Spinks Was still The Ring Magazine Champ..

Yes Spinks was the lineal champ - the champ - until Tyson proved otherwise. That’s what irritates me about people always stating Tyson was the youngest HW champion ever. No, he wasn’t, he was the youngest belt holder - the youngest champion in division history is still Patterson.

But since I don’t follow the current Heavy scene I’m afraid I can’t help with your main query.

 

I think when Fury retired for a few months they made the winner of AJ vs Usyk the lineal champ so once they decided to go in this direction can’t take it off him

Thankfully in May we finally get a clear number one in the division

 

There should be rules to eliminate absolutely any ambiguity. Minute one, second one that you formally announce your retirement, that’s it. You lose the championship.

 

That’s why I used the word ‘formally.’ You call a press conference & announce it, or put it in writing, & that’s it.

 

That’s pretty much what Fury did announced it online so you can’t really blame ring magazine the guy is just flakey

 

They always get it wrong and the ignorant media compounds it. Big difference between between lineal and belt holder.
I don’t expect Tyson himself, gets it wrong, being a historian of the game.

 

I presume that the logic that the Ring Magazine base ranking Usyk as the lineal champion, is that one of the two following criteria must be met for lineage to pass from one fighter to another:

1) The lineal champion losses a fight; Or
2) The lineal champion retires and the #1 and #2 contenders subsequently fight;

The Ring ranked Usyk #1 and AJ #2 going into their rematch, at which point Fury was officially retired.

As/if the lineal champion is determined live, rather than retrospectively, then how quickly Fury made his comeback is irrelevant. He was retired when the #1 & #2 contenders met, so a new lineage is established.

 

In this case, I think this is pretty basic. Fury didn't fight for more than 30 months. I applaud Ring for moving on to the next option.

 

Yeah, it's dumb. I used to think that the Ring Magazine/Lineal champion were one in the same but they're very different. The Ring Magazine belt is just a trophy awarded by a magazine to recognize a champion under their rules, the "lineal" champion is just an imaginary title when "the man beats the man" and to my understanding can't be taken away unless the person losses, or a significantly long recess happens and a new "lineal champion" is crowned. Even still, the long retired boxer can have claim to being the "lineal" champion if he fights later on in the future, just how Ali was considered lineal champion during his banishment or how James J Jeffries was considered it during his long retirement. Fury was the lineal/ring magazine/unified champion after the Klitschko bout but he was out of the ring for 2 and a half years and lost all his belts, yet still had the claim as "lineal" champion in his next few bouts, especially in his fight vs Wilder which was billed as the WBC/Lineal title.

Fury then fights Wilder again and is gifted his old Ring Magazine belt as well as the WBC title. Fury fights consistently, eventually meeting Dillan Whyte who was his WBC mandatory and top 5 HW contender at the time. Fury after that match claims retirement for a couple of weeks, during those couple of weeks Usyk fights Joshua a 2nd time and the ring magazine suddenly make the winner their new champion despite Tyson Fury fight Dereck Chisora a couple of months after the Whyte fight. The Ring Magazine can't exactly take back the title they gave to Usyk, so he still remains their champion.

This reminds me of Teofimo Lopez claiming retirement after the Josh Taylor fight. They removed him from the rankings for a while but then put him back as their champion when he had a fight scheduled. Fury is and should still be considered the lineal champion unless Usyk beats him next month.

 

The ring stripped him of the title during those 30 months but then gave it to him again during the 2nd Wilder fight. They stripped him a 2nd time because he claimed retirement those couple of weeks after the Whyte fight.

 

I consider Usyk the champion. You can’t just come & go as you please in any other form of employment - why is Boxing different? Retired is retired, to me. It has benefits & consequences.