The International Boxing Leauge, a place where the fighters of the world fight for there places in the rankings. A place where unscrupulous judges and biased referees would have no place. A place where fighters could ply their trade with the knowledge that if they have the proper tools and what it takes, they will get the shot at the title that they deserve. A place where becoming champion becomes based on what you do in the ring and what you know, not who you know.

A scenario like this is a fight fans dream. A place where a fight fan could follow the game with out the distastefull feeling that it has already been decided who will win and who will lose, who will get that shot and who will not. A place where competitive fights are not sdomething that they must search for, but rather something that they become to know as the standard of the boxing game. If we could form a leauge to over see the boxing world in a just and unbiased way, our sport would be greatly rewarded with a large base of fans that the systems of today have driven away.

In this league I see a rating system and then a system to climb this ratings system. A fighter comes into the league, he starts from the bottom. He would then fight a man ranked higher than him. If he was to beat that man then he would take his ranking and ciontinue his climb. Somewhere along the assent he would run into roadblocks, meaning fighters that he could not beat. He loses the fight and then switches rankings with the fighter that defeated him and the process continues.

The hardest thing about boxing is the scheduling of fights. Some guys like to fight 1 time every month or two while others like to fight 1 time every 5-6 months, some like longer layoffs. Regardless this would not matter in the International Boxing Leauge. Each month at the beginning of the month the fighters sign a contract and send it in that they are willing and ready to fight. Through the month a suitable match is found and they are matched to fight.

I would say that on every odd month or fight that a fighter could accept a fight with one who is ranked lower than himself. Risking the lose and a lower ranking. Aswell, a lower ranked fighter could opt to fight higher ranked fighters for a faster climb in the ratings, having opted to skip his "just keeping sharp" fight with a lower ranked oppponent.

Boxing today really needs something like this. #1 to give the fans what they deserve, more competitive fights. #2 to try and rebuild a fan base that has been long lost since the invention of the wba, wbc, ibf, wbo, ibc,ibo, wtf? Dude, to many chiefs and not enough warriors. And who knows, if boxing was to again gain credibility in the publics eyes and no longer seen as a dirty sport, than the kids might again be allowed to enter the boxing gyms because of what it can give them. Self confidence, discipline, something to keep them off of the street and most of all a feeling of self worth. Maybe the leauge is just what we need. To gets this tough but glorious sport back in the lime light where the common person can see just how great it really can be................Rockin' :boxing:

P.s. Thankyou to the masterdirector for getting the idea in my head.

funny, this is the exact topic of my final research paper for college. Actually I'm writing on it right now tonight for another research paper in another class.

This whole league thing, I've thought it out in great detail, could encompass A LOT and it really has the potiential to solve all of boxing's problems.

Not only would sanctioning bodies go away since the league would rank fighters and give us one champion per division, but promoters would go away too because the league could simply advertise all of its fighters collectively, like the NBA.

The league could make mandatory title defenses, but the rankings would be real rankings instead of what we have now. So Zab Judah would be defending against say Kermit Cintron or Margarito instead of Cosme Rivera.

The way contracts work would be a bit tricky. Boxing isn't a seasonal sport and doesn't need to become one. There was an idea for a boxing league in the past, but it consisted of a boxing season and really looked like a horrible idea.

What the league could do is give fighters deadlines by which they would have to fight or be moved down a spot in rankings. Say you have Gatti ranked at number 3 and the league tells him he has 120 days to fight anybody or get dropped to number 4. Then he has say 90 days after that to fight, or he'll get dropped to #10, or something more severe. If he misses a 3rd time, he becomes inactive and is removed from the rankings until he returns.

Once an inactive fighter returns, it would depend on merit as to where they start. They could never start higher than the last ranking they received was. So say Gatti was inactive and last at rank #10. He couldn't come back and be ranked above 10. And there would be a #10 ranked fighter, so they could schedule Gatti vs. the #10 ranked fighter for that ranking.

I could go on, maybe I will later, but damn I've GOT to get this paper written.

Maybe we should talk some more about this.........Rockin' :boxing:

:biggthump I'm glad your two minds are coming together. When I first heard about this concept from Masterdirector, on another thread, it seemed like a cool pipe dream. But.....it sure would be alot cooler if it became a reality. It does, however, seem like it would take millions of dollars and many small miracles to make it all happen. Maybe it could begin at a grassroots level, like in connection with golden gloves. I would be very interested to hear what Soundtraveler's take would be on this boxing league concept. The contacts are out there. It's a great idea. :boxing:

it'd take hundreds of millions probably. and it'd take convincing the biggest stars in boxing to sign with it. we're talking changing the whole infrastructure. And you'd better believe the promoters AND sanctioning bodies won't go down without a literally bloody fight. I'm talking people possibly seriously getting killed to keep things like this from happening.

You go screwing with Don King's or Bob Arum's way of living and you'd better believe they'll get ruthless. Damn, Rockin, I smell a ****ing awesome movie script here.

it'd take hundreds of millions probably. and it'd take convincing the biggest stars in boxing to sign with it. we're talking changing the whole infrastructure. And you'd better believe the promoters AND sanctioning bodies won't go down without a literally bloody fight. I'm talking people possibly seriously getting killed to keep things like this from happening.

You go screwing with Don King's or Bob Arum's way of living and you'd better believe they'll get ruthless. Damn, Rockin, I smell a ****ing awesome movie script here.
:biggthump You'll need a killer sound track.[hint~hint] :boxing:

I'm for anything that gets rid of "sanctioning bodies" and their sanctioning fees, and the alphabet soup titles. We only need a single world title, US title, state title, city title, etc. If a fighter wants more than one title, he could have the World title, any country title, and any city or state title. Anything else is farking meaningless.

interestingly enough something like this has just kicked off
its called the boxers writers ranking poll and commenced in March.
Im not anything to do with it but i do take part in the ranking excercise, its taken from writers all over the world who place their top ten in each weight division.

obviously not everyone is going to agree on the rankings but it is independent boxing journo's from all continents who have no hidden agenda.

Keep an eye out for it, its in its second month now.

however if you do decide to take this great idea further keep me posted i'd be delighted to assist in anyway i can. :boxing: ;)

funny, this is the exact topic of my final research paper for college. Actually I'm writing on it right now tonight for another research paper in another class.


Ironic, I did mine on the same thing :)


I agree fullly on it, but one thing I disagree with Rockin....Boxing never really was viewed with credibility despite its larger popularity, but nonetheless I agree.

Unfortunately if I did see this happening, I could see like Don King and Jose Suliaman(sp?) being the presidents....Something would need to get these two snakes (and others) out of the business before this could happen.

I'm not even that worried about people not agreeing on rankings because for the most part, everyone will agree that the Cosme Riveras and Brian Nielsens of the world have no place in the Top 10.

The thing I worry about with writers though are the weight classes with less press covering them. Example, sure you might be able to choose the best flyweight, but what about #4 flyweight? Who would that be? **** if I know. Seriously, without looking, can anybody name more than 2-3 current flyweights?

Still, I'll watch for it. It'd be cool as hell to see something like the AP college poll for boxing.

Well I'd hope that most boxers wouldn't accept any sort of league those goons would set up. It'd be so full of corruption so quickly that people wouldn't recognize it as legit. King's track record, even if he did try making it 100 percent legit, would cause nobody, including myself, to buy it.

Oh it isn't "ironic" that you did your paper on the same thing. It is coincidental. Ironic is like the opposite, sort of. Sorry I'm in word mode.

I'm not even that worried about people not agreeing on rankings because for the most part, everyone will agree that the Cosme Riveras and Brian Nielsens of the world have no place in the Top 10.

The thing I worry about with writers though are the weight classes with less press covering them. Example, sure you might be able to choose the best flyweight, but what about #4 flyweight? Who would that be? **** if I know. Seriously, without looking, can anybody name more than 2-3 current flyweights?

Still, I'll watch for it. It'd be cool as hell to see something like the AP college poll for boxing.

but thats the point you have to take time to research and read to educate. If you cant be bothered then thatsa up to the indiviudal. and just to prove a point

light flyweight straweight
1 Nelson Dieppa Muhammad Rachman
2 Victor Burgos Ivan Calderon
3 Shingo Yamaguchi Isaac Bustos
4 Hugo Cazarez Eagle Kyowa
5 Takahisa Masuda Rodel Mayol
6 Bert Batawang Stoshi Kogumasaka
7 Juanito Rubillar Juan Landaeta
8 Masato Hatakeyama Omar Soto
9 Beibis Mendoza Daniel Reyes
10 Eric Ortiz Yutaka Niida

;)

I disagree with only reading to make ratings judgements though. I think anybody ranking someone should have at least seen one fight with that person they're ranking.

Ironic, I did mine on the same thing :)


I agree fullly on it, but one thing I disagree with Rockin....Boxing never really was viewed with credibility despite its larger popularity, but nonetheless I agree.


Then lets bring credibitlity to the sport for the first time, it would do nothing but to help it thrive....Rockin' :boxing:

I disagree with only reading to make ratings judgements though. I think anybody ranking someone should have at least seen one fight with that person they're ranking.


i totally agree but thats nigh on impossible so reading about it is the next best thing.
I dont have access to alot of the japanese or koreans or thais in the lighter weights, and dont forget its not just aobut ranking the top ten there is 40 plus fioghters listed to choose form in each division. Its not feasibly possible to view them all.

MasterDirector-Its early give me a break.....:)

Then lets bring credibitlity to the sport for the first time, it would do nothing but to help it thrive....Rockin' :boxing:


Rockin-I agree but it is one hell of a task to keep corruption out of it, whether you have honest people in the organization or not their are still bookies and I have no doubts the fix would be in on that end.....

Just curious out of everyone in boxing who would you appoint and trust running an organization like this?

Please nobody say Oscar.

Non other than the most honorable, honest and dignified person I know. Me! :) Jus' kidding, although I must humbley say that I am all of those great qualities, been learning from masterdirector. It would have to be somebody with the knowledge of the sport from the inside. Not some government appointed knuckle head that knows accounting but nothing about boxing. It would be hard to say right now who I would like to run it. So for the time being, so that the position does not stand unattended, I will again say ME! :) .........Rockin' :boxing:

seconded :D

LMAO... Good man JPW, thankyou.............Rockin' :boxing:

What about Emmanuel Steward or Jay Nady? Those two guys seem really trustworthy and reliable and havent really showed signs in a negative light.

hell no not nady.

Kev Rooney would be a great choice I think. Pedro Fernandez too.

hell no not nady.

Kev Rooney would be a great choice I think. Pedro Fernandez too.


Why not Nady? Explain with factual information.

Quite honestly, this would have to start from the grass roots level. Arum, King and somebody else who I cant reacll his name, have basicaly all of the top fighters already under contract. Aswell as having the big guns under contract, they have many scouts working the country and world looking for the next extreme talent.

Starting from the grass roots level would leave the leauge with the non olympians aswell as none of the top amatuers. Therefore, we would be left to work with what was remaining in in the talent pool. However, providing highly competitive fights on a regular basis would still attract a crowd I believe, and a faithfull one as they have in the blue horizon.

Aswell, many of the world champions had nothing to do with the olympics. While many still may have had ghigh success in the amatuers.

More thought to come......................Rockin' :boxing:

Quite honestly, this would have to start from the grass roots level. Arum, King and somebody else who I cant reacll his name, have basicaly all of the top fighters already under contract. Aswell as having the big guns under contract, they have many scouts working the country and world looking for the next extreme talent.

Starting from the grass roots level would leave the leauge with the non olympians aswell as none of the top amatuers. Therefore, we would be left to work with what was remaining in in the talent pool. However, providing highly competitive fights on a regular basis would still attract a crowd I believe, and a faithfull one as they have in the blue horizon.

Aswell, many of the world champions had nothing to do with the olympics. While many still may have had ghigh success in the amatuers.

More thought to come......................Rockin' :boxing:



Lets make it happen... :D

Besides the sanctioning bodies and the promoters, I'm also tired of hearing about fighters whining about getting paid. For this system to work, you'd have to be able to make sure no fighter can use money as a reason to get out of a fight.

Say you got your rankings and for example its Juan Manuel Marquez due to fight Derrick Gainer(yanno, a fight that NO ONE wants to watch). who's willing to pay the fighers good money for a fight that might not make ends meet.

i'm kinda rambing here, I know. but for a sport to be succesful, you must be able to pay the participants. out of all boxers fighting, how many of them make over 500,000 a year. What kind of a percentage are we looking at? now compare that to football, basketball, baseball, and hockey.

but getting rid of all the bodies and promoters would def. free up more money for the fighters.

ive thought that boxing should be like college basketball, with the rankings and a pre-determined scheldule(that way you cannot avoid a fighter) that includes up and comers, easy-matchups,and tough and skilled fighters. than at the end of the regular season have weight class tournments( similar to a conference tournements in basketball) to see who deserves a shot at the year end tournement ala march madness. you could also have at large bids and what not.

but that would mean you would need teams, i was thinking that each team could have a number of different guys from different weight classes and would face off with opponents in the same class as each individual fighter. if a team had say 8 guys than all 8 fighters would face the opponents 8 guys according to weight class. the championship in each weight class would be awarded to the winner of the tournement.

with a league you would get regulary scheduled fights on tv and it would also eliminate ppv. also the best amatuers in the world can be drafted by teams in the league, similar to the nfl, nhl, and nba. each team could have a set amount of fighters in each weight class and choose which ones are ready to fight. there would also be a free agency period when a fighters contract runs up just like in other major leagues. the teams would also have home and away events, that way boxing is spread through out the globe instead of las vegas and atlantic city getting all the big events.

there would be only one commisioner ala david stern in the nba. if a fighter does something stupid than he could be suspended or fined, depending on the severity. you could also have merchandise like jerseys or uniforms on sale for fans as each team would have a logo and a set of colors like teams in the nba, nhl, or nfl. i think that would bring in a lot of money that could be spent on signing the best fighters for each team. i think the jerseys would be optional to wear in the ring but would look similar to a basketball jersey. the shorts of a teams fighters would have the name of the team or a logo with the team colors

anyway sorry for rambling, i always thought of stuff like this in class

good thoughts fix. The thing with boxing that makes it different is that guys could fight like 6 times a year maybe. More if they wanted, less if they wanted. Aswell, injuries, tough fights and ko suspensions would make the team theory seem to falter. After a tough fight a fighter will need time to rest as well as to recover. Ko suspensions last up to 90 days. Thats 90 days of no sparring. In a leauge format it would mean that teams would fight only 3 or 4 times a year at the most.

Thanks for the input though, they are good thoughts.............Rockin' :boxing:

I would give them straight salaries with bonuses after each fight. Like say I a fighter signs a deal to fight 3 times for 500k that year, they would receive bonuses if won...Kind of like that, I know it is vague but nonetheless that is how I think it should be worked.

good thoughts fix. The thing with boxing that makes it different is that guys could fight like 6 times a year maybe. More if they wanted, less if they wanted. Aswell, injuries, tough fights and ko suspensions would make the team theory seem to falter. After a tough fight a fighter will need time to rest as well as to recover. Ko suspensions last up to 90 days. Thats 90 days of no sparring. In a leauge format it would mean that teams would fight only 3 or 4 times a year at the most.

Thanks for the input though, they are good thoughts.............Rockin' :boxing:


i was thinking that maybe they could have a large roster like in the nfl and have a couple spots deep in the depth chart for each division or even a farm system could work, like if a fighter got injured the team could call up a guy to fill his roster spot................. The Fix'- sorry had to do it :D

another good thought from the fix, thanks..........Rockin'