A bad thing for hardcore nerds like us, who find our way to a forum like this - but something that has likely helped boost interest worldwide, as 99% of boxing fans have no idea what is going on! Average fans know nothing about lineal championships, or who the top guys are in the different divisions... because that's not what is important to them. They don't follow boxing like that. All they want is a local hero to root for, and with more titles, more fans can be made to believe they are watching something special (even if they aren't)... which puts bums in seats, or make them watch their idols on TV. So, as much as we hate it, these multible "world", regional, intercontinental or whatever strange titles they make up, no doubt help create interest, that would otherwise not be there.
That’s a long term solution to a short term problem. If you even want to call it a problem. Creating entirely new belts for the purpose of drawing in new viewers that ultimately aren’t even in it for the long haul. Changing the landscape of the sport and continuing to devalue the meaning of the word “champion”. Further losing credibility with your actual fan base. All so some regional “fans” can tune in to root for their high school buddy and then likely never pay attention again? Pass. Hard pass.
Short answer, is of course, no. However no one wants to talk about the longer answer which is Nooooooooooooooooo.
Totally agree. Multiple titles are for the now, but undermines the entire structure of boxing. It's like putting up a nice pretty building but scoffing at building a foundation first. It ain't gonna last, guys. When diehards like us have a hard time knowing who's who, what chance does a casual fan have? And when you make a sport too difficult to follow, interest wanes. Aside from the ridiculous amount of world titles out there, there are also, the Continental Americas belt and the Silver belt and the International belt and the Inter-Continental belt. My God! Please melt them down into slag for all their meaningless worth. Last week I was watching some of this great old Gilette friday night fights. I watched Florentino Fernandez v Rory Calhoun, Joey Giambra v Yama Bahama, Hurricane Carter v Jose Gonzalez and Dick Tiger v Henry Hank. Even the casual fans knew these fighters. They rose to the top of a sport that could be followed. These fights didn't need some additional hardware to make them attractive to the public. And do you know what we called these fights? 10 rounders!
