Boxing needs a single ruling body

By Yan D - 02/12/2014 - Comments

By Yan D: Let’s leave the boxers alone for a bit to talk about the sport in general. Boxing is actually one of the very few if not the only major sports on the planet without a governing body, but why is that? With so many fighters coming from so many countries I can’t believe why a worldwide federation can’t be created. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying that the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and every others sanctioning body are useless, they are actually needed today with so many fighters coming from everywhere.

It is actually a good thing because they offer more stage for the fighters to showcase their talents and at the same time give better opportunities for better career. But today rules and regulations differ from country to country and even from state to state in the US and boxing is in great need of a major clean up.

One thing that is certain about boxing and every single fans of the game will agree with me is that for each weight class there should be 1 World Champion, not 2, not 3 but 1. How can a boxer call himself world champion when he is not alone at the top it is simply not logical. They can call themselves champion I have no problem with that but without a single worldwide governing body with a higher authority that actually delivers a “World” champion belt, boxing just keep losing some credibility year after year.

Our opinions as fans about the fighters, the styles, the game itself may differ but we have all one thing in common and it is our love for the sport. But what can we do as fans to help the sport we love?? How can we fix the corruption that has plague boxing for decades? How can we take back the power from the promoters and TV networks hands? By not watching? I don’t think so. Boxing is like a drug for most of us, we need our “fix” and the other options such as MMA are not entirely appealing for some boxing fans, and this would hurt the boxers more then anyone else. So what to do?

It is my opinion that PPVs are actually the disease in boxing. I’m not saying they are useless but most PPVs fights today don’t deserve to be. Money wise PPVs is the ultimate achievement for a boxer but only the true champions should be worthy so here is my idea. With a world governing body in place recognizing 1 world champion per weight class, they should have the authority to work with the TV networks to make the PPVs starring 2 world champ from different weight class against one of the sanctioning body belt holders (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) who won the number one contender spot (Super belt). For the undercard you make 2 more fights in the same weight class as the final featuring 2 other sanctioning body belt holder to figure out the next top contender for the World title. The winners of those elimination matches can be awarded the “Super” belt of his sanctioning body and get ready for his fight against the World Champion on PPVs while other fighters try to capture the normal belt for a chance to fight for the #1 contender spot and the losers can keep their normal belt and keep fighting to defend their belt and earn another shot at the number 1 contender spot.

Here is an example: Floyd is the WW World champion and he his fighting for this example only the WBA champion Marcos Maidana, in the second match up Sergio Martinez is the MW World champion and is fighting the WBO champion Peter Quillin, on the undercard WW WBO champ Tim Bradley is facing IBF champ Shawn Porter for the World #1 WW contender spot on the next PPVs event and the second fight of the undercard would feature WBA Champ Gennady Golovkin against IBF champ Felix Sturm for the World #1 MW contender. Again this is only an exemple of what the format would be. As for the payday of the boxers, a standard fee set by the world governing body (champion gets more of course) so that every champion and contender start on the same level and then they get a % of the PPVs so that more popular fighter can earn more since they attract more fans.

So there you have it 4 major fights on a single card, 2 major World title on the line (I know some weight class are less popular but it is the governing body and the network job to match them accordingly and to promote the fighters to the best of their ability) and 2 eliminator bout to decide the next contender so no more drama and waiting to find out the champions next opponents. That his what I call a PPVs worthy fight card. Every World Champion should defend their belt at least twice a year and as for the promoters, TV networks and other fighters every thing just stays as it his. They fight for the sanctioning bodies belt to earn the right to fight against the true champ, promoters still make fights, networks shows the fight on their regular channel so more people can enjoy the sport. That way fighters who want to take the easy road facing the lesser challenge will still have to beat another belt holder before facing the champion.

I know this is a very long shot but it is only an opinion so come on fans let me know what you think, afterall without different opinions we would all be robots, so tell me how would you change the game???



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