Title defenses..should only lineal defenses matter?

[Larry the boss]

Back in the day Lineal titles are the only thing that mattered and those fighters defended the LINEAL title....The more ABC titles came about and they started counted ABC title defenses....Now you have"REGULAR" and "SUPER" titles and they even count the "REGULAR" titles defenses now...

So are title defenses watered down now?? how can Hopkins hold the record for title defenses?? Monzon defended the "LINEAL" title 14 times, while Hopkins did not become lineal until he beat Ttio which would give him 6 actual defenses of the lineal title

Calzaghe is credited for 21 defenses when he only became lineal when he beat Lacy which would give him 3 defenses.

So is boxing just getting more and more watered down as the years go on?

[Fists_of_Fury]

Yes it is becoming watered down severely. Some of the ****s in NSB will still brag about regular gifted paper title defenses though. Hell they brag about KO% when the guys being KO'd are mostly bums and no hopers. I mean people brag about multi division champs like Broner who's never been lineal.

[Robbie Barrett]

Title defences mean little. They are brought up when the fighter lacks quality names on his resume.

[Eff Pandas]

No titles mean THAT much today. Alphabet or lineal or unified or whatever other title you can name thats either physical or mythical. Titles are less valuable today then they have ever been & they are still devaluing as we speak.

So you can count whatever you wanna count as a personal preference or as a boxing nerd, but it isn't gonna matter to enough people who watch boxing cuz every title is devalued.

[-PBP-]

Just can't compare across eras. It's a different sport than it was in the 60s and 70s.

[AD86]

In a lot of cases the lineal champion isnt the best champion Canelo being the middleweight champ for instance

[Eff Pandas]

In a lot of cases the lineal champion isnt the best champion Canelo being the middleweight champ for instance

Great point.

I actually considered Cotto & Stevenson as the best 160 & 175 guys at one point, but despite thos guys winning fights & defending their "lineal belt" I felt like GGG & Kovalev stole their spots eventually via the former best guys just cuz they weren't doing enough to maintain their position. Cuz as George Foreman proved you can supremely f#ck over the lineal title with your opponent choices to devalue what the lineal title means.

In this era of money over legacy I think these sorta realities are becoming more in play as I'd never drop the man who beat the man who beat the man out of his top spot in the past, but now with how boxing works I think its a what have you done for me lately era with who's the best guy.

[Dean_Razorback]

i think to be a champion back in the day meant a lot more given the fact that in those time there were only 2 sanctioning bodies. if you take in consideration the "super" titles you can have like 6 guys calling themselves champions at the same weight class

[AD86]

Great point.

I actually considered Cotto & Stevenson as the best 160 & 175 guys at one point, but despite thos guys winning fights & defending their "lineal belt" I felt like GGG & Kovalev stole their spots eventually via the former best guys just cuz they weren't doing enough to maintain their position. Cuz as George Foreman proved you can supremely f#ck over the lineal title with your opponent choices to devalue what the lineal title means.

In this era of money over legacy I think these sorta realities are becoming more in play as I'd never drop the man who beat the man who beat the man out of his top spot in the past, but now with how boxing works I think its a what have you done for me lately era with who's the best guy.

Agree in full due to matchmaking, promotional issues and tv influence in some cases the only way to separate who is the best in any division is by a whos recent wins look best and unfortunately this could be the case for the foreseeable future.

[IronDanHamza]

Title defenses in general mean little.

You just noted that Calzaghe has 21 Title defenses yet only 2 of them were ranked in the Top 5 so who really cares?