If The Ring strip Fury will you still consider him lineal champ?

"Installed", exactly. Installed by who? Lineage can be created either by (near) universal acclimation, or by beating the man who was (near) universally acclaimed. Johnson did both in beating Burns and Jeffries.

If one of the current champs unifies all the belts, they have a true claim to "lineal".

However, Lewis could still theoretically come out of retirement, and both would have a valid claim as the lineal champ. Certainly the modern champ would be greatly favored if they fought, and it would be reminiscent of Tyson beating Spinks for lineal belt even though he was already the more respected, legitimate champ. But "lineal" would still be mutually shared.

 

When did Ho Chi Minh sleep in the White House? I must have missed this.

 

No. I would rather consider him a retired champion.

 

Lewis didn't beat the man who beat the man all the way back to John L Sullivan though. Because the chain simply isn't continuous. Marciano alone sees to that, regardless of any other anomalies along the way.

 

Fury is the man..........

 

If he ever was, he stopped being that when he retired.

The whole discussion of who was, when and where the lineal champion at what time over and over again, shows the real value of it nowadays.
It's highly debated, highly inconsistent, and the actual rule of what to do when a lineal champ retires practically useless, so "historians" and publications have made up their own interpretations along the way. Sometimes even leading to multiple guys having a claim on it.

It useless

 

Yeah that was more of a stalemate. Considered an L for us because Nam were such big underdogs so it was a pretty embarrassing result for the Big Bad World Police, but yeah. Wouldn't call it a W for Charlie so much as they effectively fought to a defensive stalemate until we shrugged and ceased to aggress.

 

Thanks for posting this, agree with all points, you've said it better than I ever could.

 

nope
tyson fury does not even have a fight lined up that i am aware of.
how can you recognise a fighter who last fought in 2015 as he number 1 ranked fighter in a division

in what other individual sport is that so ?

in tennis if federer did not compete in 1 event for the next three years he would be ranked i
1 ?

in golf is woods ranked 1

and its not as if tyson fury has kept in shape and could step back into the fold and be what he was in the klitchko fight / putting on extreme weight and then losing it again has proven to be detrimental to every heavy i have seen do it.

riddick bowe did it and was washed up his career over by the time he was 28/29 and that was fighting regulary let alone inactive.

can fury come back / yes IMO
will he be the same NO imo

ring rust/weight/ timing/stamina/speed/ ?
who knows where he will be / just look at the photos / the man is morbidly obese /

he was in great condition for the wlad fight/ never a body beautiful but for him he was good

look at some of his early fights when he was fleshy and not in shape and he was sloppy and poorly coordinated.

let tyson prove it in the ring to get his number 1 ranking back

 

This is the correct answer. It also illustrates the stupidity of the whole "lineal" argument because there are no definitive criteria, it is not an official status and people continually twist its meaning to suit their own agendas or promote the interests of their favourite fighter.

 

Of course.

 

The only way a new lineage can be established is if Wilder and Joshua both win their next fights and fight each other. The winner challenges Fury, and if Fury isn't ready then and only then would I consider Joshua or Wilder the lineal hvw champion. Even now what I just wrote is almost a crock of **** lol.

 

I consider him as my cocaine buddy.

 

As IB mentioned, it was not an outright win. It was a split draw against a massive underdog.

 

Fury is the lineal champ until someone beats him in the ring.

What the ding-a-lings at The Ring think doesn't come into it.

The lineal championship & The Ring championship are two different things.

The lineal championship is worth more than any of the alphabet belts which is why Fury is seeking 60/40 against Lowballer.