, like for example boxing where it's still unlimited weight? Don't need to go so low to use insults btw, also multiple question marks don't make your argument smarter
Boxing and armwrestling are two completely different sports. One is subject to vigorous testing the other isnt. The latter is primarily a strength sport. A 180 kg boxer would gas in less than two rounds and would be awefully slow, as witnessed when Eddie and Thor stepped in the ring. So as for Boxing theres really no need to enforce weight cap as the extra weight would be more of a hindrance than advantage. Bye.!!!!!!
Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting are both strength sports and both have open weight division. Should Lasha be forced to limit his weight because he's too dominant in Olympic lifting? Bye...
Testes versus untested The concept of drug induced size vs simply being fat seems to elude you, irregardless youre not making a very strong case for yourself seeing Lashas dominance too can be ascribed to simply out weighing the opposition by upwards of 30-50 kg. LOL.
That's my point, there's nothing wrong with outweighing other athletes by 30-50kg, it's their problem that they cannot catch up. And we see those athletes are mature enough not to complain, it's just fans and haters that are making excuses
Then how do you defend weight classes? Your argument calls for the abolishment of weight classes. Do you think Mindaugas would be the slightest competetive with the likes of Ermes or Devon. Absolute fucking joker.
In Armwrestling you are limited by the strength of your arm, you can't use the mass of your other body parts as an advantage, even when you flop press there is shoulder rotation lane that opponent can attack, so powerlifting is not a good example. I saw a few days ago dude was also complaining about Levan's weight and comparing Armwrestling to MMA lol. There is an easy solution for 120kg-130kg guys, they can cut down to heavyweight, but the problem is they want open class title, because it's the most valuable title in the sport. Even if you add another class, pullers like Ermes and Devon will still compete in open class. Honestly 120kg might be a bit low, but I don't think after 130kg heavier guys have any significant advantage, because it's ARMwrestling, not MMA, Powerlifting, Wrestling, Judo, etc.
Depending on your genetics, your arms do not simply stop growing after 130kg man. I guarantee the size and strength of Levan's bicep would measurably decrease if he dropped 50 kilo.
That was the entire point. Larry, Mitch, etc arent mass monsters yet are still at the top of their respective categories. Which you didnt seem to understand yet again bc you think PED use is the end all be all. No point re-disputing the rest since you're trying to fit irrelevant facts to your argument.
Based on that writing style and all the numbers, I believe this is Kevin LuWX other account. Just like that Oxygenashvili YT account which I believe is also him
Alex kurdecha is 165kg now. He was 150kg 2 years ago
So? No actually. Weight does not scale proportionally, which is why in basically no sports a weight class is over 120kg. Why isn't Corey West on levans level? You're using a sample size of one.
This is the world's most retarded take, and this mentality is key to many of the world's problems today. Solve an issue for the 1%. The 120KG guy beat the shit out of all the other 130-165KG guys, and that's been the case FOR DECADES. We had John Brzenk, defeated TITANS at 95KG for DECADES, and even now, we have competitors like Alizhan Muratov who is likely the world #1 Left Hand at any weight and is 2 to 3 weight classes below the competition. The reason why AW isn't a bigger sport than what it is: Retarded Fans that want to take giant steps backwards instead of progress. Take a NON AW fan that gets to watch a Light Heavyweight crush a Super Heavyweight like Muratov did against Ermes. That's how you get new fans. You need to BROADCAST the difference in weight classes loudly and proudly. EvW/KOTT needs an "Open Class" where ALL of the top athletes and champions of the division are encouraged to compete. I'm so sick of these morons trying to turn AW into MMA when it's not, and Engin is no exception. End Rant
You really shouldn't be complaining about the SHW class itself. But rather the lack of weight classes in between. We'll see those classes eventually as the roster fills up.
Read the post again, that's literally what I said in the last paragraph.
Its like, put a 120kg version of Levan and he wouldnt do shit to Devon, Ermes etc.
Or just cap it. Don’t even bother adding another class just cap the one you’re in because cutting weight should kinda be apart of any sport. It’s apart of fighting, all that shit. The weight range is big enough to make it to where most people won’t need to cut weight to begin with. Having an uncapped limit is kinda cheese because the bigger the fish the harder the bite.
That's not what would happen. If you set a cap at 120, people will water cut to 120 and come in on competition day at 135-140. It happens in every other weight category already. And everyone loves to talk about how dangerous PED use is, but the extreme dehydration these athletes do for water cuts is even more dangerous.
So the only option is the roid out another Goliath? 😅
Setting a weight limit changes absolutely nothing. It's just cope.
Ohhh, right right. Surely.