by David P. Greisman (photo by Javiel Centeno/FightWireImages)

It takes more than championship material to make a fighter a champion. The fighter still has to do the hard work in the ring. What goes on outside of the ring is just as important.

The best managers and promoters devise strategies for taking that championship material and ensuring it is built into something structurally sound. It takes timing. It takes persuasion and politics. It takes luck.

For every talent like Sergio Martinez who toils in relative obscurity despite his ability and who does not enter the title picture until his mid-30s, there are the prospects who become world champions before they should even be considered contenders.

With four major sanctioning bodies handing out belts, it is easier than ever for a young fighter to move up in the rankings and get a title shot before he has truly proven he belongs.

But sometimes he does indeed belong. And his early arrival is now part of the longer journey.

Depending on what they have to work with, a fighter’s team relies on either alchemy or algebra.

For those boxers who are truly the best, there is the gradual building process: first the gimme opponents, next the journeymen, then the faded veterans, later the fellow contenders, and finally the title shot. It is mathematics, addition through competition, fine-tuning the parts to strengthen the whole.

For those who are good but not great, there is a way to work around their weaknesses, alchemy that transforms quality material into what appears to be golden. These are the fighters who may not be world class but still vie for world titles.

Nobody will confuse Delvin Rodriguez with Joshua Clottey. But each has been in the welterweight title picture in recent years.

For the weakest of the titleholders, the belt raises the status of the fighter. Such status is typically short-lived however.

For the stronger titleholders, the fighters can end up raising the status of the belt, proving they belong among the best.

Juan Diaz was a lightweight titlist in a division where the best included more accomplished fighters in Joel Casamayor, Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales. He was a 20-year-old who got a title shot with nary a top name on his record.

Diaz’s first defenses didn’t come against world-beaters either, but against opponents such as Julien Lorcy, Billy Irwin, Arthur Cruz, Jose Miguel Cotto, Randy Suico and Fernando Angulo.

Had Diaz not had a world title, these opponents would have been brought in solely to help him develop. With him having a belt, however, Diaz could use these defenses to develop and also use his title to lure in bigger challenges that might otherwise have avoided him. He would go on to defeat Acelino Freitas and Julio Diaz, unifying three of the four sanctioning body belts and staking a claim to the division’s throne.

We see so many receive world title shots even though their records don’t satisfy scrutiny. What had Andre Berto done to warrant a bout for the World Boxing Council’s belt? Out-point Cosme Rivera? Stop David Estrada? Beat up Michel Trabant?

Berto did his work in the ring. His manager and promoter did their work outside of it.

Timing. Persuasion and politics. Luck.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired. Berto had been working his way up in the WBC’s rankings. He’d at least shown himself to be more championship material than the man he’d face for the vacant belt, Miguel Angel Rodriguez. Berto stopped Rodriguez to win the title.

Like Juan Diaz in the lightweight division, Berto is a champion but not THE champion, not in a weight class where the top spots have belonged to Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Mayweather, Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao. His defenses have come against smaller men (Steve Forbes and Juan Urango) and former beltholders (Luis Collazo and Carlos Quintana).

His time will come. Fighters either prove they belong or they don’t. Even in a sport where the four major sanctioning bodies seemingly hand out belts, many of those who jump from prospect to challenger and then champion deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Look to the junior welterweight division, where Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander each went from beating Junior Witter for their world titles to scoring dominant wins that underscored that they are championship caliber.

Look at the super middleweight division, where Andre Ward went from having his best win being over Edison Miranda to having his best win being over the best at 168, Mikkel Kessler.

Yes, this is a sport where an Olympic champion’s professional debut can come against the heavyweight champion (Pete Rademacher against Floyd Patterson), where a network – and his team, with timing, persuasion and politics – can push a prospect into a title shot in a weak division (Chris Arreola against Vitali Klitschko), and where a fighter can have a world title and still barely be in the top 10 of his division (welterweight beltholder Jan Zaveck).

But it takes more than championship material to build a champion, just like it takes more than lumber and nails to build a home. It also takes more than being in the right place at the right time in order to remain a champion.

Those with the strongest pedigrees will have the stability of a well-built house. Those with the weakest of resumes will see their reigns and claims tumble down like a house of cards.

The 10 Count

1.  Tweet of the Week: “ALL INVOLVED IN THAT SHIT PPV SAT. SHOULD BOW THEIR HEADS IN SHAME. KILLING BOXING. NICE JOB GB. HOPKINS, U R A SHIT, BORING ACTOR! RETIRE!!!”

– @loudibella, promoter Lou DiBella, breaking out both the caps lock key and the exclamation points to take fire at Golden Boy Promotions and Bernard Hopkins over the Hopkins-Jones 2 pay-per-view.

(I must note here: DiBella and Hopkins have history together, from them working together with DiBella as Hopkins’ adviser, Hopkins dumping DiBella and accusing him of extortion and then DiBella winning a libel lawsuit against Hopkins.)

2.  I’m not sure if you noticed – because, well, how many people actually watched the Hopkins-Jones 2 pay-per-view? – but Michael Buffer didn’t do his usual “For the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world” line before his signature slogan of “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Think it was intentional?

Think he knew that Hopkins-Jones 2 would end up rumored to have done somewhere around 100,000 pay-per-view buys?

3.  One lingering question from the Hopkins-Jones 2 pay-per-view:

Why was the cut under Jason Litzau’s left eye ruled to have come from an accidental clash of heads with Rocky Juarez?

Never mind that the cut appeared to have come from a punch. Never mind that the fight was stopped even though the cut didn’t seem to be in a spot where the fight should’ve been stopped. And never mind that the bout going to the scorecards gave Litzau a technical decision victory.

Here’s the issue: the Nevada State Athletic Commission approved instant replay in 2009 specifically for this situation. “They can only use it to review what caused [a] fight-ending injury,” Keith Kizer, executive director of the commission, was quoted as saying to ESPN.com last year.

I honestly don’t know whether instant replay was used – I plan to look into it this week – but if it was used, what is it that ringside officials saw that is so contrary to what the video evidence seems to show?

And if it wasn’t used, why not?

4.  The metaphorical wisdom of Teddy Atlas, as brought to you Saturday on ESPN2 during Round 8 of David Estrada-Orlando Lora.

Joe Tessitore had just noted that Lora had never been in before with opposition the level of Estrada, and that Estrada thus knew he could take Lora “to a place he’s never been to.”

Here’s Teddy:

“Kinda like a Star Trek mission. You know, Captain Kirk. What was that the way they used to say it? Going to lands unknown, territories that are uncharted. Going now to galaxies that have never been seen before. Lora feels like – I think right now Lora would like to be beamed up by Scotty. That’s what he would like to do right now. Scotty, beam me up.”

5.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: Former welterweight champion and current 154-pound titleholder Cory Spinks was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Indian River County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office (via BoxingScene’s own Jake Donovan).

No further details surrounding what led to the arrest were available. Spinks, 32, was released from police custody early Saturday afternoon and is due back in court May 11.

Spinks is 37-5 with 11 knockouts. His last appearance was about a year ago, a split decision over Deandre Latimore that won him a vacant 154-pound title.

6.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: What do you get when boxing brothers brawl?

Two “Boxers Behaving Badly” for the price of one!

Travis and Tarvis Simms, both 38 (the article has them at 39), were arrested last week after an argument at Travis’s home turned physical, according to Norwalk, Conn., newspaper The Hour.

Police say the throwdown went like this: Travis punched Tarvis. They began to fight. A 10-year-old girl who was present tried to get between them. Tarvis bit the girl’s arm and then grabbed a large knife. The girl got cut and scratched by the knife. Travis grabbed his gun and told Tarvis to leave.

Travis has been charged with “first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree threatening and third-degree assault,” according to the article. Tarvis has been charged with “third-degree assault, second-degree threatening and injury/risk/impairing morals of a child,” according to the article.

Both are scheduled to appear in court today (April 12).

Travis last fought in June, winning by third-round stoppage. He is 27-1 (20 knockouts) and a former 154-pound titlist. Tarvis last fought in October, dropping a decision to Allan Green. He is 25-1-1 (11 knockouts).

7.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part three: Retired Canadian middleweight Alex Hilton has been arrested and charged with one count of breaking and entering, with damaging a motel door frame, and two counts of violating his probation, according to Montreal newspaper The Gazette. Hilton pleaded not guilty.

Hilton, 45, has a criminal history that has included breaking into a former girlfriend’s home and attacking her, and another case in which he threatened and assaulted a police officer.

Hilton was 37-11 with 23 knockouts.

8.  Boxing Trainers Behaving Badly: Mark Diaz, a trainer based in the San Diego area who used to work with junior middleweight Danny Perez, was arrested last week and charged with shooting and killing Hector Gil, another volunteer trainer, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

Gil was 52.

Diaz has been charged with murder and attempted murder. Two other people were wounded: a trainer named Peter Moreno, who was shot in the shoulder, and a boxer named Ricardo Gutierrez, who was shot in the leg.

Diaz has been remanded into police custody without bail.

9.  Boxing Promoters Behaving Badly: Damon Feldman, the man behind celebrity boxing events featuring the likes of Jose Canseco and Rodney King, has been arrested and charged with putting on fights in Pennsylvania without a valid promoter’s license and – and this is the more noteworthy charge – fixing six bouts, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

“The only thing that appears to be ‘real’ about any of these events is the money that went into Mr. Feldman’s pocket and the media attention that he received,” an attorney general was quoted as saying in a written statement. “These so-called fights were staged without concern for the health and safety of the participants, a lack of proper medical care and with a total disregard for the professional standards of boxing in Pennsylvania.”

Prosecutors did not say which fights were fixed. The newspaper said court documents tell of Feldman admitting that the fights were unsanctioned, that he didn’t have a valid promoter’s license and, oh yeah, that 95 percent of the bouts were predetermined. (I must note here that reporters are supposed to be cautious when police say a suspect admitted to a crime. That is not generally put into a story, especially at this point in the legal process.)

He did give this notable quote to the Associated Press: “It’s entertainment. I don’t fix fights. Fixing fights in pro boxing is illegal. I classify myself as 100 percent entertainment.”

Sounds like pro wrestling. This could be an interesting legal argument.

Feldman, 40, is out on bail. He is due back in court April 14.

10.   Celebrity boxing fixed? I’m heartbroken!

But not as heartbroken as I am about the fact that I missed the celebrity boxing after party last November in which Feldman, Jose Canseco and Rodney King held court in a Springfield, Mass., strip club.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com