Ryota Murata vs Hassan N'Dam "title fight"??

[GreenMan93]

The WBA did say that they were eliminating their regular and interim belts from all divisions which is why they were so eager to make the GGG-Jacobs fight, or so they claimed. So even though the regular title got eliminated after that fight, the WBA still had an interim title which N'dam won off Blanco at the end of last year. Now it seems that interim title will become a regular title, which will become a super title once the winner of Murata-N'dam fights the real WBA champion.

It would have been easier had they made Jacobs face N'dam, then have the winner face GGG but the WBA chose not to do this so it is really confusing. Hopefully this is the last time we will see the WBA regualr title.

Probably because there is more sanctioning money in the two GGG fights.

N oh I see now. Thanks for the answer. Instead of eliminating the other belts outright, they are ordering mandatory "unifications" of their belts to cash in on the sanctioning fees for all the fights. You add up all the "unifications" in each division and that come out to A LOT of money. After thats all that matters tho them... MONEY.

[GreenMan93]

That's how it was in the old days. First the WBA was established then the WBC, this was in the 60's and it remained that way for a while. Then in the early 80's the IBF came into the picture. Then around the mid 2000's the WBO became one of the major sanctioning bodies officially.

Now these organizations want to make up all kinds of belts, super, regular, interim, etc...SMH it never stops.

God forbid the IBO from becoming an official sanctioning body. That's the last thing we need. Sheesh

Yea I know thats when it was better off. Reason why I think we should have at least two belts instead of one is because I like the idea of unification fights.

People say the WBO was the equivalent of the IBO today. One more question lol. What made people start recognizing/respecting the WBO as a major world title. And the IBF too while we're at it. Was is just because big names were fighting for them and wining them? If thats the only reason than I can see the IBO being recognized as a major world title in a few years. Chris Eubank Jr. was pushing HARD trying to get people to believe that his last fight was a world title fight and that he is now a world champion lol. But wasn't that the case when somebody won the WBO back when they first came on the scene? Now the WBO is pretty respected and recognized.

[The Time]

Yea I know thats when it was better off. Reason why I think we should have at least two belts instead of one is because I like the idea of unification fights.

People say the WBO was the equivalent of the IBO today. One more question lol. What made people start recognizing/respecting the WBO as a major world title. And the IBF too while we're at it. Was is just because big names were fighting for them and wining them? If thats the only reason than I can see the IBO being recognized as a major world title in a few years. Chris Eubank Jr. was pushing HARD trying to get people to believe that his last fight was a world title fight and that he is now a world champion lol. But wasn't that the case when somebody won the WBO back when they first came on the scene? Now the WBO is pretty respected and recognized.

Yeah, the IBF used to be the USBA a regional body. (They still have USBA it's under the IBF as their regional body) They used to support the WBA and were close to the WBA. The president from USBA Lee tried to become president of the WBA but lost in election to Mendoza who became the WBA president. So Lee decided to make a new world organization. They based it in New Jersey and called it USBA International, but very quickly changed the name to the IBF. In 1983 the IBF was mainly ignored. But by 1984 when name fighters were fighting for their titles they were taken more seriously. Larry Holmes dropped his WBC Title for the IBF Title that's when they really became recognized.

The WBO actually came from people within the WBA. They didn't agree with certain rules and things and decided to leave the WBA and create the WBO in 1988 in Puerto Rico. It took a long time for the WBO to be recognized.

The WBO was more accepted first in Europe than the U.S.

And I clearly remember when guys had the WBO belt and me thinking what a fake piece of crap title compared to the WBC, WBA and IBF.

Eventually they had guys like Naseem Hamed and Wladimir Klitschko as their champions.

And in fights WBO Champions fared well against WBA, WBC and IBF Champions.

Eventually by around the mid 2000's the WBO was finally recognized as an official world sanctioning body.

For me 4 is enough really. Lol. It's the maximum amount we need and it's a good amount too. Because if the 4 champs fight each other, it's even numbers. Then you would only have two left to fight each other.

If the IBO became a sanctioning body, jeez... you want to talk about throwing things off.

But hopefully it just stays as 4.

Another piece of info about the belts:

WBA belt is the Panamanian belt as they are based in Panama

WBC is the Mexican belt as they are based in Mexico

IBF is the U.S.A. belt as they are based in New Jersey

WBO is the Puerto Rican belt as they are based in Puerto Rico

[michaelhatwell]

I wish both these fighters good luck in their upcoming bout!

[GMAN SUPREME]

I wish both these fighters good luck in their upcoming bout!

hey you! what time is the fight happening.

[original zero]

Oh did they say that. Yeah, these sanctioning bodies are a joke. Say one thing do another. They have Shannon Briggs fighting Fres Oquendo for their WBA Regular belt, Lol.

They are not saying one thing and doing another. They've owed Oquendo that title shot for years stemming from a federal lawsuit. Nothing they can do about it.

[tomwalker]

Well i have heard that the current super middleweight contenders Fedor Chudinov will fight George Grovesfor for the vacant world title on 27 May at Bramall Lane in Sheffield. Lets see who will win the title, but my vote is for Fedor.

[original zero]

What made people start recognizing/respecting the WBO as a major world title.

Frank Warren in the UK jumped in bed with the WBO early on and was able to convince the TV networks over there to pretend it was a "world championship." It was largely ignored elsewhere. It was like Warren had his own personal world title. When he no longer had a monopoly on the WBO, he hopped in bed with the WBU and tried to promote WBU title fights as "world championship" matches just as he'd done with the WBO years earlier.

It took the WBO twenty years to gain acceptance and it was a gradual process during that time. Prince Naseem Hamed really helped their progress by beating all of the other featherweight champions while holding the WBO title.

Then the Klitschko brothers came along and even though nobody (outside of Europe) considered it a world heavyweight championship, there was still worldwide intrigue about these two huge brothers. Being WBO champion back then was like half way between being European champion and being World champion. It wasn't a real world title, but you were a serious contender if you had it.

A *HUGE* step forward for the WBO, especially in the US, was De La Hoya deciding to steal the WBO middleweight title before facing Hopkins. Hopkins vs De La Hoya was a massive PPV and the WBC/WBA/IBF champion facing the WBO champion for all four belts had never happened before and added an interesting wrinkle to an already mammoth fight.

Once Bernard Hopkins was WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO champion, and then lost all four titles to Jermain Taylor, it was kind of hard at that point to dispute that the WBO had largely gained acceptance as a world title. In 2007, the IBF finally caved like the WBC & WBA had already done and began recognizing the WBO. Once the WBO had full recognition from the big 3, the big 3 + 1 era was in full swing.

To this day, WBO titles are generally worth less in the marketplace than the original 3, but it's recognized as a world title nonetheless. Doesn't have the prestige of the others, but did manage to finally sneak in there as a world title.

And the IBF too while we're at it. Was is just because big names were fighting for them and wining them? If thats the only reason than I can see the IBO being recognized as a major world title in a few years.

Bob Arum sabotaged Bob Lee's attempt to become WBA president because Arum had the existing regime in his back pocket. Back then, Don King had a virtual monopoly of the WBC titles and Arum had a virtual monopoly of the WBA titles. But then Don King started gaining major stroke with the WBA as well. Sensing himself getting boxed out of the business, Arum went public about the rampant bribery and corruption in the WBA and threw all of his weight behind the IBF.

The IBF began to recognize the top American world champions of the other organizations, Larry Holmes went IBF exclusive and dumped the WBC and almost immediately, the IBF was fully recognized as a world title.

As for the WBA's bribe taker that was disowned and banished after Arum outed everybody? Well . . . that gentlemen founded the WBO.

Chris Eubank Jr. was pushing HARD trying to get people to believe that his last fight was a world title fight and that he is now a world champion lol. But wasn't that the case when somebody won the WBO back when they first came on the scene? Now the WBO is pretty respected and recognized.

Eubank is just doing with the IBO what his father did with the WBO. Hiding behind an unrecognized belt to avoid top challengers.

But the IBO lost a ton of momentum when Sky Sports put their foot down and said no more fake world titles! The IBO & WBU were being treated as world titles on UK TV, but when Sky Sports put a stop to that, the WBU largely vanished and the IBO's hopes of becoming a "world title" were severely damaged.

[asgarth]

They are not saying one thing and doing another. They've owed Oquendo that title shot for years stemming from a federal lawsuit. Nothing they can do about it.

You seem to have good knowledge about the topic. I know of ggg vs jacobs. Which other fights did they already mandate to get rid of multiple belts?

[original zero]

You seem to have good knowledge about the topic. I know of ggg vs jacobs. Which other fights did they already mandate to get rid of multiple belts?

Oh god, there have been many. Santa Cruz vs Mares should be coming up soon. They had 3 champions in pretty much every division before. There are only five divisions with 3 champions now. There are nine divisions with 1 champion. There are three with 2 champions.

That's 30 champions compared to the previous 51. So the consolidation is definitely happening. It's just taking time.