Biggest Current Paper Champions

[original zero]

Its hard to look beyond Wilder to be honest...dude takes bigger risks crossing the street than fighting a live dog.

You're an idiot. He clearly has the best win of any current heavyweight champ.

And he went to Russia to face the #1 TBRB in the world. To say he doesn't take risks is ridiculous. Not his fault his opponent cheated.

[Rip Chudd]

Diego Chaves was interim champion and Thurman knocked him out to win the title. He successfully defended the interim title three times and was then elevated to world champion.

He then successfully defended the world title against Guerrero, Collazo and Thurman. He was recently elevated to super champion.

Unfair to criticize him for following the rules of the WBA.

It wasn't a knock on Keith, it's just that he was elevated to champ. He didn't fight a champion to get the belt. I see the same thing said about GGG but it seems as if people don't mention Keith when that criticism it heaped on other fighters.

Also, an interim title isn't a real championship. Unless you're Robert Guerrero apparently

[original zero]

It wasn't a knock on Keith, it's just that he was elevated to champ. He didn't fight a champion to get the belt. I see the same thing said about GGG but it seems as if people don't mention Keith when that criticism it heaped on other fighters. Also, an interim title isn't a real championship. Unless you're Robert Guerrero apparently

He did fight a champion to get the belt. He knocked out the interim champion. That's how he won his belt. When you're elevated to world champion, you essentially won a fight for the vacant title before it officially became vacant.

I have no problem with not recognizing an interim title as a real world title, but once you're elevated, what is there to complain about? Cotto & Canelo were never going to fight GGG. So GGG knocked out the interim champion, which fills the vacancy when it later occurs.

It's not like GGG is ducking anybody. He can't force people to fight him. The big names are leaving the division to avoid him.

[keith_head]

No, not probably. He was TBRB #3 in the world when they fought. If we're ignoring the sanctioning bodies, TBRB is the most logical ranking to look at.




Takam was #8 when Parker fought him. #8 is not on par with #3. False equivalency.

And Klitschko has been out of the ring for so long that he's not even ranked at all. But either way, as things stand right now, Wilder has the best win of any current heavyweight champion, yet the members of this site have been brainwashed by the HBO propaganda machine into believing that Wilder hasn't fought anybody.




More double standard. Joshua's voluntaries have been against Breazeale and Molina. Wilder had already successfully defended against Molina before Joshua faced him.

No matter how you slice it, Wilder has the best resume of the 3 heavyweight champions. He's been champion the longest. And his title has the longest unbroken lineage.

But because he's with Haymon, he is trashed here day in and day out.

Dude, I'm agreeing with you that he has the best resume of the current champs.

But there's enough room to agree on that part and to still be frustrated with Wilder. Hell, I'm definitely just as frustrated with Joshua, if not more so. I think Joshua's managers have clearly served him up bums on a platter.

WBC should have made one of the guys in the top 10 a mandatory for this fight though. It's insane that Wilder has gone this long without taking a mandatory. The Povetkin issue is only half of an excuse - it should've gone to someone good straight after that fell through. NOT Chris Arreola.

There are guys in the WBC rankings Wilder should be fighting. Takam, Ruiz, Kubrat Pulev, Ortiz (if he is indeed CBP enrolled), etc. One of these guys should be a mandatory.

I agree that it's not Wilder's fault that the WBC haven't enforced a mandatory but it doesn't change the actual result which is that he hasn't fought anyone good since Stiverne.

[HeroBando]

Wilder always gets flack over his level of compettion but at least he fought a top ten heavyweight for that title


as long as they're fighting for the belts, whether vacant or not....its fine by me....at least they fought for it


the biggest paper champion in boxing today is Gennady " TRIPLE G" Golovkin

He is hyped as the " unified middleweight champion of the world"

yet he only won one title in the ring, Vs David Lemieux and the WBC and wba WERE gift wrapped and he didn't even fight for them


kinda lame, and just another way to add accolades with actually earning the hype in the ring.

The champs forfeited 2x, remember dummy?

[285Kid]

Stevenson only fought once in 2016 to avoid vada testing , taking he's time to clean he's body

[original zero]

Dude, I'm agreeing with you that he has the best resume of the current champs.

But there's enough room to agree on that part and to still be frustrated with Wilder. Hell, I'm definitely just as frustrated with Joshua, if not more so. I think Joshua's managers have clearly served him up bums on a platter.

I just don't see how you can be frustrated with Wilder when he moved himself up the rankings, got his mandatory position and then completely dominated the champion. Made a couple routine defenses, including against a guy who just spent six months in the TBRB top ten last year. Then flew to Moscow to face the current TBRB #1.

And if you agree that Wilder has the best resume, then you should also agree that the anti-Wilder propaganda on this site is completely ridiculous.

WBC should have made one of the guys in the top 10 a mandatory for this fight though. It's insane that Wilder has gone this long without taking a mandatory. The Povetkin issue is only half of an excuse - it should've gone to someone good straight after that fell through. NOT Chris Arreola.

That's not how boxing works and the WBC would have been sued. Povetkin still had rights. Wilder still had rights. Now Stiverne has rights. You can't just start mandating random guys all willy nilly.

You're also ignoring the fact that not only did Povetkin fail the test, but he also blatantly ducked the fight and caused numerous delays before failing the test. So that's a big reason why Wilder hasn't made a mandatory defense. On multiple occasions, he tried to get Povetkin in the ring and Povetkin said he wasn't ready yet. Povetkin defied the WBC order and took a tune up instead of negotiating the fight as mandated.

None of that is Wilder's fault. Now Wilder is trying to get the WBO champion to unify ASAP so he and Joshua can unify all four titles next year.

I understand the frustration, but Wilder is not to blame.

[keith_head]

I just don't see how you can be frustrated with Wilder when he moved himself up the rankings, got his mandatory position and then completely dominated the champion. Made a couple routine defenses, including against a guy who just spent six months in the TBRB top ten last year. Then flew to Moscow to face the current TBRB #1.

And if you agree that Wilder has the best resume, then you should also agree that the anti-Wilder propaganda on this site is completely ridiculous.

That's not how boxing works and the WBC would have been sued. Povetkin still had rights. Wilder still had rights. Now Stiverne has rights. You can't just start mandating random guys all willy nilly.

You're also ignoring the fact that not only did Povetkin fail the test, but he also blatantly ducked the fight and caused numerous delays before failing the test. So that's a big reason why Wilder hasn't made a mandatory defense. On multiple occasions, he tried to get Povetkin in the ring and Povetkin said he wasn't ready yet. Povetkin defied the WBC order and took a tune up instead of negotiating the fight as mandated.

None of that is Wilder's fault. Now Wilder is trying to get the WBO champion to unify ASAP so he and Joshua can unify all four titles next year.

I understand the frustration, but Wilder is not to blame.

I think we're in agreement on most of this, and I definitely don't understand a lot of the anti-Wilder rhetoric from this site and beyond. It is all a bit bizarre for the American heavyweight champion, a guy who gets knockout after knockout, is so routinely panned. It's also weird that he gets criticised for his strong (and IMO admirable) stance on PEDs. Honestly, I like the guy.

The thing is, while it's not Wilder's fault, he still hasn't fought any decent fighter but Stiverne (and Duhaupas to an extent). Gerald Washington is a step up from his recent previous fights. That's terrible.

[original zero]

The thing is, while it's not Wilder's fault, he still hasn't fought any decent fighter but Stiverne (and Duhaupas to an extent). Gerald Washington is a step up from his recent previous fights. That's terrible.

But the dude has only been champ 2 years. 2 years, which includes injuries and the Povetkin nonsense.

So for that 2 years to include 2 decent fighters, considering the injuries and the Pokvetkin mess, I really just don't see the problem.

If he ducks his mandatory or ducks unification, I will be the first one to criticize him. But right now, I applaud him staying active and knocking out guys from the WBC's top 15. If we as fans stopped letting guys hide behind WBOgus titles, the top 15 would have a lot more talent in it.

But despite Wilder (and Joshua) getting a few soft touches, I genuinely believe both want unification and that if they keep winning, they will fight each other. So fans just need to sit back and enjoy.

And may the best man win.

[BitPlayer]

Joshua, beat a terrible champion in Martin who was given a belt after beating a terrible challenger via knee injury, and his two defences have been against Molina and Brealeaze, neither of which should b fighting for a world title. His best win was an self trained and injured Whyte