WBA, WBC, WBO, WBF? There are so many commissions and weight divisions now that alot of these belts and titles don't mean shit...which Title/ and or Title-Holder is the least relevant?
I agree the lineal (Ring) title is the only one with any credibility i.e. you can only win/lose it in the ring and only becomes open when their number one and two ranked fighters meet.
However, I'd also say a world title belt is only as credible as the fighter you won it from and the fighters you defend your belt against. Ricky Hatton held the IBO 140 belt for many years and defended it against many top fighters bringing value to a lowly regarded sanctioning body's belt. Eventually he lost it to Pacquiao.
Kelly Pavlik is an example of a guy who won a lineal crown and some unified title belts but somehow ended up diminishing the lustre of titles he won from Jermain Taylor who won them from Hopkins. He's still got 'em, and it's not too late for Pavlik to change that around.
Then there are 'world titles' that will always mean nothing. Like Gamboa's WBA belt and Danny Green's IBO belt. Fake titles, paper champs.
WBO didnt mean shit when I started to seriously follow boxing. Then Bowe became their HW champ, then they had Hamed and now they are considered legit which I think is bull$hit.
all of them. Having different sanctioning bodies has greatly affected the sport and the legitimacy of the champions. All you have to do is look for the weakest champion and be one at a weight. Or negociate outside of the body and get some things in your benefit. It don't matter which belt u have when there are 3/4/5 more "world champions" in one weight category. Lineal Champ is all there should be
wbf and ibo suck
Honestly, I like the IBO more than the the other major belts. I like how they rank other champs. Something that other sanctioning bodies refuse to do.
WBF isnt recognized by anyone. IBHOF recognizes IBF, WBA, WBC and now WBO. Anything else isnt worth squat.
WBO is pretty shit too if you ask me.
There should be one sanctioning body. Boxing needs a top down, universal regulator like other sports have. I like Ring for that reason.
Why WBF and not IBF. TBH all four WBO, WBC, WBA, IBF are all as bad as each other and I can't really tell which is more important even though the WBA, WBC were started first because of the super champions interim champions, champion in recess and all the rubbish.
They are all as bad as each other.
all of them together, and pretty much any belt for which a fighter has to pay the sanctioning fees for the benefit of guys like jose suliman and all other moeny hungry clowns