1 sport 1 governing body

By Jamie Eskdale - 05/03/2013 - Comments

By Jamie Eskdale: The world of boxing as we know it is quite a complex land. With many weight classes with some being separated with as little as 3 pounds(flyweight – super flyweight) and multiple ‘world’ champions per weight class it can all get a little confusing.

Now imagine a casual observer has an interest in the sport and decides to have a look what would they think? Well personally speaking I think they’d be a little bit stumped. So it begs a question that has probably been asked a million times, why is it like this?

Boxing is a sport that many people ( including myself) simply love. Speak to many boxing fans and ask their opinion on the championship situation where there are multiple ‘world’ champions per weight class and you can virtually guarantee that they would say that it’s absurd.

So why are we as the paying customer, the ones who pay for sports subscriptions, buy PPV’s, buy magazines, fill stadiums and buy merchandise simply ignored? Well as everyone knows it’s really not as straight forward as this, though many of us agree that it should be it simply isn’t.

There are 4 major governing bodies (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF) and many other minor insignificant bodies. Each of the 4 major bodies would claim to be the main organisation. We have a situation whereby a fighter can be number 1 with 1 body and not even ranked by another! This is the thing that I find most incredible. Surely if a fighter is number 1 then he’s number 1.

Imagine a situation where there is 1 governing body, lets call this body the FWB( Federation of world Boxing). There would be 1 ‘world’ champion per weight class and some of the smaller weight classes could be merged making it less complicated.this would set up a very real scenario where the best would need to fight the best.

Opening all sorts of possibilities for rematches and even trilogies. There would be a system in place where the champion has to face the number 1 contender and if he didn’t then he would be stripped of the title and persistent offenders could even possibly face bans thus ensuring that it would work. Ther would still be domestic organizations perhaps being regulated by the governing body.

With there being 1 governing body it could possibly make for more exciting shows, packed under cards, more regular big fights and make the sport more accessible to casual fans.
Boxing is a unique sport where most people who take up the sport will more than likely come from poverty, working class or underprivileged backgrounds whereby fighting is a opportunity for them to make something of their lives, make a name for themselves or just simply to get rid of pent up frustrations, keep them off the street and instill some discipline. This makes the sport open to corruption and attractive to shady type characters who see the potential to make a fast buck out of vulnerable youngsters.

Boxing is an inclusive sport and you don’t have to be from a tough background, I’m simply making a generalization and am not saying that every promoter, manager, adviser is corrupt, I’m merely suggesting that by the nature of the sport it will and does attract these types.

I would love to see a day where boxing is free of politics and self interest and ends up just about the fighting. Where you can watch a fighter go from youngster to prospect to contender to champion with the assurance that you know he’s earned the right to be there and will continually have to prove how good he is.

At this moment and in the past that because of the current setup there are too many examples of fighters being in false positions, holding world titles that they haven’t earned and holding onto them through soft match making. While other fighters who have had it tough all their careers and actually deserve it don’t get the opportunities.

This will likely never change and will probably stay the case forever. Boxing is a great sport but it could and should be so much greater.



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