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

[Robbie Barrett]

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.

Boxrec P4P rankings are a joke but divsional are not? It's the same damn formula you ****ing ******. Boxrec doesn't name Lineal champions either.

[Pugilisticuffs]

Of course you can give example of past champs being #1. Give an example where they marked him as lineal champion on the list. They have Crawford as #1 not as Champion. They don't rank Lineal.

Boxrec P4P rankings are a joke but divsional are not? It's the same damn formula you ****ing ******. Boxrec doesn't name Lineal champions either.

Lineal doesn't have to be explicitly noted. It's often implicitly taken into account and has defaulted fighters to #1 you dip, even when they don't deserve the ranking (ie., Adonis Stevenson). You've just been owned by me and about 10 other posters. Take your ginger fanboy rage somewhere else. P4P is MYTHICAL/fantasy and so are the rankings, just like lineal nowadays is CONCEPTUAL. Here is BoxRec noting it from the Cotto bout you cluebag -> http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:2000751

You don't even know the difference between 'consensus' and 'recognized', 'unified' and what a true 'lineal' champ even is. You also didn't know about the 1 pound weight allowance in non-title fights, what Canelo milked. As if it couldn't get any worse, you put your trust in The Ring. HaHa

ESPN doesn't rank Lineal as #1 over the rest of the division? Wrong. You asked for an example so here it is. It's also current and will be the same tomorrow with Adonis Stevenson (lineal) STILL #1 ranked at Light Heavyweight over Ward and Kovalev. This perfectly illustrates what Rafael at ESPN does in the rankings by defaulting a true lineal champion to the #1 spot in the divisional rankings.

Feb 21, 2017

If there is a lineal champion in the weight class he is ranked No. 1.

Note: Results through Feb. 20. In an effort to provide the most up-to-date rankings, ESPN.com's division-by-division boxing rankings will be updated every Tuesday.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 175 POUNDS)

1. Adonis Stevenson (28-1)
2. Andre Ward (31-0)
3. Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1)
4. Nathan Cleverly (30-3)
5. Juergen Braehmer (48-3)
6. Artur Beterbiev (11-0)
7. Joe Smith Jr. (23-1)
8. Sullivan Barrera (18-1)
9. Eleider "Storm" Alvarez (21-0)
10. Oleksandr Gvozdyk (12-0)

Divisional rankings: Light heavyweight

BoxRec also doesn't use the same formula for their Lb for Lb (P4P) rankings (again, these are fantasy). The divisional rankings and All-Time rankings use the formulas that they give. Only a portion of the divisional and/or All-Time ranking formulas would apply to their Pound-for-Pound rankings. How many times can you be wrong in a day?

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Ratings Structure
2.1 Current Ratings
2.2 All Time Ratings
2.3 Bout Star Ratings
3 Links

BoxRec Ratings Description

Not one mention of "Lb for Lb" in there. Ain't that somethin'. By "Current Ratings" they mean Divisional specifically.

[iamboxing]

I'm not the biggest fan of ggg and personally I think he's destroyed by the first elite fighter he faces but I give him credit for cleaning out the 160lbs division. With that said how the fucl can the ring magazine the supposed "bible of boxing" keep canelo as their mw champ? He flat out ran from a fight with ggg and now is exclusive at 154lbs. The hypocrisy of the ring is incredible and they cannot be taken seriously by any fan.

Remember when they had Ronda Rousey on the front cover. That's when you knew they were shills.

[DinoCop]

Why would anyone buy that magazine rather than cropping the photos for the wall?

[Larry the boss]

he has 18 months to schedule a fight at 160 from last May which mean he has till November

[World Champion?]

As many people have already stated, the Ring does not have the reputation it once did as far as establishing the lineal champions in each weight class. Importantly, they were respected for upholding the stringent rules required to ensure that their title holders were deserving.

When you have a belt that can be won by a fighter fighting 5-6 pounds below the weight limit against another fighter who may only be recognised as the 5th ranked fighter at that weight class it adds unnecessary clauses that can wreck the whole point of establishing lineal champions. Add to that the fact that the winning fighter of that contest can avoid fighting any top-5 fighter for 2 years means that they can hold the title hostage for 2 years without any significant challenge whatsoever. So to say that the ring title and the lineal title are the same is misleading.

In this way you can say that the ring title is like the alphabet titles in their claims for having 'world champions' who are usually one of the top 10 fighters in the world rather than the single best fighter in their division.

The lineal title is one that has no belt and belongs to the man who beat the man and in a time when boxers fought more frequently and fought quality opponents more often, that title usually belonged to the best fighter and so came with a lot of respect. The Ring title has tried to acknowledge the lineal champion but as times have changed and fighters now fight less often and less frequently against top opposition, The Ring has changed its policies to accommodate this trend while ensuring that they are able to recognise champions from time to time. This has meant a cheapening of the prestige of the belt and what it represents and also means that it has less to do with linearity in the division, largely because of how they've chosen to award champions.

The way that the rules are set mean that a cruiserweight could challenge the heavyweight champion at a 201lb catch weight and win the title on the scales and then keep the title for 2 years by remaining at that 201lbs limit. If that is allowed, then that title is not worth a thing and does not represent the champ at that weight class.

In the case of Canelo, he has moved to another weight class and should be stripped according to the ring's own rules, however he still has a legitimate claim as being the lineal champion. however weak that claim is. The ring title should be awarded to the GGG-Jacobs winner as they have established themselves as #1 & #2 of the division.

[////]

So is lineal. I see people talk about the lineal champion being the "real" champion then you have guys like Stevenson who basically have tumbleweeds on their record but hold a lineal title hostage until retirement.

All titles are equally stupid and unimportant when there are ways to bypass the real competition in your division while retaining them.

We just have to play it by common consensus.

[Pugilisticuffs]

This was published in January of 2012. It's a must-read for those like that ignorant (to the news) poster here, Isaac Clarke.

Former Ring magazine columnist Ivan Goldman has written a wonderful piece in the current issue of Columbia Journalism Review. His article is full of feeling, highly literate, and deserves all the attention it receives.

‘The Ring Is Counted Out’ addresses how Golden Boy Promotions, with its purchase of the so-called “Bible of Boxing,” has debased the long-respected RING magazine and its brand, and in so doing has further debased boxing.

For anyone concerned with integrity and objectivity in sports journalism, not to mention the future of our beloved sport, Goldman’s article is a must-read.

Boxing.com referencing 'The Ring is Counted Out'

Here's the actual article published in the Columbia Journalism Review (cjr.org)

The Ring is Counted Out - Boxing's duplicity devours an honest magazine

[original zero]

he has 18 months to schedule a fight at 160 from last May which mean he has till November

he has never scheduled a fight at 160 in his entire career.

[Pugilisticuffs]

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.

The oldest boxing publication in history is Boxing News, it's even older than The Ring Magazine. It's still around in both print and in digital format after it got started clear back in 1909. You can order single issues, special editions & back issues, do 6 month or 1 to 2 year subscriptions. They deliver internationally too. Boxing News Subscriptions