whilst the ring belt is the most legit of all the belts. it's credibility sure did take a knock when de la hoya bought it. and all of the sanctioning bodies are corrupt to varying degrees.
i think showtime got it right.. all the beltholders and undefeated's should have to face eachother.. no picking
The Ring is just a magazine and is not a real title and only just acts as a rough guide for casual fans.
The Ring is just as political as any other alphabet group......everyone of their writers for example had Marquez beating Pacquiao in their rematch, yet the Ring rankings after that fight had Pacquiao on top as their champion at 130 lbs. I know that officially Pacquiao was gifted the fight, but how much sense does it make to list a fighter a champion of a division when every journalist there at the Ring thought that he lost his last fight with Marquez???? Thats only part of the reason that the Ring belt is not legit. "The fighter that everyone of us thought won, we'll have at #2, and we'll just like the corrupt alphabet group did will annoint what we felt was the loser, the Ring Championship belt!"----Thats exactly what "The Ring" did with JMM-Pacquiao, and what I'm sure they've done in other instances as well. Their system of ranking and annointing champions is just as flawed as any other alphabet group out there.
The legit title is the one held by the best fighter in the divison - normally that is also the ring champion but not always.
For me it is the legit title. But unfortunately the boxing business don't give a **** about it and so the top fighters dont covet the belt. The only problem with it is that so many belts are vacant.