Why so many title belts in boxing today?

[Anthony342]

Yeah so I was just wondering about that. Why are there so many of these alphabet belts in boxing today? It seems to cause a lot of confusion IMO for the casual boxing watcher or fan, since he/she doesn't often know who the real champion is in a weight class, since there are so many different ones. So I guess I have two questions on this. Why were there so many title belts added to each weight class, instead of there just being one champion and one list of top ten contenders and how does one know who the best truly is these days?

Did the people in charge see this as a way for them to make more money? I guess they make more with all the cable and PPV cards, rather than having them on local TV stations?

For the second question, what's the best way to tell who is, well, the best? Is it the guy with at least 2 or 3 title belts or just the guy with the Ring championship or just the lineal champion or the guy that beats the top guy? And how do we know who the top guys are? I can't even tell anymore. I guess, in any era, if a guy beats some of the best guys he's pretty good and beats all or almost all of the top guys and clears out the division, he's great?

[StarshipTrooper]

Did the people in charge see this as a way for them to make more money? I guess they make more with all the cable and PPV cards, rather than having them on local TV stations?

^^^^^ This. Alphabet bodies exist to collect sanctioning fees. They pop into existance to make a buck. Weight classes have more than doubled because more weight classes equals more championship fights equals more sanctioning fees collected.

Poet

[Anthony342]

So I guess the only way to combat this is if boxing fans avoided watching in droves until things got less confusing and there was only one champion in each weight class again? And how does one tell who the best truly is in each weight class?

[StarshipTrooper]

So I guess the only way to combat this is if boxing fans avoided watching in droves until things got less confusing and there was only one champion in each weight class again? And how does one tell who the best truly is in each weight class?

Honestly, I think Pandora's box has been opened and the plethoria of titles is here to stay.....to the extreme detriment of the sport.

The only way to get at least close to tabbing the best in each weight class is probably Ring Magazine's system for determining champions. It isn't perfect but so far it's the best I've seen come around.

Poet

[Anthony342]

Well then boxing will continue to suck overall today because of this. There will still be some boxers I watch today, but I no longer feel the need to see them live and will no longer order pay per view boxing. But, I guess that's what friends with pay per view and DVD recorders are for or online streams for that matter. And in that case, may all the people in charge of these corrupt sanctioning bodies and all the people who came up with this horrible idea all be slowly lowered into vats of acid and then burn in hell for ruining this sport we all love to watch. I guess, like with any sport, it's less about the sport and only about making the most money possible. Going to games at ballparks, arenas and stadiums has been ruined too IMO, with all the horrible noisy music, big screens, overpriced food, drinks, tickets and advertising all over the place. And with all the extra money paid, you'd think we could at least get more comfortable seats and better bathroom facilites, but NOOOOO, as Jon Belushi used to say. I guess that's asking too much these days. Remember when it was about just going to see a game and not all the other distractions? Remember when boxing used to just be about one champion and not all these other guys they try to convince us are the best? "I'm the best because I'm WBC Champion", "No I'm the best because I'm WBA Champion", "No I am, I have the IBF belt" and then they either avoid each other or their managers or sanctioning bodies themselves won't let them unify, God forbid.

I mean, MMA has different belts but at least when a guy works for one organization, he only has one belt to worry about winning. Of course, they should have fighters of different promotions go head to head for them to determine who truly is the best. So the closest to the old days I guess is the Ring title belts or the champions of the UFC, Strikeforce and DREAM, but that's another topic entirely.

End of rant.

[StarshipTrooper]

Well then boxing will continue to suck overall today because of this. There will still be some boxers I watch today, but I no longer feel the need to see them live and will no longer order pay per view boxing. But, I guess that's what friends with pay per view and DVD recorders are for or online streams for that matter. And in that case, may all the people in charge of these corrupt sanctioning bodies and all the people who came up with this horrible idea all be slowly lowered into vats of acid and then burn in hell for ruining this sport we all love to watch. I guess, like with any sport, it's less about the sport and only about making the most money possible. Going to games at ballparks, arenas and stadiums has been ruined too IMO, with all the horrible noisy music, big screens, overpriced food, drinks, tickets and advertising all over the place. And with all the extra money paid, you'd think we could at least get more comfortable seats and better bathroom facilites, but NOOOOO, as Jon Belushi used to say. I guess that's asking too much these days. Remember when it was about just going to see a game and not all the other distractions? Remember when boxing used to just be about one champion and not all these other guys they try to convince us are the best? "I'm the best because I'm WBC Champion", "No I'm the best because I'm WBA Champion", "No I am, I have the IBF belt" and then they either avoid each other or their managers or sanctioning bodies themselves won't let them unify, God forbid.

I mean, MMA has different belts but at least when a guy works for one organization, he only has one belt to worry about winning. Of course, they should have fighters of different promotions go head to head for them to determine who truly is the best. So the closest to the old days I guess is the Ring title belts or the champions of the UFC, Strikeforce and DREAM, but that's another topic entirely.

End of rant.

I haven't watched a PPV since Roy Jones creamed Montell Griffin in one round. I simply won't shell out my hard earned cash for something that NEVER gives it's money's worth. As a general rule I follow the big fights in progress here on Boxing Scene then within 24 hours have the said fight on the net. I'm not big on getting ripped off, especially since I grew up seeing the likes of Duran and Arguello on free TV.

Poet

[Barn]

It also causes people winning 8 titles in different weight classes to get over-rated as the cherry pick the weakest belt holder, unlike the old days when there was 1 "Champ."

What's that guys name again, the little guy from the Phillipines

[The_Demon]

Money.....

[Anthony342]

It also causes people winning 8 titles in different weight classes to get over-rated as the cherry pick the weakest belt holder, unlike the old days when there was 1 "Champ."

What's that guys name again, the little guy from the Phillipines

Oh yeah him, I actually like him, but yeah, a lot of his fans can be annoying.

[Rockin']

They added more weight classes for safety.

They added more belts(alphabet) to make the people more interested in the fight. Boxer A vs Boxer B for the middleweight world title. Sounds alot better than just fighter A vs Fighter B. People believe it must be worth something if a title is at stake so maybe they are in the paid attendance or watching on PPV. 4 champs per division is simply rediculous. As I remember the Earth is only one world, yet in boxing there are 4 world champs plus all of the other b-s minor belts that keep popping up. 1 world = 1 world champion, it would help boxing in a huge way if they would just get back to the way that it should be...........Rockin'