Aside of the obvious fact the alphabet sanctioning bodies want as many "champions" as possible, I can't think of a sound reason why a boxer shouldn't be allowed to compete in more then one weight class simultaneously... We have guys who managed to become champions (okay maybe not, but belt holders nevertheless) in 2, 3, 4 or even more weight classes, but they had to lay down their belts first and then fight in the next higher class. But why should a fighter not be allowed to fight in say MW and SMW as he pleases? If he can make the MW weight, he could be even champion in MW and SMW at the same time. We all know how hard it is to have a unified champion - almost impossible. But why should we not have say WBC MW and SMW champion, or say IBF WW, JMW and MW champion? With the lower weight classes, which differ only 3-4 lbs it would be even easier to become champion of more then one division, suppose Manny Paquiao could easily become 7-division-champion at the same time, kicking ass between Bantam- and Welterweight... But we have too many weight classes anyway, that's the fact, with a bunch of dwarves as "champions" where the weight difference between the divisions is less then the difference in weight between a plenty evening meal with lots of drinking and the toilet visit next morning... I think we could easily live with the lower weight classes differing no less then 5 pounds - who cares if one dwarf beats another dwarf who's 1-2 lbs lighter or heavier, there's no real difference whatsoever... The weight classes could then look something like this: 105 Minimumweight 110 Strawweight 115 Flyweight 120 Bantamweight 125 Featherweight 130 Junior Lightweight 135 Lightweight 140 Junior Welterweight 146 Welterweight 153 Junior Middleweight 160 Middleweight 168 Super Middleweight 180 Light Heavyweight 200 Cruiserweight 230 Heavyweight 230+ Super heavyweight (maybe...) The weight classes would be spread much more even then now, and if a boxer could fight in more then one weight division at the same time, why not? The Super Heavyweight division can be discussed this way and that - I think anyone halfway sane admits huge size and weight difference means huge advantage. In the lower weight classes people are bitching about every single pound more or less, and in Heavyweight nobody finds it wrong when a blown-up Middleweight with barely 200 lbs fights against a behemoth 1 foot bigger and 100 lbs heavier... On the other side, even the Klitschkos could pretty easily cut 15-20 lbs to make the 230 lbs limit if needed and thus still compete in the Heavyweight division, while kicking ass in the Super Heavyweight Division as well... So who would be the real Super Heavyweight fighters then, I mean who is that big so he couldn't make 230 lbs without draining himself seriously? Are there enough such behemots to populate the Super Heavyweight division? Probably not, but one could still try first and look what happens and if it sticks or not, mean if there is enough public interest, enough good fighters and enough money to make it work, better then just keep bitching over the weight issues until the judgement day and just keep telling that a weight division above Heavyweight is just crap... Because if the humanity were thinking this way, we would still be living in caves and hunting bears and mammuts for breakfast... You have to try something first and then look if it was a good idea or not, you can't think everything out in advance...
way to ramble... btw, how can someone like Pac hold 7 belts at once? how can he defend his 120 belt when he can't make that weight anymore?
You could have saved yourself a whole lot of typing if you'd simply realised at the start that you're talking bollocks. Marquez didn't have to drop his titles before fighting Mayweather at WW Pavlik didn't have to lay down his titles before fighting Hopkins at LHW If people drop the titles, it's because they choose to and don't want to fight the mandatories that would be required.
Someone's more than welcome to hold belts in more than one weight class if they're willing to face all the mandatories in both weight classes, but guys just don't fight that much anymore.
i dont think it's possible. the abc wnat there belts to have as many champions as possible. if you move up in weight for another belt then you HAVE to vacate your old belt...you could prolly go up in wieght, win a title, vacate it, then move back down, win, vacate repeat but the idea of being the best of your division is much more powerful than scamming 2 belts at 2 different weights. also it is more of a circus act if you just shuffle belt to belt. the reason hagler, hopkins, monzon are so highley ranked isnt becuase of there great opposition (though it is peppered fight by fight) it's becuase they are undisputed which is a very respectable thing. this is why some dont like mayweather. isnt becuase of his skill ability or achivement it's that undisputed king of the realm which he doesnt look for. having leonard win 2 weights in 1 fight is bizaar enough for me.
Easily? Do you have any idea how hard dropping 20 pounds is when you don't much fat to begin with? Plus going down and back up and down again would mean delays that would make championship fights even more rare than they are today.
In the lower weights it is hard to find boxer who stay at one weight class the whole life. They are growing, getting bigger and finally become fatter. The guys at LHW and above ... if they stay healthy they don't need to change classes until they regularly knock the McDonald doors. In between it depends on persona.
So a fighter can hold belts in differant waights as long as they face the mandatorys in each class? Is that right?
You could have saved yourself lot of embarassing if you'd simply realized that thinking first and writing afterwards would be way better then switching your brain off and writing "bollocks" all over the place... You are a perfect example of the guy who on his own would still live in the cave and hunt bears for breakfast... Not able to generate new ideas and not even able to grasp the new ideas other have thought of, but the first of the bunch just writing "bollocks"...
I didn't speak of really LOSING 15-20 pounds of fat, I just said CUTTING 15-20 pounds before the fight. If Paul Williams is said to cut 10-15 pounds before his fights regularly (an he isn't THAT fat guy at all...) I don't see why the Klitschkos couldn't cut 15-20 pounds if needed. And if not, then they would have to compete in Super Heavyweight, maybe even better. And I wasn's speaking of going up and down like RJJ up to HW and back down, just of making weight for more then one division - say why couldn't Abraham fight at SMW and still at MW? If he still can make 160 pounds now and for the next fight he could take it easy making only 168 lbs for the SMW fight, next time strain a bit more and make 160 pounds again, so what's the problem? Abraham said he would go back to MW for a fight with Sturm, say he wins Super Six, would he have to vacate his WBA/WBC belts to do this? And if not, suppose he fights Sturm at 160 and wins, thus becoming WBA MW champ, now which belts would he have to vacate? Why shouldn't he stay champ at MW and SMW?
I don't quite see the logic - an unified champ has 2, 3 or even 4 belts, so he has 2, 3 or even 4 mandatories to face on regular basis instead of just one. What is then a big difference if you have to face one mandatory for each of your belts in one weight division, or if you have to face one mandatory for each weight division of one sanctioning body? Say Abraham wins Super Six, thus becoming WBC/WBA SMW champ. So he has to defend the belts against two mandatories regularly. Then he goes back to MW and fight Sturm (he said he would go back to MW again for this one fight) than what? He would have to vacate either the MW belt immediately after, or to vacate his SMW belts. Why shouldn't he defend his WBA MW belt against a mandatory now and then and his WBA SMW belt as well? If three belts are too much, he still could vacate WBC SMW belt and remain two division WBA champ. I don't see real difference between defending MW and SMW belts for a while and defending 2 SMW belts for a while. Abraham walks around at way more then 168 lbs, if he can cut weight down to 160 then it's no strain for him to cut weight only down to 168 now and then...
Your question has already been answered, you just chose not to read it. He can, so long as he continues to fight his mandatory challengers to both belts. Most boxers don't do this because it would require fighting more often than they are accustomed to and because moving back and forth in weight like that is dangerous. Either you're too small at the larger weight, or drained at the smaller weight.
2 to 3 max...the mid part being the best weight for you, and the others as either your ripped version, and the other as your bigger version...thats the only way i see this working...