Johnson Vs Chavez the tragedy that could have been prevented

[LeeMc]

Should the alphabet bodies be more accountable for their ratings systems?

A quick look on the WBF ratings shows that Wlad Klitschko is ranked number 1 challenger to the current champion Albert Sosnowski of Poland. Now, thankfully, Klitschko will never ever sink low enough to fight Sosnowski. Regardless of Klitschko's pride the television companies will never allow the fight to materialise.


Likewise Don Sultan and John Cotterill Jr will not be forced to defend their WBF "world" titles against the respective number 1 challengers, Floyd Mayweather Junior and Miguel Cotto. (I haven't go the guts to boldly predict that Joe Calzaghe will never fight Jamie Pittman)

So thankfully none of the WBF chamions will be forced to risk their lives against much better fighters.

However the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO rating systems do need to be checked. Joe Calzaghe has been allowed to fight some very unworthy challengers in his 9 year reign as WBO champion. How lucky is the sport of boxing that no one has been very seriously hurt?

The sooner all alphabet bodies are confined to history the better. The Ring magazine title is the only way forward and I hope that everyone concerned realises that soon. The Ring could approve fights according to it's own ratings so we know there will be no serious mismatches.

[Super_Lightweight]

I don't think it was that big of a mismatch on paper. Sometimes these tragedies happen. Chavez was moving up in weight so that also was supposedly a little advantage for Levander. I retrospect, it's easy to say it's a mismatch but I don't think it was seen as a big mismatch before the fight took place.

The question is, who gets to decide what fighters fight? If anyone gets to decide, it should be Ring Magazine. They would make the best matchups. But that would piss off all the boxing czars who love their power (Don King, Arum, etc.) and also take power away from the fighters.

This is hard to solve.

[Easy-E]

I don't think it was that big of a mismatch on paper. Sometimes these tragedies happen. Chavez was moving up in weight so that also was supposedly a little advantage for Levander. I retrospect, it's easy to say it's a mismatch but I don't think it was seen as a big mismatch before the fight took place.

The question is, who gets to decide what fighters fight? If anyone gets to decide, it should be Ring Magazine. They would make the best matchups. But that would piss off all the boxing czars who love their power (Don King, Arum, etc.) and also take power away from the fighters.

This is hard to solve.

I agree.
And its not like a bogus challenger got a shot at the title and got seriously hurt or killed. That would be a problem. What happend was the champion lost to the challenger. Johnson was an accomplished fighter who knew boxing and the risks getting into the ring, but that being said, its nontheless very unfortunate what happened.

[LeeMc]

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The question is, who gets to decide what fighters fight? If anyone gets to decide, it should be Ring Magazine. They would make the best matchups. But that would piss off all the boxing czars who love their power (Don King, Arum, etc.) and also take power away from the fighters.

I disagree that the fighters lose power. Arum and King will not be promoting shows in 10 -15 years time. By that stage Golden Boy promotions will be the main promotors and others will be following their example. Golden Boy Promotion's transparacy/fighter power is the future and that future belongs to the fighters.

[Super_Lightweight]

Fighters would lose power in the sense that they can't take too easy of a fight. Many fighters try to get by facing opposition that they know they will beat. Not everyone takes the Pacquiao route. For these men, it will be an annoyance to have to fight top fighters all the time.