A fighter pays no sanctioning fees to defend or fight for the title at stake, contrary to practices of the sanctioning bodies.
Under the original version of the policy, there were only two ways that a boxer can win The Ring's title: defeat the reigning champion; or win a box-off between the magazine's number-one and number-two rated contenders (or, sometimes, number-one and number-three rated). A vacant Ring championship was filled when the number-one contender in a weight-division battles the number-two contender or the number-three contender (in cases where The Ring determined that the number-two and number-three contenders were close in abilities and records). A fighter could not be stripped of the title unless he lost, decided to move to another weight division, or retired.
In May 2012, citing the number of vacancies in various weight classes as primary motivation, The Ring unveiled a new championship policy. Under the new policy, The Ring title can be awarded when the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters face one another or when the Nos. 1 and 2 contenders choose not to fight one another and either of them fights No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5, the winner may be awarded The Ring belt. In addition, there are now six ways for a fighter to lose his title: lose a fight in his championship weight class; move to another weight class; not schedule a fight in any weight class for 18 months; not schedule a fight in his championship weight class for 18 months, even if fighting at another weight class; not scheduling a fight with a top 5 contender in any weight class for two years; or retiring.
This was the very reason Adonis Stevenson was stripped. Because hos defences after Fonfara were poor..
Also with Tyson Fury's case. Although he hasn't defended the title in 2 years. He did technically schedule 2 fights with Wlad.. that's why he hasn't been stripped yet. We gotta wait and see til Feb as Wes stated on another thread.
As a traditionalist I have always respected the Ring title primarily because it was awarded to the 'best' in each weight division. Down through the years I've only disagreed on a handful of occasions and that was when I felt there was an American bias. However the modern world allows the people at the Ring to see fighters from all over the globe and this is reflected in the ratings - usually.
Incidentally it's the 'best ' looking belt out with the Lonsdale.
mimmy123 wrote: ↑10 Jan 2018, 04:46
I know its getting a bit repetitive but if this is true who would the title defence be against?
I assume he can't defend it if he's not scheduled a fight within the last eighteen months as per the comments above.
There's a question of which date constitutes scheduling a fight. If Joshua Parker was announced today for example, presumably it was scheduled on January 10 regardless of when it actually takes place, (or in the case of Fury Wlad II, doesn't take place.)
mimmy123 wrote: ↑10 Jan 2018, 04:46
I know its getting a bit repetitive but if this is true who would the title defence be against?
I assume he can't defend it if he's not scheduled a fight within the last eighteen months as per the comments above.
There's a question of which date constitutes scheduling a fight. If Joshua Parker was announced today for example, presumably it was scheduled on January 10 regardless of when it actually takes place, (or in the case of Fury Wlad II, doesn't take place.)
I can't see how Fury doesn't get stripped.
So basically Fury doesnt know the rules of the title?
Again I know its getting a bit boring regarding all the 'tweets' but in his next tweet he is asking 'his fans' who he should fight in April. I really dont think Fury himself really knows what hes doing to be honest.
To be fair the rules aren't crystal clear. I mean, there's an argument to say he had a fight scheduled to happen in October 2016 (namely the rescheduled Wlad rematch), which takes us to April 2018. Also, it states if you retire you lose the belt. At several stages in the last few years Fury has been retrospectively under a drug ban, without a licence, and claiming to have retired. Can you just say 'I'm not retired anymore' and get your belts back?
Either way it seems clear enough that by some time in April he will have to have a fight scheduled with one of Wilder, Povetkin, Ortiz, Joshua or Parker and I don't see it happening. He's not going to be defending the Ring title against Sam Sexton or someone like that.
mimmy123 wrote: ↑10 Jan 2018, 05:02
So basically Fury doesnt know the rules of the title?
Again I know its getting a bit boring regarding all the 'tweets' but in his next tweet he is asking 'his fans' who he should fight in April. I really dont think Fury himself really knows what hes doing to be honest.
Maybe hardly any boxers know the rules of the belts. It's not their main focus.
He first kept saying he the Lineal champion for ages. Now he just keeps saying The Ring champion.
#1 can fight #2 for it. In this case its Joshua vs. Wilder.. However we all know that ain't happening next. Seeing as AJ-Parker is more or less a done deal. that's #1 vs. #3.. So based on their criteria, that's the next best fight. I think it would usually be a fight between the guys ranked #1 to #5
