What do you think about this subject,personally i think it's joke.You know the saying "there can only be one" well according to boxing today we have is it 7 world titles...?
WBA,WBC,IBF,WBO,IBO,WBU and WBF.How is this allowed.
I know that defending the WBF the fighter gets around £4000.Not much when he is supposed to be a world champ is it?As thats what it all revolves around isn't it "money".
I would fight for one of these small so called world titles because you couldnt refuse could you really but could you say you were the "world champion" if you won the WBF?
Mickey mouse titles
By Vaughn "Bigboscoe" Featherstone, Editor and Founder of Thirdman boxing.com
Sanctioning bodies receive a large sanctioning fee for championship fights. Many of these fees are paid by the fighter himself (or herself) which reduces the fighter's purse immensely. Due to the many sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBC, WBA, WBO, to name just a few) it is almost impossible to avoid them nowadays. The sanctioning bodies also tend to pick their own judges. This allows "favorites" to get their way when it comes to decisions (think of Chris Eubank).
Here are a few situations involving corruption.
JAKE AND THE MOB: THE DIVE TO THE TOP!
Jake Lamotta was a powerful force in the mid-1940's with big fights against Sugar Ray Robinson, Fritzie Zivic, George Kochan and Tony Janiro behind him. The problem was, despite all the wins and tough competition, he could not secure a title shot. With mob figures controlling the boxing world, he agreed to take a dive against Billy Fox in exchange for a chance at a title. Fox was no superstar, and Lamotta was expected to blow right through him.
Enter Frankie Carbo
Carbo was a gangster who ran boxing for over 15 years and was a member of reputed crime consortium Murder Incorporated during the 30's. He was also known to be the power behind the International Boxing Club, which was basically the major boxing sanctioning body. Carbo ran the IBC out of its New York headquarters. LaMotta took the dive and eventually received his promised title shot in 1949 against France's Marcel Cerdan. LaMotta won by 10th round TKO.
La Motta later admitted taking a dive in return for a shot at the title. Eventually, the IBC disbanded and Carbo was convicted and jailed for 25 years.
(NOTE: LaMotta and Cerdan were scheduled or a rematch but Cerdan was tragically killed in a plane crash on his way to the rematch).
ROCCHIGIANI TKO's THE WBC!
German boxer Graciano Rocchigiani was reinstated as WBC light-heavyweight champion for the period of March 1998 through to April 2000. An order signed by New York Judge Richard Owen, decreed that Rocchigiani "became the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight champion upon defeating Michael Nunn on 21/3/98 and remained the champion until in or about April 2000."
Prior rulings by Judge Owen revealed manipulation and deceit by the WBC and gamesplaying by Roy Jones Junior, who attempted to reclaim his championship without having to fight Rocchigiani after his planned heavyweight bout with James "Buster" Douglas fell through.
(Note: Jones had considered a bout with Evander Holyfield as well but those plans were also scrapped).
However, WBC, knowing the lucrative sums of money Jones could generate, decreed three months after the March 1998 fight that it had made 'typographical errors' with its promotional, contractual and references to the fight being a championship fight and to Rocchigiani as champion.
Judge Owen (in 2001) ordered the WBC to court declaring that the "wholly arbitrary and unfair conduct of the defendant in this case would leave anyone down for the proverbial count," assessed the WBC pay $7.8 million actual damages, plus interest, and $20 million punitive damages.
The WBC recently filed for bankruptcy following the decision.
HOLYFIELD-LEWIS I: THE FIFTH ROUND MISTAKE!
The first fight between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis was close and declared a draw. However, you couldn't find two individuals in a room full of a thousand whom felt Evander Holyfield won the controversial fifth round. In this round, judge Eugenia Williams stated that she felt Holyfield was more aggressive and landed the more effective punches. Ms. Williams also scored the fight in Holyfield's favour. (Larry O'Connell of Britain scored it 115-115, Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa favored Lewis 116-113). After watching the fight, O'Connell felt he had done Lewis an injustice and went on HBO and issued an apology to Lewis and the boxing world.
Later, during investigations, it was learned that Ms. Williams had, prior to the fight, filed for bankruptcy. On November 5th, 1999, IBF President Bob Lee and three others were indicted on 32 counts of soliciting and accepting bribes to fix rankings.
"I've gotten it on good account that before the first Holyfield-Lewis fight, Bob Lee said he had Holyfield as his champion, " Lewis stated a week before the rematch. "He's the one who put Eugenia Williams into my fight. Now everything is coming out, and it just confirms to me our suspicions of skullduggery going on."
So what is the upshot of this! For the past few years, the cries for a universal boxing commission have been getting louder. Senator John McCain, an avid boxing fan, is leading the charge to clean up the sport. With the many sanctioning bodies, a national commission is definitely needed.
Sanctioning bodies receive a large sanctioning fee for championship fights. Many of these fees are paid by the fighter himself (or herself) which reduces the fighter's purse immensely. Due to the many sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBC, WBA, WBO, to name just a few) it is almost impossible to avoid them nowadays. The sanctioning bodies also tend to pick their own judges. This allows "favorites" to get their way when it comes to decisions (think of Chris Eubank).
Here are a few situations involving corruption.
JAKE AND THE MOB: THE DIVE TO THE TOP!
Jake Lamotta was a powerful force in the mid-1940's with big fights against Sugar Ray Robinson, Fritzie Zivic, George Kochan and Tony Janiro behind him. The problem was, despite all the wins and tough competition, he could not secure a title shot. With mob figures controlling the boxing world, he agreed to take a dive against Billy Fox in exchange for a chance at a title. Fox was no superstar, and Lamotta was expected to blow right through him.
Enter Frankie Carbo
Carbo was a gangster who ran boxing for over 15 years and was a member of reputed crime consortium Murder Incorporated during the 30's. He was also known to be the power behind the International Boxing Club, which was basically the major boxing sanctioning body. Carbo ran the IBC out of its New York headquarters. LaMotta took the dive and eventually received his promised title shot in 1949 against France's Marcel Cerdan. LaMotta won by 10th round TKO.
La Motta later admitted taking a dive in return for a shot at the title. Eventually, the IBC disbanded and Carbo was convicted and jailed for 25 years.
(NOTE: LaMotta and Cerdan were scheduled or a rematch but Cerdan was tragically killed in a plane crash on his way to the rematch).
ROCCHIGIANI TKO's THE WBC!
German boxer Graciano Rocchigiani was reinstated as WBC light-heavyweight champion for the period of March 1998 through to April 2000. An order signed by New York Judge Richard Owen, decreed that Rocchigiani "became the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight champion upon defeating Michael Nunn on 21/3/98 and remained the champion until in or about April 2000."
Prior rulings by Judge Owen revealed manipulation and deceit by the WBC and gamesplaying by Roy Jones Junior, who attempted to reclaim his championship without having to fight Rocchigiani after his planned heavyweight bout with James "Buster" Douglas fell through.
(Note: Jones had considered a bout with Evander Holyfield as well but those plans were also scrapped).
However, WBC, knowing the lucrative sums of money Jones could generate, decreed three months after the March 1998 fight that it had made 'typographical errors' with its promotional, contractual and references to the fight being a championship fight and to Rocchigiani as champion.
Judge Owen (in 2001) ordered the WBC to court declaring that the "wholly arbitrary and unfair conduct of the defendant in this case would leave anyone down for the proverbial count," assessed the WBC pay $7.8 million actual damages, plus interest, and $20 million punitive damages.
The WBC recently filed for bankruptcy following the decision.
HOLYFIELD-LEWIS I: THE FIFTH ROUND MISTAKE!
The first fight between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis was close and declared a draw. However, you couldn't find two individuals in a room full of a thousand whom felt Evander Holyfield won the controversial fifth round. In this round, judge Eugenia Williams stated that she felt Holyfield was more aggressive and landed the more effective punches. Ms. Williams also scored the fight in Holyfield's favour. (Larry O'Connell of Britain scored it 115-115, Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa favored Lewis 116-113). After watching the fight, O'Connell felt he had done Lewis an injustice and went on HBO and issued an apology to Lewis and the boxing world.
Later, during investigations, it was learned that Ms. Williams had, prior to the fight, filed for bankruptcy. On November 5th, 1999, IBF President Bob Lee and three others were indicted on 32 counts of soliciting and accepting bribes to fix rankings.
"I've gotten it on good account that before the first Holyfield-Lewis fight, Bob Lee said he had Holyfield as his champion, " Lewis stated a week before the rematch. "He's the one who put Eugenia Williams into my fight. Now everything is coming out, and it just confirms to me our suspicions of skullduggery going on."
So what is the upshot of this! For the past few years, the cries for a universal boxing commission have been getting louder. Senator John McCain, an avid boxing fan, is leading the charge to clean up the sport. With the many sanctioning bodies, a national commission is definitely needed.
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hitman_hatton1
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