Separating the beltholders

The fact of the matter is Cunningham beat a title holder to get his belt, which would put him in the classification of a titleist. Now I admit that his situation is quirky given that he would've been classified as paper champ had he won the first time instead of in a rematch. However, situations like this don't happen often.

Again, one way to reestablish lineage is the divisions top two fighters to fight eachother. After Haye left, the lineage had been broken. At that point, Adamek and Cunningham were considered the top 2 guys in the division(forget for a minute that Cunningham was a titlest. Every beltholder is a titlest or paper champ when the lineage is broken. Just concentrate on Cunningham and Adamek being considered the top two fighters in the division).

You're still getting caught up in conotations here. When you see the term "paper champ" you're thinking about someone who isn't a good fighter. I'm simply using it to indentify how someone aquired their title. Just because you're a paper champ or a titlest, or even a non titlest, doesn't mean that you're not a good fighter. So, if we accept that lineage can be reestablished by pitting the top two fighters against eachother, and if we accept that Adamek and Cunningham were the top two fighters at CW in a time where the lineage had been broken, then that would mean that the winner of that fight would have reestablished lineage. There is nothing that says a titlest, paper champ, or non titlest can't be involved in a fight to reestablish lineage.

 

I must say this is one of the few times I've been able to disagree with posters without the conversation resorting to cursing and name calling.

 

I guess it wouldn't be a normal disscussion unless a brit poster was calling someone a ****.

 

Ok then. It seems your problem isn't with my classification of a champion but rather with the notion Cunningham and Adamek were ranked 1 and 2. Here's what I have to say about that. Personally, I don't like the 1 vs. 2 method. I feel it's hard to determine who is number 1 and who is number 2. However, this is a totally different argument. For the sake of this argument, let's just assume that the 1 vs 2 method is sound and that the Ring Magazine's rankings were accurate. If we assume this, then Adamek would be the Cruiserweight champion as he and Cunningham were ranked 1 and 2 at the time of the fight.