The ring magazine is as ******ed as the alphabet gangs

[Robbie Barrett]

He had 18 months to schedule a fight at mw...so he should be stripped in may.

Khan fight was MW.

[LoadedWraps]

It was designed so fighters didn't get stripped through politics. You know how Canelo was. Canelo is lineal champ that's just a fact you and the other cry babies are just going to have to deal with. No Freebies this time for Lil G.

[original zero]

Blah blah blah blah. So people keep saying but what rules have they changed for Canelo ******? None that's how many. Canelo is the Ring and lineal champ. It's ******s like you that want the rules changed to favour the fighter you support.

canelo has never fought at middleweight. he's actively doing everything possible to avoid fighting at middleweight.

he vacated his middleweight title, which he won at junior middleweight, to move down and fight for a junior middleweight title.

now he's a junior middleweight champion, who's never fought at middleweight, fighting at the non-existent 164 AND A HALF weight class.

end the madness, please.

[original zero]

Khan fight was MW.

incorrect. middleweight has a weight limit of 160 pounds.

khan fight was at 155, which is the weight limit for non-title fights at junior middleweight.

[Robbie Barrett]

incorrect. middleweight has a weight limit of 160 pounds.

khan fight was at 155, which is the weight limit for non-title fights at junior middleweight.

155 is technically MW, the WBC title was on the line too.

[HeroBando]

The TBRB only goes by Lineal champ as their #1 guy or "true champion", so that's why. Their patience is also wearing quite thin with Canelo's catchweight & stalling antics. Check out what Springs Toledo wrote about that one on their site's discussion forum under "Feedback" at the bottom of that page.

BoxingScene also uses the TBRB's rankings, they adopted them a while back & still recognize/mention The Ring's lineal. So, naturally they'll also have Canelo ranked as #1 at MW too because according to The Ring & the TBRB (for now) he's still the lineal champ.

ESPN usually goes by who is recognized as lineal as well, per Dan Rafael, except they do NOT recognize Canelo as the Lineal MW champ anymore. In fact, Canelo isn't even ranked in their divisional Top 10 MW rankings. Jacobs is the #2 ranked MW fighter in the world according to their updated list. Canelo is ranked #1 at Junior Middleweight there.


ESPN's Middleweight Divisional Rankings

BoxRec's computerized divisional rankings don't recognize Canelo as #1 either, they recognize GGG as #1. They have Canelo ranked #1 at Junior Middleweight also, which is where he last fought and won a major world title.

BoxRec's Middleweight Divisional Rankings

OK glad to see Canelo has been removed by ESPN, and that tbrb is considering. The scene don't go by tbrb necessarily. I think the Ring would strip him if it's not GGG or at least a legit Mw by September

[HeroBando]

I don't care about your opinion. The fact is Canelo is Lineal. Deal with it.

He's the worst lineal champ of all time, just the kind you need to strip if the belt is to be meaningful

[TBear]

If this is about ring Mag, I could tell you stories about the publication and the transformation it has undergone over the years, I subscribed for decades and have had many a phone conversation with editors since the 70's. However I realize this is about the modern magazine and what it has become. Realize that any boxing magazine has struggled with todays times, the internet is killing printed publications. The Ring has found backing and stayed afloat thus far often by supporting this backing. Many magazines have found the graveyard in the last decade.
is the Ring the unbiased source they once where, no, That is why we are on Boxingscene instead right now.

[original zero]

155 is technically MW, the WBC title was on the line too.

155 is technically junior middleweight if there's not a junior middleweight title at stake (one pound allowance for all non-title fights, a lot of fans don't realize that).

the WBC title was on the line for a contracted weight of 160 pounds. just because canelo used a loophole to have the title on the line doesn't mean it was a middleweight fight.

as for canelo's claim to being lineal to begin with, that is spurious at best. he beat a guy that weighed in at 153 pounds in a bout with a contracted weight of 155 pounds. the junior middleweight championship limit is 154 and the non-title junior middleweight limit is 154.

how the hell are a 153 pound fighter and 155 pound fighter, with a 155 pound weight limit, fighting for the 160 pound world championship?

it doesn't make any sense.

the lineal title doesn't exist. it's a mythical title. there are no official rules. it's whatever you can convince the public of. and when you buy "the bible of boxing" and the average fan doesn't realize you own it, it makes it very easy to convince the public of illogical things.

[Pugilisticuffs]

ESPN and Boxrec never name Lineal champs. Boxrec has Canelo P4P #1 too. Nice try.

Wrong again. I quoted Rafael on that and can give you examples of past lineal champs being ranked #1. Canelo is NOT ranked at Middleweight in ESPN's latest Top 10 rankings and won't be when they roll out tomorrow again either. Nice try.

BoxRec's P4P rankings are a joke and always have been, but, their divisional rankings are not. The IBO exclusively uses their computerized divisional rankings for their own contenders.

Recap: ESPN has Canelo unranked at Middleweight and ranked at Junior Middleweight instead. BoxRec also has Canelo unranked at Middleweight and ranked at Junior Middleweight instead.

This is what Canelo gets for trying to game the system, play catchweight games, duck and division hop. He isn't the consensus champ (as in the majority of people believe he's the real champ), Golovkin is, and he has 4 world titles, 3 major and 1 minor (IBO) to prove it. Golovkin is only a few title defenses shy of tying B-Hop's Middleweight defense record.

But, but... Canelo's da real champ! LOL. He's another Adonis Stevenson lineal champ but without an actual major world title. At least Adonis was The Ring's lineal & had the WBC strap. Canelo doesn't.