No he was interim world champ but was never full world champ. Nice guy Alex and he is good when on the tv, but dems are the facts.
I think people's main point is that he never won a full world title fight at any point. He fought British level Stevie Foster Jr for the interim title then had 1 world title fight which he lost. So he may have technically been a world champion as like @Jurgen said he must have been awarded one in the post, but to many people like myself he was not a legit world champion.
Okay, I will try and simplify for you. There are 4 world titles, WBO, WBA, IBF AND WBC. I'd count the ring too, although its rarely contested without one of the others. I don't count interim / intercontinental/ international. For someone in my eyes to be a champion, they have to win a fight with one of the above on the line.
He was promoted to full champion after Guzman vacated therefore he was the full WBO champion. It's not Arthur's fault it was mainly down to boxing politics and Harrison loosing the plot. You can argue the technicalities all day but in the end it is the decision of the governing body that counts. By your logic neither Joshua or Wilder are legit world champions either.
It’s a bit different when someone is popped for drugs and then retires. They become vacant belts. Nobody get a promotion for the sake of it. There was nobody credible to hold them.
Fair enough, as I stated there is no right and wrong answer, and you thus recognise Arthur as a WBO champ.
I understand that you're trying to get a rise out of me, for some reason. I will take the bait this once, to spell it out to you. I do not consider Alex Arthur to have been a World Champion as he never won a fight with either the WBO/WBA/IBF/WBC/RING title on the line. He won an interim title fight. He was promoted to 'Champion'. The first (and only time) when Alex Arthur contested a World Title, the WBO Super Featherweight Title, he lost on points to Nicky Cook. Because Alex Arthur's record in world title fights reads 1 fight, 1 loss, I do not consider him to have been a world champion. Hope this clears it up for you.
In Arthur's case he was the Interim champ and Guzman pulled out of fighting him and vacated the belt. Therefore he is champion by default. You can't beat the champ if he's no longer fighting in the same division same why you cant fight a guy who's doing time for drugs. I do accept he never won a world title fight but he was still installed as champ by the governing body.
Never said he was a great champion but a world champion nevertheless. Fury should be WBC champion just now.
So you needed to clarify further your 'simple' value, as they also had to fight and win for such a title... My point was not to get a rise, but to show the complex values that is put on who is and what is a world title. At least you did not use the term 'legitimate' when describing the WBC, Ring et al, as that really complicates matters!
