By Alphonso Costello

Muddled and trying, the heavyweight division’s title picture is far from being a priceless work of abstract art. Each title fight that fails to deliver an outcome the boxing public craves, the prestige and stability of the heavyweight championship fades into a deaden state of worthlessness.

The stagnant heavyweight division remains murky with Hasim Rahman retaining his World Boxing Council title via majority draw against challenger James Toney. The WBC title fight possessed skillful action, but lacked the decision that was needed to clear up the heavyweight title picture. Days later, promoter Dan Goossen filed a written protest with the WBC in hopes of landing Toney a return match with Rahman. Hindering Toney’s bid to become the new WBC champion, Goossen claims illegal kidney punches landed by Rahman sapped Toney of valuable energy.

Illegal or not, Goossen should file a protest with Ronald McDonald for feeding Toney too many Happy Meals. In the meantime, the heavyweight championship will remain in flux until the April 22nd rematch between IBF champion Chris Byrd and Wladimir Klitschko.

Making the fourth defense of his WBO championship on Saturday, Lamon Brewster’s fight against unknown challenger Sergei Liakhovich figures to be an insignificant heavyweight title fight. A successful title defense by Brewster surely won’t clear up a disorderly title picture. On the other hand, a loss to Liakhovich means promoter Don King and Lamon Brewster can kiss a lucrative big-money rematch with Wladimir Klitschko goodbye.

Drab and diluted, the heavyweight division must wait for the upcoming Byrd-Klitschko match-up for some much needed clarity.

Fun Fact of the Month: 28-year old heavyweight Travis Fulton has compiled a career record of 14 wins and 14 losses. All 14 of his wins and losses by way of knockout…

Undoubtedly, James Toney bashing is the most popular pastime of the month. Immediately after Toney’s majority draw with Rahman, super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe issued Toney a tongue-in-cheek challenge. Following suit was the not so quiet John Ruiz. In a written statement, Ruiz bashed Toney’s March 18th performance. “Toney looked sluggish against Rahman,” Ruiz said in a press release. “He didn't have the same energy he did against me, but that's what steroids do,” added Ruiz.

In November, Ruiz filed a lawsuit against Toney for using steroids before their April 30th, 2005 title fight. Boxing enthusiasts around the world should be suing John Ruiz for impersonating a prizefighter. Ruiz’s irritating brand of boxing is a despicable crime…

The shifty policy of recognizing two world champions in the same weight class is a deplorable exploit exhibited by the World Boxing Association. According to the WBA, a “super champion” is a world champion who holds the title of two or more organizations such as the WBC, IBF or WBO.

Undisputed middleweight king Jermain Taylor is recognized as the WBA “super champion” for possessing multiple alphabet soup championship belts. Meanwhile, Felix Strum is dubiously tabbed as the WBA “world champion” for his March 11th victory over Maselino Masoe. Sturm is now looking for a title unification fight with IBF title holder Arthur Abraham. The very same IBF title that was thoughtlessly stripped from Jermain Taylor after he agreed to face Bernard Hopkins in a rematch. The WBA may shamelessly elevate the winner of a possible Abraham-Sturm match to super champion status, subsequently making Taylor the “super-super” champion. In that case, the WBA will find itself crowning a new “regular world champion”.

In hopes of landing a world title shot, Shannon Briggs is taking the Hasim Rahman route by facing a long list of heavyweight cadavers. His March 18th knockout victory over Dicky Ryan extends his consecutive knockout streak over inadequate opponents to ten. By capturing the USBA, NABA and NABO heavyweight titles, Briggs is a NABF title shy of becoming the undisputed North American heavyweight champion. Ironically, his next bout may be against the winner of the NABF championship match between Samuel Peter and Julius Long. With Briggs being in possession of the USBA, NABA and NABO heavyweight titles he is now a unified champion. When does he get elevated to Super Champion status?

Verbal barbs are essential in selling pay-per-view extravaganzas and WBC Super Welterweight Champion Ricardo Mayorga is a fine tuned trash talking machine. Mayorga’s work rate in promoting his May 6 fight versus Oscar De La Hoya is quite impressive. The Nicaraguan wild man is oozing machismo by questioning De La Hoya’s manhood in interviews with various Spanish language media outlets. Let’s see if Mayorga’s verbal assault on De La Hoya equates to in-ring success.

Preparing for his June 10th fight with Antonio Tarver, former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins is hiring a fitness trainer to aid him in his ascent to the light heavyweight division. Wonder if Bernard is going on the James Toney super size me diet?

The undercard of the Super Middleweight clash between Joe Calzaghe and Jeff Lacy was an amusing one. Highlighted by the comical record of welterweight Peter Buckley 31-219-11 (8 KO’s), the twelve fight undercard had five participants with a combined record of 76-400-15 (25 KO’s). Perhaps Buckley can challenge fellow welterweight and undercard participant James Nesbitt 5-61 (3 KO’s) in a clash of lowly club fighters…

Speaking of club fighters, the “All-American Prizefighter” Rob Calloway won his latest fight by knock out to improve his record to 57-6-1 (44 KO’s). Wonder if we’ll see a pay-per-view clash between Calloway and Shannon Briggs…

Oh You Didn’t Know? City officials in Atlantic City, New Jersey named a street after Don King for his charitable activities. Unveiled on March 13th, “Don King Plaza” is located on the Boardwalk at Mississippi Avenue. What’s so charitable about the man that enthusiastically supported the 2004 re-election of President George W. Bush?

Scandalously stripped of his unified championships by the WBA and IBF, Juan Manuel Marquez is March’s Chump of the Month for employing Nacho Beristain as his trainer/manager. The inept Beristain mismanaged Marquez’s career by turning down lucrative offers to face Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales. Instead, Marquez found himself traveling to Indonesia in hopes of recapturing his stolen WBA featherweight crown. Earning a paltry $31,500 purse, Marquez dropped a unanimous decision to Chris John in a non-televised fight that took place in a parking lot. Isn’t that where most of Ricardo Mayorga’s fights take place?

Alphonso Costello can be reached at acostello@boxingscene.com