George Foreman: All Titles Are Paper Titles

Just re-watched Jones/Ruiz. Jones did look pretty good. With half the last round gone, Lamp and Merch begin deriding Ruiz (not uncalled for) as having been exposed as a paper champion. At which point Foreman becomes irate, defending the "big man" and reminding them both that "All titles are paper titles." Super-astute observation. The sub-text being, the belt--any belt--is irrelevant. The boxing public knows what's what and that's really all that matters. AKA the good and the bad of the sanctioning bodies are in perfect harmony. Arguments for and against are plentiful. Often irrefutable. The proof of this equation? None of us will live long enough to see the alphabets disappear. Maybe no one will. Like everything else in life, it is what it is. That's my worthless two cents. Rub 'em together or leave 'em on the ground. i agree somewhat.....but it is amazing to put on the weight and fight against a HW punch and get hit from a natural HW is impressive

I know this is slightly off topic but every few fights George would have some awesomely candid comments out of the blue like that, that would make you think damn George is one smart dude! My favorite of his bickering with Lampley was after one of Michael Gran'ts fights, I think it was his win over Golota. And Lamps was saying how Grant is more than ready to handle Lewis when George responds with something to the effect of no Grant isn't even close to ready for Lewis.....thumbs up to George lol. And since this is also about Larry"safety first" Merchant being tasteless too.....I liked when he thought Wayne Kelly should be pistol whipped for not stopping a Roy Jones fight, that one always made me laugh a lot.

Reminder to all Fakeweather fans. All titles are paper titles. Seems like Fakeweather fans are avoiding this thread also. Too bad. Lol at Pacquiao not even being able to win a "paper title" at 130.

thats the same shit ive been saying this whole time. Belts really are only relevant to fighters and boxing fans. but to the casual fan, which actually drive the sport, belts really dont mean shit and its rare to know what belt a fighter has or even what division.

To be honest, I think it was uncalled for. When you are basically selling a PPV and your star is doing something amazing, you shouldn't critize it until atleast after the fight. It's true that Ruiz wasn't the true champion, but Roy beating a heavyweight and winning a title is still amazing regradless I agree with that.

I just watched the fight again too. I think what Lampley said was that "Roy Jones is a great fighter, and John Ruiz is not. Ruiz is being exposed for exactly what he is: nothing but a paper champion". I agree with the first part, Roy Jones was one of the best fighters of all time, and Ruiz , I'm sorry, was not, and never will be. But I disagree with how Lampley and Merchant totally tore John Ruiz down as he is losing his heavyweight "championship" which he will never get back. Big George did the right thing by coming to Ruiz's defence, there really was no need for them to throw John Ruiz in the garbage during a live telecast, and it showed a lack of class. It downplayed Roy's accomplishment, which I don't care how you slice it, regardless of the alphabet soup, was one hell of an accomplishment. George was also correct when he said "...then all of the titles are paper titles". In my opinion Georgie owned Lampley on live TV, and George was the only one calling a spade a spade. The fact remains: any great fighter can lose to a good bigger fighter on any night. All it takes is one big shot to end it. Roy neutralized Ruiz's offense, and did what he does best.

In general HBO and ESPN are very good amount doing what is best for the sport which is not pumping up these sanctioning bodies. Showtime does the softshoe act for the alphabet soups. Personally, I think its disgusting to claim guys like Ruiz are "champion". I think titlist is the right description. Props to Lamps and Merchant and Brian Kenny and Max Kellerman for having the integrity to call a spade a spade on the spot

Tis a lot easier to win titles in a whole bunch of different titles nowadays then it would've been any other time. There should at least be more unification bouts.

It's not like they were saying that Ruiz was a fucking bum... but it is true that Jones didn't become "THE" heavyweight champion by beating Ruiz... what they said was true. If it discredits Jones's win, that's too fucking bad, because it only discredits it for the idiots who didn't originally realize that Ruiz was a paper champion in the first place.

Foreman came to the aid of Roy since the other two were trying to discredit his accomplishment. No wonder Lamps doesn't like George, the mothafucka keeps it real.

To be honest, I think it was uncalled for. When you are basically selling a PPV and your star is doing something amazing, you shouldn't critize it until atleast after the fight. It's true that Ruiz wasn't the true champion, but Roy beating a heavyweight and winning a title is still amazing regradless Yeah but by degrading Ruiz and his belt, they were degrading Roy's accomplishment that night. I agree with George.

The only thing that could remove the alphabets is a national sanctioning body. It would be impossible to create a "World" chamionship again though

To be honest, I think it was uncalled for. When you are basically selling a PPV and your star is doing something amazing, you shouldn't critize it until atleast after the fight. It's true that Ruiz wasn't the true champion, but Roy beating a heavyweight and winning a title is still amazing regradless