By Yannis Mihanos: They often say in boxing that a champion must fight another champion and that the best must fight only with the best. But what happens when the champions are way too many? What happens when the best are way too many to be the best?
Being a champion today has become a total joke. With so many boxing organizations offering titles, it’s hard to identify a real who the real champion is. It’s difficult to know who’s not a fluke, and one that is not a paper champion. It’s inevitable that many of the so called champs are paper champs. There are 85 world champions in boxing if we include the WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF and Ring titles all together.
I guess holding any kind of title and being promoted as “The champion” is far better and nicer than just be a number from the rankings.
In tennis the rankings are stronger than the titles, even if they don’t always say the truth. They are based on accumulating points over the period of one year. So if the current champion stays inactive or gets sidelined because of an injury, he or she will get dropped in the rankings and won’t be considered anymore as a champ or number 1.That means that in his or her return to action won’t get a favorable draw in the next Grand Slam. It will be a very much uphill battle until again will rise to the top. So if Serena Williams or Rafael Nadal stay for some reason inactive, they will have to fight with the best opposition available, much earlier than expected.
Boxing is another story; here rankings are taken lightly and titles are only those who are taken seriously. We see for example that Vitali Klitschko, until he retired last year as the WBC heavyweight champion, was still considered a number 1 champion in his category despite being inactive for over a year. It made the WBC look bad in having a champion sitting on his title for over a year without defending it.
But is it all about money? It is when it comes to sales. The titles in boxing do rise the sales considerably. It’s far easier to promote and sell tickets if at least one of the fighters who takes part, owns some title. It’s perfect when both of the fighters own a title. It would fit perfectly with the mojo (champion vs champion).
People get so easily attracted and impressed by titles and that is a fact. Promoters, sponsors and cable TV channels see boxing not only as an entertainment and a sport but as a business too. Lately fighters have begun to see it this way too. Floyd Mayweather Jr is the perfect model. He’s a businessman and a fighter, 2 in 1.
With that said, few are today the fighters who are willing to put everything in line, and few are real champions and willing to defend their title against the best. Few are willing to deliver what they promise. Many promise but don’t deliver the goods.
Each category should have one and only champion and not four or five. By having only one world champion for each weight class, it would stop fighters from becoming paper champions and holding down belts for many years against weak opposition. In my opinion the multiple champions in each weight class has ruined the credibility of boxing as a legitimate sport.
I am still a big fan of boxing and I still like to watch good competitive fights but I don’t have to get spoon-fed about all these titleholders trash. Maybe one day I might as well create a new boxing title call it the “Real Champion.” It would be one that has nothing to do with paper champs or one just created to sell tickets. I think that would great and just like the old times.
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