Back in the day when a champ died or moved up or retired susually what happened, noit always, but usually is some sort of tournament would be held. If the top two guys were obvious it was just them, if not the top four guys. There were still periods of confusion but they really were the exception and not the norm.
I like the idea of regional titles. Things like the Euro Championship or British Commonwealth champ or the OPBF (Asia) champ really meant something and were highly valued as tools for indicating who should be challenging for the "world" title.
I don't know how often other bodies used to spring up and threaten the established order pre 1962. I'm just clueless. Nobody thought the WBC was a very big deal nor the WBA initially because they rarely disagreed and even when they did it was clear who THE MAN was.
A simpler time.
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