By Shaun Campbell: Boxing is in a state where politics and governing bodies are controlling which fights are being made and more importantly, which fights aren’t. With all the associations and there belts, its left fans wondering who the one true champion in the division is. Recently, Amir Khan was promoted to “WBA Super World Light-welterweight Champion”. It’s a shambles. This means that Marcos Maidana and Eric Morales will be contesting for the WBA light-welterweight world title in their upcoming fight. Then we have the various intercontinental/international/ titles for each governing body. The WBO have these intercontinental titles, along with interim championship.

For the majority of boxing fans it’s a disappointing state that the sport is in. When it comes to champions, it shouldn’t be debatable. The reason the belts were first introduced was to end any speculation as to which fighter was the best in their division. Unfortunately it’s a thing of the past where each weight class had just one champion ruling over the division. People (usually promoters) say that the various belts are good as it can created a unified champion. Why does the sport need unified champions? It’s a money making system. It means that fighters don’t have to fight each other if they don’t want too. They can stay in their comfort zone and fight the contenders, rather than the other top men in the division. According to the WBO, the number one contender who is entitled to fight Manny Pacquiao next is Kell Brook. With no disrespect to Brook, he’s hardly ready for a fight like that, which he himself has acknowledged. But because he holds the WBO intercontinental welterweight title, it means he is technically next in line to fight the pound for pound king.

It’s highly unlikely that the governing bodies will bond to create one organisation that will provide one champion per weight class. That won’t be allowed. In the perfect scenario there would be an area title (county if you’re British, state is you’re American), a national title, a title for that continent (European title, African title, ect), then the one world title. It would mean that the best have to fight the best. And some cracking fights would be made for the contenders to get to the top. Unfortunately the boxing public is being robbed of certain fights. For example, two undefeated fighters may be pressured to fight each other, but they realise that they can both get to a world title without fighting each other, taking easier roots to the top, then one day, if we’re lucky, they will fight, even if it is at the end of their careers. Certainly the majority want to see one champion, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like it’s a situation boxing fans will see anytime soon.