Ww have only 3 legit contenders at hw now

[Willow The Wisp]

Torrez against Italian dude will be interesting.

I agree. A good step up for Torrez, now the USA's top young hopeful. Guido Vianello is a sound heavyweight who I felt had done enough to outpoint Ajagba, and he stopped the recently fearsome Makhmudov. Both men slip into my personal top 20, and an emphatic win by either works the winner up towards real contendership.

[Marchegiano]

The word "champion" precludes the possibility of there being more than one. Period.

There is one champion in any division. The belts are trinkets.

A representative, advocate, or defender.​

She is a champion for women's rights. Makes absolute perfect sense and you do not expect any singular champion.

The noble man elected his valet to duel as his champion. Makes perfect sense and you no not expect there to be only one.

I mean ... if you're going to play semantics ... it is there.

That said, we all know exactly what you mean.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

You ARE saying you agree with it, though. You're engaged in a multi-day discussion justifying it even though you know beyond any doubt it's not the truth.

The WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO don't award world championships. They award titles that signify a fighter has completed whatever arbitrary steps they decided to put forth to get their own belts.

A world championship can only be won by beating the best or, if vacant, by winning a fight between the top two guys. There is no other way. John Ruiz is a 2X heavyweight titlist but he never won a championship. Anthony Joshua was never a champion, he was a unified titlist. Deontay Wilder was never a champion. Andy Ruiz, Charles Martin, Siarhei Liakhovich... titlists, not champions. Usyk is the champion. Fury was the previous champion. Klitschko before him, and Lewis before him. Everyone else who walked around with a world title belt in that timespan was nothing more than a contender with a toy.

I agree with your sentiments but factually Dubois is a HW champion. He can’t be ranked by any of the other bodies, he can’t fight Usyk as a contender only as a champion in a unification.

[famicommander]

I agree with your sentiments but factually Dubois is a HW champion. He can’t be ranked by any of the other bodies, he can’t fight Usyk as a contender only as a champion in a unification.

The sanctioning bodies have jack **** to do with who is a champion. Completely unrelated concepts. They don't even pretend they're ranking the entire division from best to worst, they are up front about the fact that they are ranking who has jumped through their arbitrary hoops the best (and/or whose promoter has the most pull).

You cannot tell me someone became champion by winning a belt stripped from the actual champion when the fight was between a guy he knocked out with a jab and a guy he beat twice by 12 round decision. That's the most ridiculous nonsense I've ever heard.

What happened is the IBF decided to remove their world title from the champion and give it to someone entirely undeserving. It doesn't change a thing about who the champion is because the IBF strap had nothing to do with Usyk's becoming champion in the first place.

[Willow The Wisp]

I agree with your sentiments but factually Dubois is a HW champion. He can’t be ranked by any of the other bodies, he can’t fight Usyk as a contender only as a champion in a unification.

Such is the way of things.

[billeau2]

Bakole is still a contender. You really shouldn't consider what happened yesterday a legitimate test of his ability.

Amen! Bakole was not only incredibly heavy and out of shape but his legs are so thin compared to his upper body. He lost equilibrium on that shot to the head and did not have the hours in to right himself. Career suicide...

[famicommander]

Amen! Bakole was not only incredibly heavy and out of shape but his legs are so thin compared to his upper body. He lost equilibrium on that shot to the head and did not have the hours in to right himself. Career suicide...

Who was Bakole's best win? He got knocked out by Hunter and he got knocked out by Parker. We're supposed to be impressed by wins over Jared Anderson, Kevin Johnson, and the ghost of Carlos Takam? Tony Yoka? Come on, man.

[PRvazquez]

Who was Bakole's best win? He got knocked out by Hunter and he got knocked out by Parker. We're supposed to be impressed by wins over Jared Anderson, Kevin Johnson, and the ghost of Carlos Takam? Tony Yoka? Come on, man.

Thank you for making sense of this madness. I totally agree

[billeau2]

Who was Bakole's best win? He got knocked out by Hunter and he got knocked out by Parker. We're supposed to be impressed by wins over Jared Anderson, Kevin Johnson, and the ghost of Carlos Takam? Tony Yoka? Come on, man.

He looked a lot better, a lot more savy against Jared Anderson. Learned from the hunter loss, cut the ring down, developed his jab, etc. Nobody except the top of the division is fighting anyone with any real clout because the division is weak. And Bakole was not in shape to fight anyone when he fought Parker.

A guy's best win in A WAY to judge, not the only way.

[billeau2]

Thank you for making sense of this madness. I totally agree

Ohh really Is Bakole a top contender? No... Who has any prospect coming up, fought at the top? What you and Faircommander are saying is: if a guy losses a fight he is exposed... I do not agree. If you watch Bakole what he does in the ring, from Hunter to Anderson he developed significantly more skills. As opposed to Wardley, who was IMO incredible, moved well, used distance well, and now is just another whale with a punch... BUT hey he won his last fight right?

Bakole was in no shape to fight anyone when he fought Parker... He probaby would have lost to many not at Parker's skill level. And I guarantee you that if Moses Ituama, or Torres, GOD FORBID! lose a fight, the same peanut gallery will declare them purely a hype job. Guess what? bakole can stand to learn a bit more in the ring, like the importance of coming in prepared... and many of the talented young lions also have to learn a bit... Losing a fight does not make them rubble...