The lightweight Alphabet titles

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Originally Posted by fan johnny

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance Uppercut

Quote:

Originally Posted by fan johnny

Ring magazine is no different than other sanctioning bodies although that is surely that is what they want you to believe. The more followers an organization has the more value can be placed on the prize. I.

This is the key point that you are missing. The Ring Magazine title IS much different

1) there are no sanctioning fees
2) you can only loss in the Ring
3) the champion is the man who beat the last champion

There was once a time where there was one champion per division, and the best fighter fought the best fighters. Every sports fan knew all the boxing champions. Boxing was a mainstream sport in the US.

The alphabet titles ruined this and the Ring trying to restore it.

I'd really like to agree and Yes, 2 & 3 are all noble points probably meant with good intentions toward boxing. And I don't dispute the merits. The motives.... well...

Tell me what is the purpose of 1. sanctioning fees?

Sanctioning fees for the Ring come from its followers rather than from the fighter. It does not change the fact that the organization behind it makes its money through exploitation as do all sanctioning bodies. The beauty behind the Ring is that while the abc sanctioning bodies foot the bill, it can just reap the profits. All the while maintaining a positive image toward boxing fans and can even direct hostility toward them without looking like the bad guy.

There were fewer promoters and fewer sanctioning bodies in those times in history you write about which meant there were larger slices of the pie, and most of it went to the promoter and not the fighter. Today that pie has turned into a banquet at least for big$ fighters and the game is forced to evolve. I'm not so sure about the unknown fighters.

As far as the abc's ruing boxing, I'm not so sure it is valid. I might agree that the greed is infectious and they contributed to the downward attraction of the sport in terms of popularity, but ruing the sport, I doubt it.

Personally, I think people are drawn to drama that they can identify with or at least are entertained by.

It costs a significant amount of money to produce a monthly magazine of the size of The Ring & then to distribute it worldwide. It is one magazine that runs nowhere near the level of exploitative profitability. That's why it has gone bust in the past & why to their credit GBP bought it & made sure it could run again. I really cannot believe you are calling a magazine that has created belts to try & restore some credibility to boxing as greedy yet fail to see that increasingly the alphabets operate in a corrupt & money-obsessed manner. The money they make from sanctioning fees even in fights where NO BELT of theirs is at stake is sickening. You will find that they are making far more per annum both numerically & proportionately than those exploitative goons at Ring. I admit I thought Rafael's article was over the top, but IMO you're now taking it too far the other way.