Who started this? - Pad ur record, win a belt, defend against bums

[j0zef]

Officially.. decades. But if you want to be technical, Roman gladiators probably factored in it somewhere :-)

[elfag]

With the WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO champions in each weight class you have 4 chances of a weak champion. When they are building up a Broner or a Wilder they aim for the weakest belt holder. Even better is to have the guy they are building up fight a weak opponent for a vacant belt. Broner just beat a very weak opponent for a vacant belt. Is Broner as good as Postol or Crawford? I doubt it.

broner has actually taken on good competition and has the losses to show for it

[Weebler I]

Promoters and advisors, coupled with the type of fighters who see themselves as businessmen and not sportsmen.

[AddiX]

Its nothing new, the difference is the boxing world media & fans never propped up these kinds of fighters as if they were anything special, just because they had a belt a really good record.

And quite frankly the whole thing is overrated now also IMO, Danny Jacobs and Peter Quillin are the perfect example of that.

They have belts, they have wins, but no matter how hard they try, they aren't anything close to stars, and no one is taking seriously that there fight is some kind of big fight.

You want to be a real star you need to fight real opponents.

And that's why Haymon hasn't built any real stars yet.

[SplitSecond]

Seems like the Haymon path, win a belt then disappear into obscurity fighting bums for millions.

[Box-Office]

becoming a trend?

is breathing air and drinking water becoming a trend as well?

this is how it's always been bruh . . .

Too main stream

[Eff Pandas]

This is becoming a trend lol. Where the f#ck you been at.

This has been going on forever probably. Certainly for as long as I've been watching boxing.

I'd even suggest there have been several periods through out boxing history when a nice way to make a buck was find a decent to solid 200+lb guy with lil to no boxing experience & throw him in with 20 or 30 mailmen, pizza delivery boys, cab drivers or otherwise unemployable fat guys & than cash out for 6 digits or 7 if you're lucky. Hell maybe "several periods through out boxing history" is too carefully worded...this has probably been going on from day 1.