Should the voluntary defense rule be changed ?!?

[Deanrw]

Good sentiments but I think The Alphabet soup boys and girls would just find a way to muck up the top ten as well,Alot of it comes down to the sanctioning fees and $$$ In general.what is the current # of voluntary defenses before There is a mandated Defense?The Rings policy may not be perfect,but it has helped me detox from the Alphabet syndicates

Case in point: Erdei's opponent on Saturday was actually ranked #4 (!) by the WBO. I'm fairly sure the Alphabet organizations would find a way to rank Pittman or Ayala in the top 10 as well, if that was what they wanted. I mean, it's already a joke to include Ayala in the top 15 (he is, of course, rated exactly 15), so what would stop the WBA from extending the joke to the top 10?

That being said I agree with Johnny's basic premise - champions should defend against decent opposition, not be allowed to fight handpicked cab drivers.

However, only really recognising The Ring - who have no mandatory defenses - might not exactly help in this regard. As I have said before - imagine what Sven Ottke or Pongsaklek Whatshisname would do with a title where they were allowed full control over their opponents and the place of fighting. Beneficial for boxing? Not necessarily...

Very true. The Alphabet soup are motivated by money, there is no question about that. You can look at the Kessler/Miranda soap opera recently. Miranda jumped from #9 to #2 via the WBA for doing nothing. On the surface, it looks like the WBA is doing a good thing to try to make the fight happen for the belt Kessler wanted. If you look deeper though, they were cutting someone else off who worked hard for their own ranking. Money makes the world of boxing go round for sure.

[totalboxing1]

I think it would be better to change it to a top 10, mayve even top 5,6 or 8 opponent in the organisations ratings. Its true the alphabet titles are becoming less credible but they are still the driving force to make and sell bouts. A world title is on the line and that makes money, and money talks. The Rings ratings are seen as best but they don't sanction fights or declare mandatory defence rules, so unless it does, the alphbet titles will be the ones deciding who fights who.

[Mikkel_K]

Very true. The Alphabet soup are motivated by money, there is no question about that. You can look at the Kessler/Miranda soap opera recently. Miranda jumped from #9 to #2 via the WBA for doing nothing. On the surface, it looks like the WBA is doing a good thing to try to make the fight happen for the belt Kessler wanted. If you look deeper though, they were cutting someone else off who worked hard for their own ranking. Money makes the world of boxing go round for sure.

Exactly. If looking only at that 168 WBA ranking, you could also point out Nader Hamdan, who mysteriously appeared as no. 15 despite no recent wins (he looked absolutely terrible in a 8 round shutout to Mads Larsen prior to this), or Sam Soliman who suddenly appeared as no. 14 without any noticeable recent wins either.

However, both had already secured dates with Mundine _before_ appearing in the rankings. Coincidence?

[Deanrw]

Very true. The Alphabet soup are motivated by money, there is no question about that. You can look at the Kessler/Miranda soap opera recently. Miranda jumped from #9 to #2 via the WBA for doing nothing. On the surface, it looks like the WBA is doing a good thing to try to make the fight happen for the belt Kessler wanted. If you look deeper though, they were cutting someone else off who worked hard for their own ranking. Money makes the world of boxing go round for sure.

Exactly. If looking only at that 168 WBA ranking, you could also point out Nader Hamdan, who mysteriously appeared as no. 15 despite no recent wins (he looked absolutely terrible in a 8 round shutout to Mads Larsen prior to this), or Sam Soliman who suddenly appeared as no. 14 without any noticeable recent wins either.

However, both had already secured dates with Mundine _before_ appearing in the rankings. Coincidence?

hehe yeah. Gotta love them. Others are just as bad. Look at the WBO as another one with deep pockets that Frank Warren keeps filling.

[killersheep]

I think it should be top 5 and I also think the commisions should recognize champs from other commisions, that way a unification match and mandatory could be one and the same.