Quote Originally Posted by Doot View Post
To be linear champ is to unify all the alphabet titles until you do that I see you as only a titleholder or contender.
Or you can beat the man who has unified the belts.
thats how I see it anyway.
No, not exactly. You can trace a lineage to champions back to the time before boxing got broken up into a million sanctioning bodies. BUT - if a lineal champ retires or vacates without being beaten - aka Lewis - the lineage ends and can only be renewed by unifying. In some divisions, where there was never a single champ, like SMW, the lineage doesn't get created until unification occurs, ie, Calzaghe just became the first to unify SMW. He became the ring champ and he has established a lineage. Now that lineage might die, unless he comes back down to 168 after the Hopkins fight.