MMA titles are sane, boxing’s alphabet soup is nuts
It’s become a farce to recognize 74 different world champions when there are only 17 weight divisions. And that’s just covering the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO.
Boxing and mixed martial arts are the world’s two most popular combat sports. Where some fans see them as rivals, the simple fact is that if you like fighting, you like both.
However, MMA today has a leg up on boxing in that there are a limited number of divisions, and almost universally recognized champions. Boxing not so much.
When I was a teenager I could do the world heavyweight champion from Tommy Burns to Leon Spinks. I probably still could. Today, I couldn’t tell you who the middleweight boxing champion of the world is without Google. In MMA the middleweight champion is of course Chris Weidman, and every fan knows it.
In its heyday, boxing had eight weight divisions, and one champion in each. Now, as boxing reporter Joaquin M. Henson details, boxing is a bizarre alphabet soup.
It’s become a farce to recognize 74 different world champions when there are only 17 weight divisions. And that’s just covering the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. Additionally, there are four vacant thrones. Other organizations like the IBO and WBF crown their own champions so the list is virtually endless.
Governing bodies make money out of charging sanction fees for world title fights so the more, the wealthier. The WBA is the most unscrupulous player of all. It recognizes super, undisputed, unified, regular and interim world champions so that in the latest ratings, there are six super, three unified, one undisputed, 17 regular and 11 interim titleholders. Believe it or not, the WBA recognizes 38 world champions in 17 weight categories and therefore, charges sanction fees each time they fight.
At the moment, only two fighters are recognized as world champions by three governing bodies – heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko by the WBA, WBO and IBF and lightheavyweight Sergey Kovalev by the WBA, IBF and WBO. Five world titlists are recognized by two bodies – Mayweather as superwelterweight and welterweight by the WBA and WBC, superlightweight Danny Garcia by the WBA and WBC, superbantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux by the WBO and WBA, flyweight Juan Francisco Estrada by the WBA and WBO and minimumweight Katsunari Takayama by the WBO and IBF.
Because Japan has lots of money to spend for world title bouts, there are three divisions with different Japanese world champions. In the superfeatherweight division, the WBA recognizes Takashi Uchiyama as its super champion while the WBC ruler is Takashi Miura. In the bantamweight class, Tomoki Kameda is the WBO king while the WBC recognizes Shinsuke Yamanaka. In the superflyweight category, the WBO champion is Naoya Inoue and the WBA ruler is Kohei Kono.
Fans are confused as to who the real world champions are and often ask who deserve to rightfully sit on the throne? The Ring Magazine also recognizes its own world champions and claims its titlists are the consensus people’s choices or the lineal kings.
In the welterweight division, the IBF recognizes Kell Brook as world champion and the WBA’s regular titlist is Keith Thurman. But everyone knows that Mayweather or Pacquiao deserves to be the real and only world welterweight champion. Their May 2 showdown will decide who the undisputed king is.
As for the rivalry between professional boxing and mixed martial arts, writer Matthew Bazell said it’s about upholding the integrity of sport. Boxing is losing young fans to MMA and will continue to do so if one sport provides the best matches and the other one doesn’t, said Bazell. Without greatness to counterbalance the political bulls—, eventually we’ll just turn away.
Of the 74 world champions recognized by the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO, only seven hold unified titles. That’s the reason why fans are losing interest in professional boxing and turning to mixed martial arts. The best fighters avoid facing each other because governing bodies shy away from unifying titles to keep their sanction fees intact without sharing the loot.