BoxRec

it seems to me it is used to get fighters up the WBO rankings,
Who will Earl fight for WBU title, he should have gone for european.

Its so people like Hatton can call themselves 'world champions' and make 15+ defences without fighting anyone remotely world class!... I expect Amir Khan to pick up his own WBU title sometime in the next 18 months!.... happy days!!...

Mitchell will be super feather champion soon. Smith middlewight champion

The only thing I can think of it that there is a variety of trouser out there, possibly tailored by jesuits, which has unfeasable large belt-loops and that a shop or chain of shops which sells them is closely affiliated with Sports Network, whose represented boxers get freebies.
It's just a theory, but it makes more sense than to think that SN propping up the wbu is in any way beneficial to boxing, boxing in britain, british boxers or britains place in boxing.

Beneficial to the fighters, beneficial to the promoters, beneficial to the tv networks who wish to have the words 'world title fight' on their posters.

Fighters definetly earn more money as a result of the proliferation of belts, but it does cheapen the sport.

There was a good point made by Steve Kim on maxboxing the other day, pointing out that in the days of only one champ, it was a lot harder for fighters to get a title shot as the champ could just defend once a year, and often people got frozen out completely and never got their shot at all.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Beneficial to the fighters, beneficial to the promoters, beneficial to the tv networks who wish to have the words 'world title fight' on their posters.

Fighters definetly earn more money as a result of the proliferation of belts, but it does cheapen the sport.

There was a good point made by Steve Kim on maxboxing the other day, pointing out that in the days of only one champ, it was a lot harder for fighters to get a title shot as the champ could just defend once a year, and often people got frozen out completely and never got their shot at all.

You're absolutely right but with three genuine belts on offer these days if you can't get a shot with at least one of them you probably ain't good enough.

I mean the WBU title is an absolute joke, an area title has more prestige.

I am glad sky dont tlevise hese bouts anymore they are a joke! What is Earl doing going for this instead of EBU belt, what he make in short term never make again in long term. WBU titles apart from Hatton, fighters have no where.

leforge wrote:I am glad sky dont tlevise hese bouts anymore they are a joke!

Yes now we have the BBC showing us these great 'world' title fights.

The WBU belt is to con casual fans that they are watching a world title fight in a country where boxing is no longer a mainstream sport.

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Depending on angle of WBU belt, both methods can be used.

Boxing nowadays is a very marginalised sport, and whether there is one belt on offer, or 4 belts, will not draw a wider audience outside the boxing community. We pretty much know who the top guys are and whether they hold a WBU belt or WBO belt will make no difference in the perception of the boxing fan eg. Ricky Hatton or Graham Earl.

Personnally, I dont like the proliferation of World Title governing bodies because it inevitably dilutes the sport to an extent that turns the average boxing fan off. The WBU today is the WBO of yesterday. The guys that win these belts will ultimately be judged on who they fought. But they definately earn more money from the situation and I'm all for that. But what I don't like is the fact that their management teams will use the excuse that they hold a belt to negotiate terms that make natural matchups difficult, and, almost impossible to make.

Earl down to fight for WBU title on 28 October according to there website.

Also no other fighters apart from Sports network are title holders

The point of WBU belts is to defraud members of the public, who aren't knowledgeable enough to know better, into parting with their money in exchange for tickets to see a "world championship" boxing match.

Simple as that.

The term "world championship" can be put on the event advertising and that helps to draw in paying punters.

Its a phoney, fraudulent way of bastardizing the concept of "world champion" in boxing and only because the sport is so badly run do the perpetrators get away with it.