If being a world champion truly matters to a fighter...

[purecyse]

...he should seek to unify. I believe and will support that 100%.

That is why I will never talk down about the Klitschko brothers or chime in with any negativity when they are talked about.

I came up at a time where being the heavyweight champion meant you were THE champion and I'm proud that they seem to think the same way.

Andre Ward should seek to unify while he takes these long breaks between fights (Balzsay, Froch and Stieglitz are all winnable fights), Floyd Mayweather should seek to unify as he points out he doesn't want to face ALL lions (Malignaggi, Bradley and Bailey/ Alexander would all die to get beat on by him) and, now, Donaire coming along seeking, at least, the belts held by Mares and Mathebula, I say forget anyone who criticizes him.

For boxing, worldwide, we need this. We need one holder of multiple belts that we, as fans, can point to as being THE man of that division. It hurts universal knowledge of the sport to have a champion in Africa few outside of Africa have seen, one in England, Germany, Japan, Mexico, etc. that all prefer only to fight in their country because they didn't have to leave to become a world champion.

This also applies to all these champions in the United States that refuse to travel elsewhere to bring that belt back to where they feel it belongs.

What type of world champion wants FOUR other fighters to be able to have a legit reason to call themselves the same exact thing? Public opinion being what separates fighters isn't enough when the same fighters know that one punch can change everything around.

[Weebler I]

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, they make more money fighting bigger names.

[rorymac]

I agree. I hate it when someone like David Haye says "Ooh I became world champion". Na son Klitschko beat you to that one, you just took some bum belt from Valuev

[Roy Jones Jnr]

Your going past the main point, which is that there shouldn't even be 4 or 5 or however ****ing many belts there are in each division in the first place.

[Bushbaby]

Good tread/idea. But that's the problem with boxing today. The belt organization & promoters have turned boxing into a business 1st, sport second.

Which is why I'm glad that Bradley & Devon stepped up to 147. Both were unified champion & Devon is going after his strap next. Watch, these boys along with Paulie & the new guys are gonna bring prestige back to welterweight which has been held hostage by Floyd & Pacman for far too long.

[Ray Corso]

You can't unify if the governing body won't let you! You need to learn how the boxing business works. Fighters and managers don't have the final say who fights who! Put together 40 million and start your own federation then you can have YOUR champions. W.B.D World Boxing of Disneyland! Ray.

[Juof]

This is what should happen but champions of today would rather take an easy fight and look good than fight each other avoiding mandatorys or promoters not working together to get fights the fans want to see made.

[DoktorSleepless]

Unifying is ******ed. It's near impossible with the sanctioning body politics. And most of the times the belt holders aren't the best or the most proven of the division.

[RlCKY]

...he should seek to unify. I believe and will support that 100%.

That is why I will never talk down about the Klitschko brothers or chime in with any negativity when they are talked about.

I came up at a time where being the heavyweight champion meant you were THE champion and I'm proud that they seem to think the same way.

Andre Ward should seek to unify while he takes these long breaks between fights (Balzsay, Froch and Stieglitz are all winnable fights), Floyd Mayweather should seek to unify as he points out he doesn't want to face ALL lions (Malignaggi, Bradley and Bailey/ Alexander would all die to get beat on by him) and, now, Donaire coming along seeking, at least, the belts held by Mares and Mathebula, I say forget anyone who criticizes him.

For boxing, worldwide, we need this. We need one holder of multiple belts that we, as fans, can point to as being THE man of that division. It hurts universal knowledge of the sport to have a champion in Africa few outside of Africa have seen, one in England, Germany, Japan, Mexico, etc. that all prefer only to fight in their country because they didn't have to leave to become a world champion.

This also applies to all these champions in the United States that refuse to travel elsewhere to bring that belt back to where they feel it belongs.

What type of world champion wants FOUR other fighters to be able to have a legit reason to call themselves the same exact thing? Public opinion being what separates fighters isn't enough when the same fighters know that one punch can change everything around.

I agree with most of what you said except the bold.

Andre Ward has proven he is the best at 168. You don't need to have a collection of BS titles to prove anything. All titles do is give you a reason to be granted the lion's share of the purse. So in Andre Ward's case, the fact that he is NOT on a quest to unify speaks louder about his status as Champion. He's the man there; you know it, I know it, everyone here knows it. That is all that matters. Now he is taking on THE MAN at the division above, albeit, at 168. But Andre was challenged and he responded. Probably gonna be a ****ty fight, but he is fighting the best.

As for Floyd, he has accomplished a lot in this sport. And while I am of the school of thought that you should never be satisfied with your legacy while you are still building it, it seems as if he is fine if he was to never fight again.
He's in it for the paychecks, and to keep the "0" in the loss column.

Unifying for Floyd would just mean, he is fighting Bradley (who shouldn't have that title) Malignaggi, whom I respect a lot and who went and TOOK that title, like a champion, is still Malignaggi at the end of the day and we know who he is, and what he can and can't do in the ring. Pointless fight. And then Randall Bailey, which I'm not even going to touch on.

We need ONE holder of ONE belt. Everybody knows who the best is and as long as they are fighting each other, belts mean nothing in terms of championship status.

[The Big Dunn]

If promoters had less influence on world ranking and title fights I'd agree. I started watching boxing when there was only the WBC and WBA. I think getting rid of the IBO, WBO, IBF, and any other fringe sanctioning bodies controlled by promoters wouand just having 2 major sanctioning bodies would help!