(Middleweight Kelly Pavlik in photo) 18.09.07 – By Craig Mastendri: Last weeks news of Oscar De La Hoya buying Ring Magazine has generated criticism and questions surrounding the continued integrity of their ratings. Most of the media and fans had come to rely on the Ring Rankings as the solace from the corruption and politics, which have plagued the alphabet sanctioning bodies for decades.
The multitude of organizations and champions is a pool of confusion for the fans. The Ring Champion was generally the respected Champion. Now, that the publication is owned by a promoter, those rankings could be utilized to shed a more favorable light on their fighters thus exploiting the credibility we’ve come to respect.
Just the other evening, I received a phone call from my future father in law. He was at a local pub where the discussion had turned to boxing and wanted to know, “Who’s the Heavyweight Champion?” Sad to say, that the proper response was “It’s vacant, although Wladimir Klitschko, is the likely candidate.” Technically speaking, I should have responded, “There’s four. A, B, C, and D. Call me back, and let me know who you guys decide on.” In pretty much every other professional sport the champions are known, a vacancy is unthinkable, and so is having four options.
Defining a new heavyweight champion requires either a unification event or according to The Ring, having the vacancy filled by winning a box-off between The Ring’s number-one and number-two contenders. In either case those happenings have managed to elude the sport for years. In a world where there is at least four Alphabet champions, Lineal champions, Ring Champions, vacancies, and P4P champions, it’s hard for the dedicated fan to keep up. Not to mention completely perplexing to the casual observer. For a sport like boxing, which can be glorious in its simplicity, to have an Algebraic pecking order, is self-defeating to the growth and appeal of the sport.
The news of Ring’s sale and the subsequent conjecture, has led me to examine the current championship scenarios, and dream of seeing a true unification or clarification take place. The current definition of Unification is defined as a fighter winning the three major belts, those being the WBC, WBA, and IBF belts.
It could be reasonably argued that the WBO should be included in that definition. Since, the organization now has some legitimately respected Champions such a Joe Calzaghe, Jermain Taylor, and Ivan Calderon holding the WBO distinction. Any championship scenario not involving those fighters wouldn’t be credible. I’ll list the respective champions across the divisions, and then examine how the organizations make clarification even more muddled.
Heavyweight- Over 200 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three, #1 Wladimir Klitschko, #2 Sam Peter, #3 Oleg Maskaev
WBC- Oleg Maskaev, pending the outcome vs Samuel Peter on 10/06/2007
WBA- Ruslan Chagaev
IBF- Wladimir Klitschko
WBO Sultan Ibragimov, pending the outcome vs Evander Holyfield on 10/13/2007
Lineal- Vacant-Last Champ Lennox Lewis
Cruiserweight- 200 lbs.
Ring- Jean-Marc Mormeck, pending the outcome vs David Haye on 11/10/2007
WBC-Jean-Marc Mormeck- pending the outcome vs David Haye on 11/10/2007
WBA-Jean-Marc Mormeck* “Unified Champion” more on this later.
IBF- Steve Cunningham
WBO- Enzo Maccarinelli
Lineal- Jean-Marc Mormeck, pending the outcome vs David Haye on 11/10/2007, former Champ-O’neil Bell
Light-Heavyweight- 175 lbs.
Ring- Bernard Hopkins
WBC-Chad Dawson, pending the outcome vs Epifanio Mendoza on 9/29/2007
WBA-Stipe Drews, pending the outcome vs Tito Mendoza on 11/17/2007
IBF- Clinton Woods, pending the outcome vs Julio Cesar Gonzalez on 9/29/2007
WBO- Zsolt Erdei, pending the outcome vs Hugo Garay on 11/24/2007
Lineal- Zsolt Erdei, pending the outcome vs Hugo Garay on 11/24/2007, former Champ- Julio Gonzalez
Super Middleweight- 168 lbs.
Ring- Joe Calzaghe, pending the outcome vs Mikkel Kessler on 11/03/2007
WBC-Mikkel Kessler, pending the outcome vs Joe Calzaghe on 11/03/2007
WBA-Mikkel Kessler, * “Unified Champion” more on this later.
IBF- Alejandro Berrio, pending the outcome vs Lucian Bute on 10/19/2007
WBO- Joe Calzaghe, pending the outcome vs Mikkel Kessler on 11/03/2007
Lineal- Joe Calzaghe, pending the outcome vs Mikkel Kessler on 11/03/2007, former champ- Bruno Girard
Middleweight- 160 lbs.
Ring- Jermain Taylor, pending outcome vs Kelly Pavlik on 9/29/2007
WBC-Jermain Taylor, pending outcome vs Kelly Pavlik on 9/29/2007
WBA- Felix Sturm, pending the outcome vs Randy Griffin on 10/20/2007
IBF- Arthur Abraham
Lineal- Jermain Taylor, pending outcome vs Kelly Pavlik on 9/29/2007, former champion- Bernard Hopkins
Jr. Middleweight- 154 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three, #1 Cory Spinks, #2 Roman Karmazin, #3 Oscar De La Hoya
WBC- Vernon Forrest
WBA- Joachim Alcine
IBF- Cory Spinks
Lineal- Vacant, former champ- Winky Wright
Welterweight- 147 lbs.
Ring- Floyd Mayweather Jr., pending the outcome vs Ricky Hatton on 12/8/2007
WBC-Floyd Mayweather Jr., pending the outcome vs Ricky Hatton on 12/8/2007.
WBA- Miguel Cotto, pending the outcome vs Shane Mosley on 11/10/2007
IBF- Kermit Cintron, pending the outcome vs Jesse Feliciano on 11/23/2007
WBO- Paul Williams
Lineal- Floyd Mayweather Jr., pending the outcome vs Ricky Hatton on 12/8/2007 former champ- Carlos Baldomir
Jr. Welterweight- 140 lbs.
Ring- Ricky Hatton, pending the outcome vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. on 12/8/2007
WBC- Junior Witter
WBA- Gavin Rees
IBF- Paul Malignaggi
WBO- Ricardo Torres
Lineal- Ricky Hatton, former Champ- Kostya Tszyu
Lightweight- 135 lbs.
Ring- Joel Casamayor, pending the outcome vs Jose Armando Santa Cruz on 11/10/2007
WBC- David Diaz
WBA- Juan Diaz, pending the outcome vs Julio Diaz on 10/13/2007
IBF- Julio Diaz, pending the outcome vs Juan Diaz on 10/13/2007
WBO- Juan Diaz, pending the outcome vs Julio Diaz on 10/13/2007
Lineal- Vacant, former champion- Pernell Whitaker
Jr.Lightweight- 130 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three, #1 Manny Pacquiao, #2 Juan Manuel Marquez, #3 Marco Antonio Barerra
WBC- Juan Manuel Marquez, pending the outcome vs Rocky Juarez on 11/03/2007
WBA- Edwin Valero
IBF- Mzonke Fana
WBO- Joan Guzman, pending the outcome vs Humberto Soto on 11/17/2007
Lineal- Vacant, former champion- Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Featherweight- 126 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three, #1 Chris John, #2 Injin Chi, #3 Robert Guerrero
WBC- Jorge Linares
WBA- Chris John
IBF- Robert Guerrero, pending the outcome vs Martin Honorio on 11/03/2007
WBO-Steven Luevano, pending the outcome vs Antonio Davis on10/06/2007
Lineal- Vacant, former champion- Manny Pacuiao
Super Bantamweight- 122 lbs.
Ring- Israel Vazquez
WBC- Israel Vazquez
WBA- Celestino Caballero
IBF- Steve Molitor, pending the outcome vs Fashan 3K Battery on 10/27/2007
WBO- Daniel Ponce Deleon, pending the outcome vs Reynaldo Lopez on 9/27/2007
Lineal- Vacant, former champion-Wilfredo Gomez
Bantamweight- 118 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three, #1 Hozumi Hasegawa, #2 Veerapol Sahaprom, #3 Wladimir Sidorenko
WBC- Hozumi Hasegawa, pending the outcome vs Simone Maludrottu on 12/27/2007
WBA- Wladimir Sidorenko
IBF- Luis Perez, pending the outcome vs Joseph Agbeko 09/29/2007
WBO- Gerry Penalosa
Lineal- Vacant, former champion- Bernardo Pinango
Jr. Bantamweight- 115 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three-#1 Martin Castillo, #2 Alexander Munoz, #3 Nobuo Nashiro
WBC- Christian Mijares, pending the outcome vs Franck Gorjux
WBA- Alexander Munoz, pending the outcome vs Kuniyuki Aizawa on 9/24/2007
IBF- Vacant
WBO- Fernando Montiel
Lineal- Vacant, former champion- Masamori Tokuyama
Flyweight- 112 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three, #1 Nonito Donaire, #2 Daisuke Naito, #3 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
WBC- Daisuke Naito, pending the outcome vs Daiki Kameda on 10/11/2007
WBA- Takafumi Sakata, pending the outcome vs Denkaosan Singwancha on 11/4/2007
IBF-Nonito Donaire
WBO- Omar Narvaes
Lineal- Daisuke Naito, former champion-Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
Jr. Flyweight- 108 lbs.
Ring- Ivan Calderon
WBC- Edgar Sosa
WBA Juan Carlos Reveca
IBF- Ulisses Solis, pending the outcome vs Bert Batawang on 10/4/2007
WBO- Ivan Calderon
Lineal- Vacant, former champion-Jorge Arce
Strawweight- 105 lbs.
Ring- Vacant, top three- #1 Yutaka Nijda, #2 Florante Condes, #3 Eagle Kyowa
WBC- Eagle Kyowa, pending the outcome vs Oleydong Sithsammerchai on 12/5/2007
WBA- Yutaka Nijda
IBF- Florante Condes, pending the outcome vs Muhammed Rachman 11/16/2007
WBO- Ivan Calderon
Lineal- Vacant, former champion Ricardo Lopez
As if that’s not confusing enough? The alphabet organizations have come up with multiple titles per weight class in some instances. The WBA for instance has taken to the use of “Unified” Champions and “World” Champions. Take the Cruiserweight division where it lists Jean-Marc Mormeck as “Unified” and Virgil Hill as “World” champions. At Super-Middleweight they list Mikkel Kessler as “Unified” and Anthony Mundine as “World” champions. They also have “Interim” champions and “Super World” Champions for fighters who hold more than one organizations belt. Are you wondering aloud as to how that “clears” up the picture, yet?
The WBA isn’t alone however, the WBC has taken to naming WBC International champions and interim Champions as well. Take the scenario at Jr. Lightweight Manny Pacquaio who holds the WBC International belt which still isn’t considered a major belt but he is the number one ranked fighter in the division by Ring and rightfully so.
Is there any solution? None yet in sight, unfortunately! We can be optimistic that The Ring Ratings will stay less biased, but I’m reminded of an expression my father told me as a youth about wishing in one hand, “expletive” in the other, and seeing which one fills up first. There have been cries in the past years for a National commission to help shape and govern the sport with one voice. Most of which garnished little support, as they wanted the United States government to get involved. I ponder when the business interests of the sport of boxing, might find it in the business interest of the sport, to promote it as a whole? It seems reasonable to suggest clarity and focus would be better promotional tools than the befuddling mess that is the current state of confusion. Another expression about “Too many Chiefs, and not enough Indians” comes to mind.