Reclaiming the sport - my ideas

Your plan contains too much wishful thinking of fighters throwing away something they worked so hard for (A title). That's very true and the achilles heel in the plan. It's okay for a Mayweather to snub a belt or two or three, but what about a guy like, say, Katsidis, who has in interim title which is effectively his foot in the door to a big fight against Marquez (or Diaz), and also a useful bargaining tool until that happens.... I guess it all comes down to which fighters want legitimacy and which fighters want to pretend they are something they're not. That's why I advocate a break-away group of elite fighters and also the involvement of Hall of Famers. It's about recognition from peers and also legitimacy in the eyes of the fans and the public at large. I.e. a body chaired by Ray Leonard with a board of George Foreman, Roberto Duran, Ray Mancini and a couple of others organising the rankings and sanctioning fights is a gonna have a far more prestigious championship belt than anything Jose Sulaiman and his ilk can manufacture.

I think it's been a slow process, but overtime it's seems like the boxing media, boxing fans and the fighters themselves have been putting less of an emphasis on who has the title. Years ago i knew who pretty much had what belt, now i have no idea, and i could care less. We all know who the good or great fighters are, we dont need a leather belt to tell us. Or mandatory defenses, sanctioning fees etc

Your plan contains too much wishful thinking of fighters throwing away something they worked so hard for (A title). Control the boxing commissions and you control the belts, the fights, and the promoters. Example 1: The Japanese Boxing Commission doesn't recognize the IBF or WBO, so those titles aren't on the line on Japanese soil. Example 2: Margarito was banned by the CSAC and the decision was respected by every commission in the US. If you have HBO and a few more of the major international networks on board, it would make a FIBA-type organization possible.

This is way too much to ask though. I would settle for the WBA and WBC merging to get the ball rolling. That right there would legitimise them as the "real" sanctioning body of the sport. Actually it wouldn't because the same people are involved. It would be the same bunch of ne'er do wells merging under a different entity and the same corrupt abuses would re-emerge. Better yet HBO needs to get involved a bit more. They wield alot of power, but they don't use it for the betterment of the sport. They are a bit short sighted IMHO. I hear this a lot, that HBO should get involved. Their thing is broadcasting, not sports administration. The betterment of the sport is in their interest, but their role in this should be better cards, better match-making and better coverage. It's cool what Showtime are doing in the 168 division, but you can't realistically expect every division to have that surplus of talent spread equally across America and Europe, and certainly not expect that TV will want anything to do with it. Not deliberately being contrary here, it's all just food for thought.

Too long and drawn out when you can just ditch them and start again. Haven't you noticed as soon as someone unifies either one of the organisations strips them (i.e. Tim Bradley) or an "interim" champion is created? Or they create the "super champion" and have a "regular" champ and then an interim. It's just a boxing championship cartel. Seriously not worth the time of day bothering with them anymore. Truthfully the USA/world would benefit greatly from one or two recognised sanctioning bodies. Successful sports have centralised governing bodies. This is what they have in common.......not a bunch of crims like boxing where these bodies only exist to further their own monetary ambitions. A centralised body to run the show, with a "boxers association" where former boxers run the show, but which current boxers are members of to settle disputes, grievances etc etc. This is way too much to ask though. I would settle for the WBA and WBC merging to get the ball rolling. That right there would legitimise them as the "real" sanctioning body of the sport. Better yet HBO needs to get involved a bit more. They wield alot of power, but they don't use it for the betterment of the sport. They are a bit short sighted IMHO.

I've been saying a while now the fighters need to reclaim their sport from the sanctioning bodies. They are the pox on our sport, manipulating both fighters and fans and selling us short. If the top 15-20 fighters handed in their belts and spurned the sanctioning bodies, what would happen to the sanctioning bodies? For sure the second and third-tier fighters on the fringes, or holding bogus, interim titles would become “full champions” for the likes of the WBC and WBA. Rather than handing legitimacy to the fighters, it will further underline the worthlessness of the sanctioning bodies, who now have a group of lesser names representing their championships. This is essentially what has happened with the WBA welterweight title since Mayweather refused to pay a sanctioning fee, and Mosley refused the WBA's request for more money to retain his title. The WBA title “fell” to Yuriy Nuzhnenko, who lost it to Vyacheslav Senchenko. That in a microcosm is what needs to happen to the sport entirely. So if the top 20 fighters P4P boycotted the sanctioning bodies and started a breakaway Fighter's League, there'd surely be a groundswell of support. It would be seen as fighters taking control of their sport away from the greedy, corrupt sanctioning bodies. The rankings would be decided by the fighters themselves. Once a month they rate the best fighters in their division. They can vote in as may divisions as they like. The one rule being they cannot vote for themselves. What greater legitimacy can a fighter have than to beat the guy rated the best by his own peers? The whole thing could be managed by the fighters who are signed to the league. If any outsider is brought in to manage it, the single qualification is that they be a Hall of Fame fighter or trainer. What do you all think? Any thoughts or contributions welcome.... Some interesting ideas. We def need more of the elite guys to follow Mayweather's lead and tell the SB they don't care to wipe their ass with their belt. When the WBC was fukking around Devon he should have called a press con, told the WBC to STFU and then proceed to discard that belt right there and then!!! His fanbase would double instantly and he would publicly embarrass the WBC. I'm not sure how viable it is for certain guys to snub the org's, but Mayweather, Cotto, Pac, JMM and guys like that should do it consistently to send a msg to these crims.

every division have a unification tournament final unified champ ditch alphabet belts Ring belt only Too long and drawn out when you can just ditch them and start again. Haven't you noticed as soon as someone unifies either one of the organisations strips them (i.e. Tim Bradley) or an "interim" champion is created? Or they create the "super champion" and have a "regular" champ and then an interim. It's just a boxing championship cartel. Seriously not worth the time of day bothering with them anymore.

I say 2 titles to each division...WBC and WBA...completely scrap the others and those other whatever organizations(NABO, etc.)

every division have a unification tournament final unified champ ditch alphabet belts Ring belt only

very interesting. I don't agree with the part about a peer-to-peer ranking system but i would love if all the top guys threw the belts in the trash