There has not been a Lineal Heavyweight Champ for almost 10 years.

[Larry the boss]

In reality you dont need any ABC belts to be lineal champion,look at Roy at Light heavy he had EVERY belt and WAS NEVER LINEAL..and look at Manny at 126,and 140 he had 0 belts and was lineal

[BennyST]

Wlad is already lineal champ,and before him it was Vitali,may not like it but it is a fact

Ring is not lineal. They try to be, but have their own agenda and have their own rules which don't always equal what linear means.

Wlad is, wrongly in reality, considered the current lineal champ but Vitali never has widely been thought of as the lineal champ even though he has, or had, by far the strongest case for it after Lewis. You could even argue that in the strict sense of linearity, when the top guy retires, and the next two best fight or the next top guy loses he gets it, that Wlad got it as early as when he beat Byrd.

That's why linear is ridiculous today. It makes no sense anymore and is, quite simply, meaningless.

[Weltschmerz]

So what, the Klitscko's rule, and Wlad will soon enough become undisputed when Vitali retires.

[BennyST]

So what, the Klitscko's rule, and Wlad will soon enough become undisputed when Vitali retires.

Exactly. That's also when the new lineage should be established.

[New England]

Since Lewis retired.

Wladamir can become Lineal Champ, by starting a new Lineage, but to do so he will have to beat the holder of the WBC Championship, becoming Undisputed champion and creating new lineage.

Sorry state of affairs for heavyweight boxing, Wlad has until Feb 6 2014 to do it, or it will have been over 10 years.

you're misusing the terms "lineage" and "undisputed."

i don't give a damn about the alphabet belts, and neither should you or anybody else. they exist to make money for networks, promotors, fighters, and venues. they make fights more marketable to the casual fan, who doesn't understand that there are at least three other "championships" that can be won.

the belts all belonging to the same guy is generally bad for business for the sanctioning bodies. they strip people, make demands for unreasonable fights and dates, and eventually the belts are split up again. damn the belts.



wladimir is the lineal champion. ideally the lineal champion would be the guy who beat the guy, stretching all the way back to the great fighters. unfortunately in the lower weights people move up in weight, and even at HW they can retire as a champion. this breaks the lineage.

when you've got a vacant lineal title / championship, you can have a box off between the two top guys in the division for the vacant lineage. the winner of that fight becomes the lineal champion.

wladimir became lineal champion when he beat chagaev, if memory serves right. they were the top two guys in the division other than vitali, who wladimir would never fight.

[New England]

Ring is not lineal. They try to be, but have their own agenda and have their own rules which don't always equal what linear means.

Wlad is, wrongly in reality, considered the current lineal champ but Vitali never has widely been thought of as the lineal champ even though he has, or had, by far the strongest case for it after Lewis. You could even argue that in the strict sense of linearity, when the top guy retires, and the next two best fight or the next top guy loses he gets it, that Wlad got it as early as when he beat Byrd.

That's why linear is ridiculous today. It makes no sense anymore and is, quite simply, meaningless.

i disagree that the notion that a lineage is meaningless today. it's less appropriate, perhaps, because of how infrequently the top guys in a division are able to fight each other. in some instances it's appropriate, though.

bernard hopkins was THE middleweight champion. he had been the guy at MW for a long time, but he cemented himself as the lineal champion when he stopped felix trinidad. then he lost to jermain taylor, and taylor took over the lineage. when taylor was stopped by pavlik kelly became the new middleweight champion. now martinez is the middleweight championship of the world.

some of his belts have gone missing, but the lineage is still the same, and can be traced back to and gains strength from the rein of the great hopkins. when martinez fights he puts on the line his lineal middleweight title, and whoever can beat him becomes the next MW champion.

in situations like our current one at MW i think it's easy and quite practical to follow the lineage. obviously it can get hairy, considering the state of boxing and the fact that it's essentially operated by two en****** that don't do business with eachother (haymon/GBP, and top rank.)

[Salardo]

Are you mental.

Baring in mind i'm the "biased brit", Chisora won no more than 2 rounds.

minor nitpick aside, ok he lost 2 rounds in 8 years. Guess that's the nail in the coffin.

If you want to water down the ONLY legitimacy left in boxing championships that's fine.

I'm not bending though, the line has to be drawn.

You clown. Lots of people gave Chisora between 4 and 6 rounds.

Yes, it'd take me some research to nail down exactly when, he may have won it in a fight previous from an established champion, but i'd have to check, but he DEFINATLEY had it by the Reggie Johnson win.

It all depends on when you exactly consider the WBO became a "real" title, instead of a regional/second tier one, but that's for the scholars.

You don't know anything. Roy Jones was NEVER the lineal champion at Light-Heavyweight, but you are probably a Roy Jones fanboy and that's why you invent a cool story here.
Michalczewski got the lineal title from Virgil Hill. Roy was never lineal champ.
http://boxinghalloffame.com/history/...-of-the-world/

[New England]

Lewis was the last Lineal champion and that got cut off once he retired so the only way it can come back is if he unretires and gets beaten. No other way around it.

lol

wrong, but very funny.

[Larry the boss]

Lewis was the last Lineal champion and that got cut off once he retired so the only way it can come back is if he unretires and gets beaten. No other way around it.

lmfao.....wrong,wrong wrong,lineage is restablished when the #1 and #2 fight..Wlad is lineal but in reality he isnt because he never beat the #2 which is Vitali..but since they will never fight he beat the
#3 in Chagaev

[Sage84]

Spinks.

The exact lineage is here

http://boxing.about.com/od/history/a...avyweights.htm

Good Article but WTF?!:

"May 30, 1880 - Feb. 7,1882: Paddy Ryan - Won the title from Joe Goss in the 87th round when Goss was unable to continue."

87th round? No Wonder he was unable to continue!