7 Brits in a row for Usyk.

[billeau2]

All the great American heavyweights are in the NFL and the NBA. That's the reality of the situation. All of our best athletes are funneled into the most popular sports. Even Wilder ended up in boxing because he didn't have the grades for a college football or basketball career.

There is indeed a lot more opportunities for great athletes.

[Dolor]

2X undisputed is pretty meaningless when he never actually lost any of the belts in the ring. [...] It's still the same title reign.

It that so? Has this ever happened / was this ever the case?

[famicommander]

There is indeed a lot more opportunities for great athletes.

Not just great athletes, but those two leagues specifically are looking for great athletes over 200 pounds. You can be 165 pounds and excel in soccer or baseball or even hockey, but the vast majority of the talent in the NFL and NBA are well over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. So they impact the heavyweight division more intensely than they do the middle range weights (126-168) where Americans still make up the majority of belt holders and independent top 10 rankings.

[famicommander]

It that so? Has this ever happened / was this ever the case?

It's happening this weekend with Canelo and Scull. But usually when a fighter gets stripped he doesn't bother going back to collect the missing belt.

But when someone unifies, we still consider that a single title reign.

When Ennis beat Stanionis, we didn't say he became a 2X welterweight champion. He became a unified champion. One title reign, uninterrupted.

[Toffee]

Not just great athletes, but those two leagues specifically are looking for great athletes over 200 pounds. You can be 165 pounds and excel in soccer or baseball or even hockey, but the vast majority of the talent in the NFL and NBA are well over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. So they impact the heavyweight division more intensely than they do the middle range weights (126-168) where Americans still make up the majority of belt holders and independent top 10 rankings.

Struggling to believe that. They might have the most, but surely they don't make up the majority?

[famicommander]

Struggling to believe that. They might have the most, but surely they don't make up the majority?

126 belt holders: Leo (USA), Fulton (USA), Ball (UK), Espinoza (Mexico)
130 belt holders: Roach (USA), Foster (USA), Navarrete (Mexico)
135 belt holders: Davis (USA), Davis (USA), Stevenson (USA), Lomachenko (Ukraine)
140 belt holders: Russell (USA), Puello (Dominican Republic), Hitchins (USA), Lopez (USA)
147 belt holders: Ennis (USA) x2, Norman (USA), Barrios (USA)
154 belt holders: Crawford (USA), Fundora (USA) x2, Murtazaliev (Russia)
160 belt holders: Lara (USA/Cuba), Adames (Dominican Republic), Janibek (Kazakhstan) x2
168 belt holders: Canelo (Mexico) x3, Scull (Germany/Cuba)

Totals
USA: 18 including Lara, 17 if you count Lara as Cuban
Mexico: 5
Dominican Republic: 2
Kazakhstan: 2
UK: 1
Ukraine: 1
Germany: 1 including Scull, 0 if you count Scull as Cuban

The TBRB rankings aren't quite as far tilted towards the US, but pretty close.

[Dolor]

When Ennis beat Stanionis, we didn't say he became a 2X welterweight champion. He became a unified champion. One title reign, uninterrupted.

I see your point, but the difference is that he only became unified champion through that last fight - he unified once, didn't he. Undisputed should be different anyhow, given that there are multiple ways to become unified champion (different combinations of trinkets, without necessarily being THE champion), but only one way to become undisputed. Usyk obviously thinks that's reason enough.

[Smash]

Not just great athletes, but those two leagues specifically are looking for great athletes over 200 pounds. You can be 165 pounds and excel in soccer or baseball or even hockey, but the vast majority of the talent in the NFL and NBA are well over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. So they impact the heavyweight division more intensely than they do the middle range weights (126-168) where Americans still make up the majority of belt holders and independent top 10 rankings.

you could argue then that the most popular sport in the world, football, takes away the majority of the lower weight guys, 150 to 200 pound guys

[famicommander]

you could argue then that the most popular sport in the world, football, takes away the majority of the lower weight guys, 150 to 200 pound guys

I'm sure that's the case, but soccer is popular globally while American football is only popular in North America. Basketball is becoming a global game, but it's still extremely lopsided towards Americans at this point in time. So the NFL and the NBA have an outsized effect on American heavyweight boxing as compared to the effect of other sports on other specific countries.