You mean the other three, two of which (the WBA and IBF) should really be wrapped around Kovalev's waist seeing as both the fighters Hopkins won them off only managed to win or retain them thanks to being the beneficiaries of terrible robberies? Campillo went over to the US twice and got robbed horribly against Cloud and Shumenov. Kovalev blitzed Campillo in three one-sided destructive rounds and by rights should now be the unified WBA/IBF and WBO champion. Hopkins only got the chance to unify those belts thanks to Campillo getting royally screwed over.
The man to beat is Stevenson he beat the man that beat the man..Who did Kovelav beat ?Cleverly ?? How long was he even a LHW ? He wins against Stevenson he's undisputed !Having the WBO belt is no better than a high ranking ! WBC WBA IBF and Ring = Undisputed !
I'm usually one to want a guy to take on all comers, but in Hopkins case, he's really freakin old. He has to be judicious in who he fights. Kovalev is not the sort he will look good against.
bhop already set the precedent. back in the day undisputed meant wbc, wba and ibf. when he chose to fight delaloya for the wbo...that raised the bar for undisputed. no wbo....no undisputed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_undisputed_boxing_champions History says otherwise ..You don't need that lower tier strap to be undisputed ! sorry to Burt your bubble
you do realize the majority of that list was comprised before the existence of the wbo and the ibf? right? in this watered down day and age....undisputed means wbc, wba, ibf and wbo.
The link you posted says: Criteria for being undisputed: "2007–Present, a boxer who holds the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles simultaneously. (By February 2007, All four major Organisations were recognised by each other)." You would have the case if the WBO titleholder was some lightly regarded fighter, but not if he's one of the top 3 guys in the division.
Exactly the WBO wasn't even considered a major title ..So like I said you don't need the WBO To be recognized as undisputed ! But like I said before Stevenson is the man to beat not Kovalev .. If Hopkins were to beat Stevenson and get the WBC and Ring are you saying he won't have that claim?
No, I mean he won't have that claim. He'd be a unified champ, but not undisputed. I also don't think he'd beat Stevenson.