Thread: If you're the no1 contender to a belt...

these days it hardly likely you will ever get a shot at a mega star like Floyd or Cotto as they seem to drop the belts as soon as they win them ( I know Cotto has the WBO strap) and obviously boxing is all about money and the mega fights need to be made but a lot of nobodies end up with a title. If you were moving up the rankings and were the no 1 contender for the WBC Welterweight strap say and Floyd was the champ you're never likely to end up facing him as he would drop the belt and push for a bigger fight. That must be fustrating for an up and coming fighter to work his way up and then miss out on a big fight.

It's all mad. If you look at Pac for example (current P4P Number 2 ) and see how many of his last 15 or so fights were actually for one of the 4 main WORLD Title Belts - not many!!

It would be even worse if the "stars" like Floyd and Cotto were forced to fight the alphabets no.1 contender all the time.

What would you rather Cotto-Jennings or Cotto-Pac? It's a no brainer.

The only purpose an alphabet title serves is in giving fighters bargaining chips to make more money, which becomes irrelevant once the fighter becomes bigger than the title, and is obviously no benefit for the fans.

Obviously I would rather see Cotto- Pac then Cotto- Jennings but what I dont understand is why when a fighter drops his belt for a bigger fight is he then not placed back in the rankings for that belt. Then you could end up with Cotto beating Jennings for a vacant title and then Floyd for example would be the no 1 contender as the ex champ and after he's finished with his mega fight he could get into negioations to fight Cotto to win his belt back. The belts seem pointless in Boxing. You might as well scrap them and just have a ring belt it seems.

Originally Posted by Hughesd

Obviously I would rather see Cotto- Pac then Cotto- Jennings but what I dont understand is why when a fighter drops his belt for a bigger fight is he then not placed back in the rankings for that belt. Then you could end up with Cotto beating Jennings for a vacant title and then Floyd for example would be the no 1 contender as the ex champ and after he's finished with his mega fight he could get into negioations to fight Cotto to win his belt back. The belts seem pointless in Boxing. You might as well scrap them and just have a ring belt it seems.

I think that in the case of PacMan, it really isn't about a title belt any more. He is more of a fighter who entertains us for money than a fighter who is setting out to conquer any one particular division.

Now days, The alphabet titles really just note that a fighter is a top 10 contender (although not always the case). The real champion usually has the designation of Ring Magazine Champion.

Originally Posted by Hughesd

these days it hardly likely you will ever get a shot at a mega star like Floyd or Cotto as they seem to drop the belts as soon as they win them ( I know Cotto has the WBO strap) and obviously boxing is all about money and the mega fights need to be made but a lot of nobodies end up with a title. If you were moving up the rankings and were the no 1 contender for the WBC Welterweight strap say and Floyd was the champ you're never likely to end up facing him as he would drop the belt and push for a bigger fight. That must be fustrating for an up and coming fighter to work his way up and then miss out on a big fight.

Define nobodies?

Just because a fighter is not as good as others on a P4P list or does not have to popularity/huge promoter pushing them etc...does not make them a nobody...

You have to be a somebody to become a world champion (Unless it is one of the WBA 15 per division titles because they sell them at Wal-Mart)....

If anything winning the title makes you a somebody..even if it was an upset....

Guys like you kill me...you have no idea what it btakes and what these fighyters sacrafice to make it in the sport even on a mid level and you have the nerve to call them nobodies

Originally Posted by DaxxKahn

Originally Posted by Hughesd

these days it hardly likely you will ever get a shot at a mega star like Floyd or Cotto as they seem to drop the belts as soon as they win them ( I know Cotto has the WBO strap) and obviously boxing is all about money and the mega fights need to be made but a lot of nobodies end up with a title. If you were moving up the rankings and were the no 1 contender for the WBC Welterweight strap say and Floyd was the champ you're never likely to end up facing him as he would drop the belt and push for a bigger fight. That must be fustrating for an up and coming fighter to work his way up and then miss out on a big fight.

Define nobodies?

Just because a fighter is not as good as others on a P4P list or does not have to popularity/huge promoter pushing them etc...does not make them a nobody...

You have to be a somebody to become a world champion (Unless it is one of the WBA 15 per division titles because they sell them at Wal-Mart)....

If anything winning the title makes you a somebody..even if it was an upset....

Guys like you kill me...you have no idea what it btakes and what these fighyters sacrafice to make it in the sport even on a mid level and you have the nerve to call them nobodies

Nobodies was probably the wrong choice of word. I respect anyone who has the guts to get in the ring. I just meant a fighter that is not well known but has a belt when the so called stars dont seem to bother with the belts. It wasn't my intention to cause offense.

The blame should fall on the sanctioning bodies for creating an environment where their belts are essentially meaningless.

If I was a number one contender I would refuse step aside money...though they can still drop the belt........and fight a dominate champion, maybe get my azz kicked with big time exposure rather than fighting for the vacant strap against another so-so 'unknown' fighter even though I might be more likley to win the belt .

Look back in any alphabet soup ranks and they usually held a vacant spot at the very top to at times shuttle in suspect 'contenders' for champs to knock out of the park.Then again,simply because we have never heard of them does not make them unworthy.Its a fine line but you can usually tell when they are being 'manipulated' but have always been in favor of a Champion meeting his top credible challengers,cleaning up division as opposed to jumping up to name network events.

Originally Posted by Spicoli

If I was a number one contender I would refuse step aside money...though they can still drop the belt........and fight a dominate champion, maybe get my azz kicked with big time exposure rather than fighting for the vacant strap against another so-so 'unknown' fighter even though I might be more likley to win the belt .

Look back in any alphabet soup ranks and they usually held a vacant spot at the very top to at times shuttle in suspect 'contenders' for champs to knock out of the park.Then again,simply because we have never heard of them does not make them unworthy.Its a fine line but you can usually tell when they are being 'manipulated' but have always been in favor of a Champion meeting his top credible challengers,cleaning up division as opposed to jumping up to name network events.

yeah, i feel that there really aren't any "up and comers" that are getting denied good fights, or fights for a belt.. if anything it's not really that hard to get a fight for a belt considering there are 4 champs in each division.

the only time when this stuff bugs me is when some fighters are avoiding other fighters.. i know that it's hard to get business deals signed and what not, but it would be nice if there were some sort of standard where if you're a champ you have to fight another champ within a certain period of time or else you lose the belt.. and the money situation is split 50/50 or whatever.. that would be a nice "mandatory" fight because you would see the best vs the best as opposed to fighting some no name mandatory just to KO him.