It’s another big MMA week. Which means different things to different people.

Especially we sportswriter types.

Some count the time down by waxing nostalgic on past events. Some immerse in head-to-head matchups seeking evidence of one man’s superiority. And others simply spend time gorging on hospitality food and drink buffets – or raiding the home fridge until we’re back in the building.

Not a bad selection in the bunch… if you ask me.

But seeing how boxing is still in the slow lane when it comes to making big fights happen anywhere beyond social media, it feels like a particularly good time to shake things up in the fistic establishment.

So, ready or not, I’m feeling just a tad bit crusadery.

Either that or it’s another mid-life crisis.

And though no one’s asked my opinion in so many words, I’ve nonetheless chosen this week to climb on the soapbox and enlighten with my own home remedy for boxing’s ills.

My personal sanctioning body, if you will.

For lack of a better idea, and because all the good ones are taken, we’ll keep our name simple.

Ladies and gentlemen… I present the IMHO.

Of course, with the arrival of a supreme being of sanctioning bodies all the others must immediately be dissolved. So with apologies to their office-bound hierarchies and corporate staffs, I bid adieu to the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO.

Not to mention The Ring.

Sorry Oscar Inc., you’ve been downsized.

Or if you prefer, voted off alphabet island.

Next, I hereby declare all existing championships vacant.

To all the men who’d been holding world title belts when the aforementioned ruling was handed down, thanks for your time. Your in-ring service is noted. Your worthy accomplishments are commended. Now please step back into line with everyone else.

Our new tagline: “Lineal, schmineal. We’re the IMHO.”

P.S. – You can keep your belts if you’d like. You know, to show the grandkids someday as evidence that you were young once. Kind of like 8-track tapes. Or pay telephones.

But now… it’s on to new business.

At the risk of alienating purists in the crowd – you know the type, folks who pine desperately for the days of eight weight classes and log-chopping training camps – we have an announcement.

The IMHO is a champion of technology. We endorse replay to determine whether cuts and knockdowns are caused by punches. We give scratch pads to judges flummoxed by carrying 1s on their scorecards. And we use computers to remove any trace of human bias from our ratings.

OK, full disclosure… the IBO beat us to that last one.

But now that it’s been disbanded (see Paragraph 12), we’re claiming it as our own.

Nyah, nyaaaaah.

Upon annexation, the immediate priority becomes filling title vacancies.

Using pre-quarantine independent world boxing rankings – (https://premierboxingorganisation.com/heavyweight-200) – the top four in each weight class will be matched up in mini single-elimination tournaments to be begun and completed, pandemic-willing, by this time next year.

Tourney winners will be awarded pristine new championship belts.

All losers will be placed back in the mix for mandatory title defenses.

Each freshly minted champion will fight at least twice per year, once against the incumbent No. 1 challenger and once more against a top 10 contender of his choosing. If a champion chooses to fight three or more times in a year, other opponents can be picked at his whim.

If you want to give an anonymous hometown kid a shot, go for it. If you want to pull the trigger on a guy 25 pounds lighter, knock yourself out. And hey, if you can win multiple titles and meet defense requirements in multiple classes… bully.

Just don’t ask for special treatment. Because you won’t get it.

Meanwhile, fights between contenders will be called just that: fights between contenders. Not interim title fights. Or title eliminators. Or any other trumped-up code name that loosely translates to “Please remit 10 percent of your anticipated purse to the address below, in exchange for a meaningless title belt.”

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend. But they’ve got no place in boxing.

Similar terms like super, interim, unified, undisputed, emeritus or in-recess have also been barred forever. In fact, the mere mention of such imposters – or the very mouthing of the term “catch weight” at any official IMHO gathering – is grounds for permanent media suspension.

The IMHO’s weight-class boundaries are hard, fast and non-negotiable.

If a fighter chooses to defend his title two pounds lighter than the limit, so be it. But no title match will be sanctioned that requires any fighter to come in at anything other than the established weights.

It may irk the odd promoter or two – sorry Bob – but it ought to satisfy the hardest line of a fickle scribe horde that’s always quick to point out shortfalls in existing systems, all while quickly lapping what the alphabets serve like parched dogs at a soiled toilet.

You can’t have it both ways, people. And in the new IMHO era, you won’t.

Finally, presuming the two top seeds advance in each weight class tourney, the inaugural list of IMHO championship bouts would look like this:

Heavyweight – Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua
Cruiserweight – Mairis Briedis vs. Kevin Lerena
Light Heavyweight – Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev
Super Middleweight – Callum Smith vs. Daniel Jacobs
Middleweight – Gennady Golovkin vs. Jermall Charlo
Junior Middleweight – Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario
Welterweight – Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford
Junior Welterweight – Josh Taylor vs. Jose Carlos Ramirez
Lightweight – Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez
Junior Lightweight – Leo Santa Cruz vs. Miguel Berchelt
Featherweight – Josh Warrington vs. Gary Russell Jr.
Junior Featherweight – Emmanuel Navarrete vs. Rey Vargas
Bantamweight – Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery
Junior Bantamweight – Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Flyweight – Kosei Tanaka vs. Julio Cesar Martinez
Junior Flyweight – Ken Shiro vs. Hiroto Kyoguchi
Strawweight – Thammanoon Niyomtrong vs. Wanheng Menayothin

Not to speak for the masses, but we IMHO types think that’s a schedule to be proud of.

And as for other day-to-day issues, they’ll be dealt with as they arise. In fact, I say bring ’em on and let’s get started. We’ve got promises to keep. And title fights to sign before we sleep.

After all, folks… it ain’t rocket science. It’s just boxing.

And in my humble opinion at least, we couldn’t do a lot worse.

* * * * * * * * * *

This week’s title-fight schedule:

None

Last week's picks: None
2020 picks record: 14-3 (82.3 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,130-368 (75.4 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.