WBA Prez Admits It's Not Easy To Reduce The Number of Titles

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBA Prez Admits It's Not Easy To Reduce The Number of Titles

The president of the World Boxing Association, Gilberto Mendoza, admits that there is difficulty in reducing the number of titles that his organization sanctions, but also states that credibility in an industry like boxing is not simply given by sanctioning a single title per weight class.

In the last few years, the vast majority of fans have become tired of the countless world champions in every weight class. Most casual fans have found it impossible to distinguish one title from the other - especially when a sanctioning body has more than one champion in a single weight division.

Among the four major sanctioning bodies, the WBA and WBC have become notorious for having multiple champions per weight class.

While the criticisms have not stopped against the WBA over their path of having numerous champions per weight class - Mendoza says the incoming requests from promoters to approve various title fights have continued to pour in - with promoters indicating, in their requests, that a title will benefit their fighters and their televised event.

While Mendoza has spoken to rival sanctioning bodies about staging division-wide unification tournaments - the issue that comes up, is that certain promoters and/or champions are not interested in participating.

“They tell me that there must be only one champion, but they don't give me solid arguments. They tell me that [the titles] are devalued, but when we talk about making a tournament to set a single champion, not everyone wants to enter it. When we talk about accepting a champion versus champion fight - not everyone is willing to take part," Mendoza told ESPN Deportes.

"And on the other hand... a boxer with a title does better, a boxer who gets himself a title fight does better, a network that broadcasts a title fight does better, a promoter who has a title fight does better. The same fan [who complains], if he knows there is a title at stake, they are more attentive [to the fight]."

According to the WBA's rankings, there are 39 champions in 17 divisions, including super champions, regular and interim champions. Only in the welterweight division with Manny Pacquiao and strawweight with Thammanoon Niyomtrong, Knockout CP Freshmart, there is only a single champion. Two champions are recognized in eight divisions and in the other seven there are three champions per weight class.

"We would love to have a balance in terms of titles, but what is the balance that we could we offer?," Mendoza said.

“The ideal thing would be to do a tournament like the World Boxing Super Series does, where we have the best and not just the fighters that a promoter or two offers us."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Never heard so much crap in my life..

So it's hard to reduce number of titles, so instead they're just creating more..

Welterweight will soon have 2 as well.. A fight has already been announced.

[Ruthless-RKO]

duplicate thread

[Paci]

Mendoza is full of sh*t as always.

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBA now issuing regular titles for women

Guadalupe Bautista W10 Nora Cardoza ... The WBA has expanded its ridiculous policy of super champions and regular champions in the same weight class. Over the weekend in Culiacán, Mexico, Guadalupe “La Licenciada” Bautista (17-12-2, 3 KOs) claimed the WBA regular title at 108 pounds when she defeated Nora Cardoza (15-8-2, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision. Both women are Mexican. Yessica Bopp is the WBA super champion in this weight class.

Last week, Boxingtalk reported the WBA was also using the annoying interim champion designation for women:

The WBA does not discriminate-- it is now making the same ridiculous titles available to women that men have had access to for years... After some date changes, finally the WBA interim super bantamweight title fight between Nazarena Romero (10-0, 4 KOs) and Julieta Cardozo (12-5, 1KO) that was initially scheduled for March, has been agreed. The bout is scheduled for December 5th at the Chess Club of La Calera City in Córdoba, Argentina. [Note: What is particularly corrupt about this match-up is that Cardozo has lost five of her last six fights, and the last woman to defeat her, undefeated Iara Altamirano, was passed up by the WBA for the title opportunity.] Romero had an active 2019 with five successful fights, including a victory over Marianela Soledad Ramírez to win the South American belt, and an Argentinean title win over Laura Soledad Griffa.

The WBA super bantamweight champion is Venezuela's Mayerlin Rivas.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

I tried to start a media blackout on recognizing wba titles as long as interim and super existed. Never could get it going

So i changed my stance. If media reports it, networks promote it, and fighters pay for it than our hope is that so many titles start to exist that they are all worthless in value.

We are almost there. I have no effin clue who holds what titles in most divisions

[halfamill]

Whenever there is a unification bout between a Super and regular titlist WBA decides to make a vacant regular title fight. This just happened less than two months after this article when Yordenis Ugas was awarded the regular title after Thurman/Pacquiao unification.

[Syntax Error]

He's spot on, it is not easy for an organisation like the WBA to lose all those sanctioning fees.

[snake33]

My bull crap-o-meter is on max.

[halfamill]

I tried to start a media blackout on recognizing wba titles as long as interim and super existed. Never could get it going

So i changed my stance. If media reports it, networks promote it, and fighters pay for it than our hope is that so many titles start to exist that they are all worthless in value.

We are almost there. I have no effin clue who holds what titles in most divisions

Im on board. How do we get the IBF and WBO to go the WBA route?

[Paci]

I do Love special event-belts for No reason other then hyping a fight or throw something passive-agressive in your face, then Im think on the WBC who have Mayweather a "fornicate you"-belt.

And they do need to add rankings for each belt otherwise it is bullsh*t. And yes, do the IBF and WBO started with you know, silver international somethings yet?

I go by ratings on this site and the ring also, looks at the ring-runoffs who started their own puritan ratingsite. That nobody sort of cares about. Since they bailed over an vacancy or some BS. Was it Mayweather vs Guerrero? When it was a BS between Top Rank and yeah, Mayweather not wanting to match the cerrypicker against Manny.

Need to have a fighter to sell and a belt. So yeah, I do Love how the WBA have enough belts to go around for everybody who can pay up. Nothing wrong with giving then nice trinkets that looks good. Not a belt, like the Ring(that is like the most worthy of the brunch for real), just cause you have to win it. They have done heretical sh*t like yeah, giving People belts accourding to their ratings. At least people ain't payed for their number 9 spot or some BS. And that is bad for boxing. Since it makes no belts.

Belts should be earned when you can pay up and sell your fighter, just look at the german market. Do Love how some belts do get prestige only from the fighter who is holding it, not by who golden it looks. Or who the new fans need to accept that you need att least Five or more champs or else the sport dies. If your lucky enough the local tv-station might get their own guy. That you can root for. Do hate that the brits and other bastards got like sometimes two champs at a time. Like Beyer and Ottke or that smug bastard and Nigel Benn. Lucky pricks.

Do Love seeing THE WBA becoming a third grade belt like the WBF, WBU, IBC, IBU, WBU(nr 2 & 3?), THE other WBF that I just remember in this writing momentet. Also that Legends like Roy Jones held like 7 of 8 of them, did miss out on the WBO for reasons cause, he would have whooped the polish tiger more or less. And well, the polish market you know was Good for the promotion company you know Uni-something that is like dead now who put on showcases most of the time.

The WBA needs to join the WBC in this new div that they just made up for "health reasons" when it should at least add two more divs or just reform it. But lets add more belts, and 42 champs are better then 39. Do love in theory that we have like eeehhh 91 champs in total over 17 now 18 divs?? Need to reach a 100 before next year. It would be good for all Them champs out there.

[p4p1]

The problem is that he is correct when he says world title fights generate more money. More titles is good for everyone but the fans. Regional titles no longer mean anything, national titles IMO mean only slightly more. Of course the WBA (and other orgs) itself profits off of having more titles but more titles are better for the boxers financials as well. So what as fans should we want? I like other fans wish there was only one world title in each divisions and only one recognised governing body but how many millions of dollar would that be costing the fighters? I couldn't care less about it costing manager and promoters money but the fighters are worth caring about. And a world title even if there is 5 other champions in the division still adds 0's to the end of each fighters pay packet. That can't be a bad thing.

Boxing has never really been on the level, the sad state and devaluation of titles is just the last thing in long line of shitty things about boxing.

[Enlightened-One]

The problem is that he is correct when he says world title fights generate more money. More titles is good for everyone but the fans.

The money has to come from somewhere.

So the obvious reason why “world title” fights generate so much money, regardless of their legitimacy, is because it results in more “fans”, such as mainstream casuals, tuning into boxing events.

Therefore, gullible fans are the real problem, because they’re the ones that fund the very existence of these nonsense trinkets that have been wrongly labelled as “world titles.”

Everybody that earns an income from the sport of boxing will inevitably continue to support these nonsense titles, even if the same set of people tell the media otherwise.

Put it this way, GGG has only performed ten (or at most eleven, depending on how you regard Gennadiy's first legit world title fight against Daniel Geale) successful defences of a legitimate version of a world title.

However, the media and Golovkin's die-hard fans, even those from the hardcore boxing fraternity, doggedly maintain that he’s actually made a record-breaking 21 title defences, despite the fact that most of the same set of individuals ridicule the very existence of the WBA’s interim and regular straps.

So it’s clear that people choose to apply double standards, by only complaining about the WBA’s meaningless alphabet trinkets whenever it suits their preferred narrative.

And this sort of weird conduct only serves to justify Gilberto Mendoza’s reasoning to continue creating additional straps.

This means the fans are the real source of the problem, because they not only pay for these belts, but they often award prestige to these meaningless titles, depending on which boxer is holding them.

If you’re an opportunist businessman, which most people involved in professional boxing are, would you consider paying $100 or so to create a bespoke belt and fraudulently label it as a “world title”, if it guaranteed a long-term revenue stream, whereby you’ll be receiving tens of thousand of dollars per year from sanctioning fees?

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBA sanctions 14-13-1 vs. 13-9-2 for a world title!

Panama's Yaditza “Tigrilla” Pérez (14-13-1, 6 KOs) will challenge WBA 115-pound champion Maribel “Pantera” Ramírez (13-9-2, 3 KOs). The bout will take place in Lima, Peru on the 30th of this month. After more than three years of inactivity, the Mexican Ramírez is ready to defend the title she won on May 19th, 2018 when she defeated Linda Laura "Triple L" Lecca at home. That achievement came after several failed opportunities in which the same WBA belt was at stake. From the city of Chiriquí, Panama, Perez is undefeated in her last five fights.

“Pantera” will face a great challenge against “Tigrilla” in the same land where she has been consecrated.

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBA offers up two more bogus titles for May 1st pre-PPV show

The WBA will allow Erislandy Lara (pictured) and Thomas LaManna to compete for the WBA regular title, even though: A. Lara has never campainged at middleweight before; B. Ryota Murata is already the WBA champion (apparently he will be promoted to super champion) and C. there is already an interim champion, Chris Eubank, Jr. but Eubank is apparently being bypassed for the creation of this paper title. Lara and LaManna will fight each other on May 1st at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California on a Fox show that will be used to promote a pay-per-view show later that evening between former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz and Chris Arreola. .

The free Fox show will also see featherweight Eduardo Ramirez take on Isaac Avelar for the vacant interim WBA featherweight title. The WBA already has two champions at featherweight: Leo Santa Cruz and Can Xu.

“Erislandy Lara has had a long reign as an elite 154-pounder and now has his sights set on a new challenge in the star-studded middleweight division,” said promoter Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “He will bring his renowned skills and style to this tough matchup against the young and rangy Thomas LaManna. With fast-rising Mexican contender Eduardo Ramirez squaring off against the young exciting Mexican brawler Isaac Avelar in the co-main event, this primetime lineup is an ideal way to load up an already stacked night of boxing at Dignity Health Sports Park, leading up to the return of Andy Ruiz Jr. against Chris Arreola live on pay-per-view.”

Lara (27-3-3, 15 KOs) was the longest reigning 154-pound world champion before he lost a tough split-decision to Jarrett Hurd in a title unification match in 2018 that was the unanimous

“Fight of the Year”. Lara returned from that fight and battled current 154-pound world titleholder Brian Castano to a draw. Lara has since scored back-to-back triumphs with a knockout of Ramon Alvarez in 2019, and hiuslast result was a decision win over Greg Vendetti in August 2020. Lara has faced a slew of the top 154-pounders in the sport, including Canelo Alvarez, ahead of his middleweight debut.

“I’m excited to be making my 2021 debut on a huge platform live on Fox,” said Lara, who was born in Guantanamo, Cuba and now trains in Las Vegas. “Thomas LaManna is a tall middleweight with a lot of experience and I’m taking this fight very seriously, like always. I arrived weeks ago for training camp and Ismael Salas immediately got me working on the fundamentals of boxing. At this stage in my career, I’m all-action, fighting on the inside, and letting my hands fly. I’m going to make a statement in this fight with a knockout.”

The Belleville, New Jersey-native LaManna (30-4-1, 12 KOs) was riding an eight-fight unbeaten streak, which included seven wins plus a draw against Gabriel Bracero, before losing to Jorge Cota in January 2020. He won back-to-back middleweight fights in January and October entering this showdown, knocking out Jorge Pimentel and Juan de Jesus Gonzalez. Prior to his two most recent knockouts, LaManna dropped a narrow decision to Brian Mendoza in August 2020.

“It’s been a long time coming and now I’m finally getting my chance to accomplish my ultimate dream of becoming a champion,” said the 29-year-old LaManna. “This is the land of opportunity and I’m getting mine on May 1st. I’ve put my heart, blood and soul into this game. I’m the definition of the ‘American dream’. People can write me off if they want, because at the end of the day, there’s no doubt that I’m coming to win. This is my time.”

Fighting out of Sinaloa, Mexico, Ramirez (24-2-3, 11 KOs) has risen up the featherweight rankings with back-to-back sensational knockout victories, stopping Leduan Barthelemy in November 2019 before most recently blasting out Miguel Flores in December 2020. The 28-year-old is currently riding a streak of wins in four of his last five fights since losing to then 126-pound champion Lee Selby in 2017. He’s won 15 of his last 18 fights overall, with his only other blemishes coming in a draw against Barthelemy that was later avenged, and a decision loss to Claudio Marrero.

“This fight is very important for my career because it puts me one step closer to fighting for a world title again,” said Ramirez. “But I will not be looking past Avelar, who is coming off a big win and will be coming to fight like a proud Mexican, just like I do. I will be in top shape and ready to achieve this step toward my dream of getting another chance at a world title. No disrespect to my opponent, but I will win, no matter what it takes.”

The 23-year-old Avelar (17-2, 10 KOs) most recently won a wide unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Sakaria Lukas in December 2020, stopping a two-fight skid that included a loss to super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton. The Aguascalientes, Mexico native was unbeaten in his first 16 pro fights, including a 2019 triumph over Juan Antonio Lopez in his U.S. debut.

“I’m coming into this fight strongly believing that I’m going to stop Eduardo Ramirez,” said Avelar. “I’ve been hurting and stopping sparring partners during camp, so I’m fully prepared for a war. This is going to be a spectacular fight like Rafael Marquez vs. Israel Vazquez. I’ve been improving my game quite a bit in the last year. I asked for this fight, and I’m going to make Ramirez regret accepting it.”

[JMac]

He's spot on, it is not easy for an organisation like the WBA to lose all those sanctioning fees.

Bingo...that's what it's all about....$$$
In the mean time, nobody, even many boxing fans don't know who the champions are. 17 weight classes...WTF!!
There use to be a time many years ago when there was 8 weight classes, ONE champion. The WHOLE world knew who the heavyweight, Lt Hwt, middleweight, welterweight, etc, etc Champion was. But hey...if Gilberto gets his sanctioning fee, then all is good right.

[thereverend]

Boxing's declining popularity is a result of this belt situation. Boxing is a sport that desperately needs big names, champions that are the undisputed kings of their weight class. We all want to see the baddest humans on the planet fight. Instead you've got 3 or 4 or 8 guys that can claim to be the best while never fighting each other. It's self destruction, boxing is killing itself.

[Enlightened-One]

So the WBA allowed a fighter, Erislandy Lara, on a poor run of form (i.e. two preceding bouts were a loss and a draw), to capture their vacant 154lbs regular title against a journeyman.

The Cuban was then allowed to defend his world 154lbs regular “title” against another journeyman.

And the WBA is allowing Lara to challenge for their vacant 160lbs title, bypassing their current interim titleholder (Chris Eubank Jr.), to face his third consecutive journeyman that has only competed in two middleweight bouts within the last five years (against guys with a combined total of 40 losses!).

For the record, the guy that Lara will be facing (Thomas Lamanna) wasn't even ranked at 160lbs by the WBA until he scored a fifth-round stoppage in January, against an opponent with 14 losses that had previously never engaged in a middleweight contest!

WTF!!!

[margaret thatcher]

cornflake lamanna

[giacomino]

So the WBA allowed a fighter, Erislandy Lara, on a poor run of form (i.e. two preceding bouts were a loss and a draw), to capture their vacant 154lbs regular title against a journeyman.

The Cuban was then allowed to defend his world 154lbs regular “title” against another journeyman.

And the WBA is allowing Lara to challenge for their vacant 160lbs title, bypassing their current interim titleholder (Chris Eubank Jr.), to face his third consecutive journeyman that has only competed in two middleweight bouts within the last five years (against guys with a combined total of 40 losses!).

For the record, the guy that Lara will be facing (Thomas Lamanna) wasn't even ranked at 160lbs by the WBA until he scored a fifth-round stoppage in January, against an opponent with 14 losses that had previously never engaged in a middleweight contest!

WTF!!!

Well, Lamanna has moved up to 120th at middleweight on boxrec and has the scary nickname of Cornflake. Lara has been on a softy run since the judges let him get out of the Castaño fight with a draw. It’s like the WBA is trying to make up for the close fights Lara has had in the past by throwing alphabet belts at him in his old age