Fighters that earned their titles?

In this modern era of multiple titles its very difficult to go on a multi-weight reign without vacant titles or without some B.S like Judah still being IBF or catch-weights. I thought perhaps Chavez but remembered his first title was a vacant WBC but the opponent was a good one though. Pernell Whitaker too but the WBC title he won at 135 was vacant but everything else taken from the champion. Post Chavez/Whitaker beyond Tito I think the best I could come up with off the top was Rafael Marquez (beating long reigning champions in Tim Austin & Israel Vazquez) as far as only taking from a genuine champion and with no use of catch-weight. He beat the #1 guy in both divisions no questions asked and no promotional or political favoritism. Seems like everyone that's more than two divisions has either won an interim, a vacant or catch-weight at least once. They’re really aren’t that many especially this millennium. James Toney is another one; beat Michael Nunn 160, Iran Barkley 168 and then beat Vasily Jirov nearly a decade later for his Cruiserweight title.

Yeah Tito is another good shout... won all his titles from solid opposition In this modern era of multiple titles its very difficult to go on a multi-weight reign without vacant titles or without some B.S like Judah still being IBF or catch-weights. I thought perhaps Chavez but remembered his first title was a vacant WBC but the opponent was a good one though. Pernell Whitaker too but the WBC title he won at 135 was vacant but everything else taken from the champion. Post Chavez/Whitaker beyond Tito I think the best I could come up with off the top was Rafael Marquez (beating long reigning champions in Tim Austin & Israel Vazquez) as far as only taking from a genuine champion and with no use of catch-weight. He beat the #1 guy in both divisions no questions asked and no promotional or political favoritism. Seems like everyone that's more than two divisions has either won an interim, a vacant or catch-weight at least once.

Trinidad too. Won the IBF off Blocker, unified against unbeaten De La Hoya with the WBC. Moved to 154 beat unbeaten Reid for WBA and unified IBF with unbeaten Vargas then won WBA 160 against Joppy. Most multi-weight champions had a vacant belt in there or a gimme but not Tito. Yeah Tito is another good shout... won all his titles from solid opposition

On another note why didn’t Floyd fight tszyu Tszyu was one of the fighters exclusively signed to Showtime and HBO had Mayweather. Neither were a big enough star to make the two come together or go over to the other network (also the contracts were exclusive). Time frame also didn't align. Tszyu was unified at 140 in November of 2001 and Floyd just just moving to 135 where he won a controversial decision of Castillo so had to re-match by that time Tszyu had a mandatory against Mitchell twice postponed due to career threatening injuries so by the time that fight was done was when Mayweather was moving to 140. I'd like to have seen Mayweather push for a Tszyu match but he went for Gatti and Tszyu took a fight for big bucks with Hatton. That was probably the only window and both guys fought opponents that probably paid them more than they'd have made with each other minus the political headache of Showtime & HBO. Neither were really stars at the same time. In hindsight you have those two guys near in weight you'd want to see it just never seemed realistic.

You don't think that was a kind of BS though? I mean how do you lose your other titles but are allowed to keep one off of a loss like that? Judah being a "champion" at that point was a joke. yea it was bogus

When he beat Judah it was for the vacant title. Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir. So not every one. Then you've also got the catchweight for Canelo which takes something away and then Gatti had no biz being the 140 champ. Got gifted the vacant belt after Tszyu had all the belts. On another note why didn’t Floyd fight tszyu

Floyd Mayweather!!!! No vacant titles.Beat a champ for every damn one of his titles A fighter who faces another top contender for a vacant belt earns it just the same. Tbh with so many "titles" and paper champs these days, you really have to look at each title winning fight to judge the merit of each accomplishment. In many cases fighters face better opposition in non title fights than other fighters do in title winning fights.

Judah still had the title, not vacant You don't think that was a kind of BS though? I mean how do you lose your other titles but are allowed to keep one off of a loss like that? Judah being a "champion" at that point was a joke.

http://i63.tinypic.com/29uvf2e.jpg ward was a carefully manufactured product. you have to deal with that. i know he recently retired so you are probably still in fan mode where the endorphins are kicking in but hopefully soon you will be able to look back at his fights and say wow how did i support and defend this crap???

When he beat Judah it was for the vacant title. Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir. So not every one. Then you've also got the catchweight for Canelo which takes something away and then Gatti had no biz being the 140 champ. Got gifted the vacant belt after Tszyu had all the belts. Judah still had the title, not vacant

Ward was an underdog going into the SS. He was the token American. In hindsight yeah it was the right time and right place but it’s not like comparing a Tank Davis who is where is he is because of his promoter. Haha and yeah, I would blame congress. Of course the billionaire is going to try and f the system. Honestly I think you’re giving too much credit to Goosen. Maybe it was the perfect storm for them but I never viewed Ward as some hyped up star who got special opportunities. oh no you blame congress for sure as well but they are paid off lackies. thats why you blame the refs. they know who the a-side is and what to do if they want to progress in the boxing industry. just like a congressman knows to vote for tax cuts if they want that billionaire money for his next campaign. yes and of course a promoter is going to take advantage of this system! it was pretty clear from the start ward was the go to guy. if you think about it he always was. he was the gold medal winner. he was american where most of the wealth in boxing is located. he was the guy who was on showtime a lot before the tournament. he took advantage of the system who wanted to mold him into a star. he didn't create the system but he maintained it and got wealthy off it and that was fine by him, but as a fan we can see it's bullsh-it. that guy hardly had a fair fight his entire career. if he was born anywhere else his career is extremely different if not non existent to us. just look at the paul smith fight. it was all fun and games ward boxing nicely winning easily. he gets caught and hurt and for the next 15 seconds becomes a clinching, swarming wrestler. thats the give away right there. if he could have won those other fights fair and square he would have but he had to resort to those tactics to get by. then there ar ethe judges that bailed him out against kovalev. round 10 to ward...simply impossible. we have to at least put checks on this system cause right now there is absolutely nothing stopping them from just giving every single fight to the guy that they want to win.

thats exactly what he did. his promoter got him all hometown fights(where he was allowed to cheat) while guys like froch had to fight in 4 different countries. i can't think of a more perfect example of an entitled fighter. also who did ward beat before entering the tourny.....no one at all. he was just in there cause he was an american prospect. all the european guys were heavily proven so yes more good promoting. and blaming the refs and not ward is laughable. thats like saying lets not blame the corrupt billionaires for buying the government, lets blame the congress who does their bidding. who has the power in boxing the refs or the promoters? the refs knew who buttered their bread and they acted(or didn't act) accordingly. the whole ref was just bad act is just that...an act. theres a reason ward never traveled. cause he understands the system that created him. he knows just what it did for him and can do for him. its a safety blanket when he needs it. did he need it vs paul smith? obv not. against kovalev? obv yes. hes not going to suddenly ditch it and fight on even terms. it would be like trump or koch brothers saying you know what im going to pay taxes now even though i worked my entire life to create and maintain a system in which i dont have to! http://i63.tinypic.com/29uvf2e.jpg

Roman Gonzalez is another one, went out to Japan to beat Niida and Yaegashi and won the 115lb title from Cuadras Trinidad too. Won the IBF off Blocker, unified against unbeaten De La Hoya with the WBC. Moved to 154 beat unbeaten Reid for WBA and unified IBF with unbeaten Vargas then won WBA 160 against Joppy. Most multi-weight champions had a vacant belt in there or a gimme but not Tito.

You said...whose promoter didnt put them in the right place at the right time. If Goosen wasnt granted those demands then Ward wouldnt have fought in that tournament and those belts would be in different hands. Ended up beating an undersized past prime ex middle in A.A....and late replacement Allan Green....after butting Kessler into withdrawing. Favourable decision in the first Kov fight. Low blowed him out in the second. If this is what you consider legacy defining then lets put Salido above Loma on the p4p rankings and send him to the HOF.

Can't really earn it that easily. Somewhere in the timeline there was some paper champ that someone beat. The only way to actually earn it is if it's vacant and the obvious two best fighters of the division fight for it.

Floyd Mayweather!!!! No vacant titles.Beat a champ for every damn one of his titles When he beat Judah it was for the vacant title. Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir. So not every one. Then you've also got the catchweight for Canelo which takes something away and then Gatti had no biz being the 140 champ. Got gifted the vacant belt after Tszyu had all the belts.

thats exactly what he did. his promoter got him all hometown fights(where he was allowed to cheat) while guys like froch had to fight in 4 different countries. i can't think of a more perfect example of an entitled fighter. also who did ward beat before entering the tourny.....no one at all. he was just in there cause he was an american prospect. all the european guys were heavily proven so yes more good promoting. and blaming the refs and not ward is laughable. thats like saying lets not blame the corrupt billionaires for buying the government, lets blame the congress who does their bidding. who has the power in boxing the refs or the promoters? the refs knew who buttered their bread and they acted(or didn't act) the whole well the ref was just bad act is just that...an act. theres a reason ward never traveled. cause he understands the system that created him. he knows just what it did for him and can do for him. its a safety blanket when he needs it. did he need it vs paul smith? obv not. against kovalev? obv yes. hes not going to suddenly ditch it and fight on even terms. it would be like trump saying you know what im going to pay taxes now even though i worked my entire life not to! Ward was an underdog going into the SS. He was the token American. In hindsight yeah it was the right time and right place but it’s not like comparing a Tank Davis who is where is he is because of his promoter. Haha and yeah, I would blame congress. Of course the billionaire is going to try and f the system. Honestly I think you’re giving too much credit to Goosen. Maybe it was the perfect storm for them but I never viewed Ward as some hyped up star who got special opportunities.

Maybe I worded it wrong but the question was what fighters earned multiple titles without bs promotional teams and match making. Ward fits that title. Like I said I’m more of a hater and his dirty style is why, but I was more comparing Ward’s career to that of a Broner who had carefull match making and a bunch of advantages. With Ward you have to put a lot of blame on refs for letting him get away with it. He did what did in the ring but got the W. If this thread was about what fighters excelled because of *****ty refs I’d mention him as well. But let’s be real, Ward didn’t accomplish what he did because of some promoter who put him in the right place at the right time. thats exactly what he did. his promoter got him all hometown fights(where he was allowed to cheat) while guys like froch had to fight in 4 different countries. i can't think of a more perfect example of an entitled fighter. also who did ward beat before entering the tourny.....no one at all. he was just in there cause he was an american prospect. all the european guys were heavily proven so yes more good promoting. and blaming the refs and not ward is laughable. thats like saying lets not blame the corrupt billionaires for buying the government, lets blame the congress who does their bidding. who has the power in boxing the refs or the promoters? the refs knew who buttered their bread and they acted(or didn't act) accordingly. the whole ref was just bad act is just that...an act. theres a reason ward never traveled. cause he understands the system that created him. he knows just what it did for him and can do for him. its a safety blanket when he needs it. did he need it vs paul smith? obv not. against kovalev? obv yes. hes not going to suddenly ditch it and fight on even terms. it would be like trump or koch brothers saying you know what im going to pay taxes now even though i worked my entire life to create and maintain a system in which i dont have to!

Roman Gonzalez is another one, went out to Japan to beat Niida and Yaegashi and won the 115lb title from Cuadras

Except of course with the super six. I wont fight dirrell...i wont travel overseas...i want hometown advantage...other than that....sure. Bruh I’m a hater. This is a question of winning legit belts. Ward may have been a diva and I think his clinching and headbutts were bs, but he wasn’t winning vacant belts. I love Pacquiao but does beating Tony at 150 for the 154 strap really count? That’s what this question was about.