The greatest title in the whole world???

[ShoulderRoll]

The alphabet groups are never going to voluntarily shut themselves down so that there can only be one governing body.

There's too much money to be made in sanctioning fees.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

I think it was Tarver and Glen Johnson who said "Screw the sanctioning bodies. we're going to fight anyway."

[- Ram Raid -]

In terms of prestige amongst the fans the governing bodies have diluted themselves into near irrelevance.

Would it effect Floyd Mayweather's standing if he was stripped of/or vacated his titles tomorrow?

I've started to see titles mainly as a means of exposure for lesser known boxers. For established fighters; who they've fought; how they've fought; and who they've beaten is of far more significance than whether a de-valued belt is holding up their pants.

[Ham Porter]

This is why Tyson deserves such credit. He gave the division a level of stability that it hadn't enjoyed for over a decade. Before he even dealt with Spinks, he made the point of beating all the other ABC titlists and establishing himself as the clear and number one threat to the "true champion."

[Spray_resistant]

A couple years ago at one point Gamboa won a vacant interim 126lb WBA title while I think Jonathan Barros had the regular WBA title all while Chris John was the WBA super champion then for whatever reason Gamboa got bumped up to regular champion and unified beating Salido which then bumped him up to WBA super champion along with Chris John.

[Bigg Rigg]

The WBA Belt is my favorite. The classic black leather strap is a thing of beauty.

[MRCHOKEaMF]

A couple years ago at one point Gamboa won a vacant interim 126lb WBA title while I think Jonathan Barros had the regular WBA title all while Chris John was the WBA super champion then for whatever reason Gamboa got bumped up to regular champion and unified beating Salido which then bumped him up to WBA super champion along with Chris John.

Its the one thing that the ufc has over Boxing, you have no doubt as to who is the champ. Because when they have an interim Champ its because the Real Champ is injured. And the interim and the real Champ fights when the real champ is healed.

[Enzo Mc is SHIT]

I think the sanctioning bodies should have a duty to encourage unification. That's the best we can hope for in this day and age, short of them all going bust.

Interim and "regular" titles really need to go. How can the WBA alone have two heavyweight "champions" at a time? It's bizarre.

[soul_survivor]

Great list by the thread starter, reading it I realised just how many champions I have seen and how many I've met and interviewed....makes me feel old.

In all seriousness, the heavyweight lineage was all but diluted since Ali's retirement, but the best heavyweight in the division has often been easily distinguished, Holmes was the greatest heavyweight on the planet in the early to mid 80s with Tyson doing the job in the dying years of the decade. In the 90s it was Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis, with Lewis eventually gaining the upperhand at the end of the decade and the start of the new millennium.

Since then, for the last 6-7 years, the Klitschko's have reigned supreme, so yes, the situation is more fractured than pre-Spinks but every generation has had it's defining heavyweight CHAMPION, the TITLISTS do not matter.

Just the way I see things anyway.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

The fact that I've met 33 heavyweight champions in my day is cool and all but...there shouldn't even be that many available for me to meet!!!!!

Boxing politics (i.e. the WBC) have created the situation we are in today and it is a huge mess that our game will NEVER get out of.

FLASHBACK: In 1978 Muhammad Ali lost the world heavyweight title to Leon Spinks. Rather than face Ken Norton in his first title defense Spinks opted to defend against Ali. The WBC then stripped Ali of the title and AWARDED IT to Ken Norton, who then turned around and lost it to Larry Holmes, setting in motion the situation that we have today in regards to the heavyweight division.

The result, in my opinion, has completely diluted the world heavyweight title, once known as the greatest single title in all of sports, maybe second only to the President of the United States of America.

(The following two lists do not include James Toney, who was stripped of the WBA title after beating Ruiz. It also doesn't include the multiple reigns of repeat champions (Tyson, Moorer, Bowe, etc) because it's just too diluted and confusing. In the first 93 years of heavyweight champions only two men (Patterson and Ali) regained the heavyweight title. Just since 1978, though, (I can't keep track 100 percent without looking it up), there have been at least nine men who have regained a portion of the heavyweight crown.)

From the beginning of professional boxing up until the WBC decided to strip Spinks for giving Ali his rightful return match, there were 28 recognized WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPS from 1885-1978 (that's 93 years and includes bare knuckle champs): Sullivan, Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, Hart, Burns, Johnson, Willard, Dempsey, Tunney, Schmeling, Sharkey, Carnera, Baer, Braddock, Louis, Charles, Walcott, Marciano, Patterson, Johanssen, Liston, Terrel, Ali, Ellis, Frazier, Foreman, Spinks...

...as compared to 46 WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPS from 1978-2013 (only 35 years!!): Norton, Holmes, Tate, Weaver, Dokes, Coetzee, Witherspoon, Thomas, Page, Tubbs, Spinks, Berbick, Tyson, Smith, Tucker, Damiani, Douglas, Holyfield, Mercer, Moorer, Bowe, Lewis, Morrison, Bent, Hide, McCall, Seldon, Akinwande, Bruno, Vitaliy, Wladimir, Byrd, Ruiz, Rahman, Jones Jr., Sanders, Brewster, Valuev, Liakovich, Ibragimov, Peter, Maskaev, Chagaev, Briggs, Haye, Povetkin.

In other words, there have been 18 more world heavyweight champions in the last 35 years than there were in the previous 93! And this doesn't even include all the times the title has changed hands since Holmes won his in 1978 (Holyfield won and lost it how many times?)

Great post,,,

That is why i chuckle when people say floyd, manny, roy, etc have fought all these champions,,,,
Back in the day guys like ortiz, ghost, canelo, diaz, del valle, etc would not have been champions...

Its so laughable when posters say a certain star is the best, he fought 19 or whatever champs,,, So ******, but thats what you get in NSB,, guys who try and talk like experts but wasnt even watching boxing when manny beat MAB or floyd beat genaro, yet they claim that these guys are the greatest ever having defeated all these "champions" in recent years,, and no disrespect to genaro and mab,, those guys were true champions,,,,