BoxRec

Bombardier Billy Wells won the original Heavyweight 22 carat gold belt outright, and the belt is still in existence at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Larkhill, Salisbury.
For obvious reasons the belts were soon changed from a gold one , too expensive to keep going.

There is a belt awarded to John L Sullivan, it was made of pure gold and studded with 400 diamonds. cost $10,000 in 1888.

It's quite rare people actually defend a Lonsdale belt three times now- belts are often given up for various reasons. Other than Kell Brook, who has done it within the lats few years?

I think Hatton, for example, won the British title then immediatly "moved on" the the WBU title.

This



is now worth more than this

There's a fascinating article about the Lonsdale belt in the current issue of Boxing Monthly, which touches on many of the things Jamie Moore talks about in his post.

nh1 wrote:There's a fascinating article about the Lonsdale belt in the current issue of Boxing Monthly, which touches on many of the things Jamie Moore talks about in his post.

It would be nice if the concept of British Champion carried more weight, too.

I know "it's all politics" "Boxing is a business" "thats just the way it is now" style arguements, but still, in an "ideal world" it would be nice to see.


the fact that two of our three current "World" Champions never even fought for it speaks volumes.

I think the Lonsdale is the best looking belt but I think the fact that a fighter that doesn't win it outright gets NOTHING to keep in recognition of his achievement, not even a certificate ffs, is shocking. And they now can't even keep hold of it for longer than 2 weeks after becoming British Champion due to the state some belts were being returned in.

The article in BM was very interesting and said that the 4 fight rule came in largely due to the financial troubles the board were faced with.

Matt W wrote:
The article in BM was very interesting and said that the 4 fight rule came in largely due to the financial troubles the board were faced with.

I actually like the 4 fight rule.

I means that a fighter needs to win it, and make three successful defences (well, duh...) but three defences does seem a more noteworthy milestone to me.

In more practical terms, it (generally) means the fighter will face at least one tough fight in his defences.

I would prefer them to do what the WBC do and offer the opportunity for anybody to buy one online. If that doesn't give a belt status I don't know what does.

banjo wrote:Lonsdale is definitely the most prestigious.

The Lonsdale belt is to my mind pretty much unique amongst boxing belts nowadays in that it means pretty much exactly the same to fighters now as it did thirty years ago. Sure, there are occasional fighters who bypass it, either by going the European Voluntary route (Munroe, McCloskey) or by supreme marketability (Khan), but to the vast majority of boxers it is their first target when they enter the pro ranks.

Matt W wrote:I would prefer them to do what the WBC do and offer the opportunity for anybody to buy one online. If that doesn't give a belt status I don't know what does.

A status as cheap(despite the actual cost) and tacky.

The Lonsdale belt has a proud reputation and one of the main reasons for that is because they are so difficult to get.

I also like the look and style of the Lonsdale belt, unlike the chunky, clunky 'World' belts that are around nowdays.

I think surely when M'baye was presented with his WBA belt it was the most prestigious.....a WBU belt with a bit of gaffer tape on it!

Lonsdale belt without question, it's a craftsman ship at it's finest, costs about £6000 to make and they sell for more if a champion falls on hard times and has to sell it. The world title belts obviously generate more money, but there just plastic.

I have an original European belt from the early 90s, its nice to look at!!! and I did not have to fight to keep it!!