Has anyone ever held both titles at the same time? Where does the lineal 147 title go if Hatton wins and goes back to 140?
If Hatton wins the 147 title and relinquishes it, then a new lineage will have to be formed eventually.
Yeah, if Hatton wins and goes back to 140 and never returns to welter again, both the Ring and lineal titles become vacant. A new LINEAL champ forms if: someone unifies WBC, WBA, and IBF (whether or not WBO is necessary is debatable. I say it's not necessary.). A new RING champ forms if: Hatton formally vacates the belt...then the #1 and #2 contenders fight and one emerges the winner, which in this case would probably be the winner of Cotto/Mosley. This is where the RING and LINEAL champs have differed recently, because there are more and more cases of the #1 and #2 contenders not having a belt at all, meaning that one could be RING champ without having unified all three belts after the lineal title was made vacant (see the case of Israel Vazquez, who became Ring 122 champ after being Oscar Larios. Although they unified the WBC and IBF belts when they fought, the WBA was still owned by Mayhar Monshipour. Therefore one could argue that the winner of that fight was not lineal.) Anyway, my point is that with four belts (most of them meaningless at that and held by meaningless champs), in addition to fighters who don't defend their belts against the best (see former lineal flyweight champ and notorious ducker Pongsaklek Wongkongjam, who held his WBC belt hostage for almost 20 defenses against no-names and tomato cans until losing recently to a fighter he had already beaten TWICE!), it's hard to really say that lineage is the best way to show who the real champ is today. I like the Ring's policy. Although not perfect, it still is the best and not held hostage by a corrupt ABC organization. One thing the Ring should do is give their champions RING CHAMPION patches to wear on their trunks much like the WBC does. This would get them more airtime and credibility with the mainstream fan, since only the true hardcore fan knows about The Ring belt, no matter how much Brian Kenny and Max Kellerman champion their cause on the air.
Well 140 hasnt been around for that long. So it doesnt hold the history that the 147 division carries.
But Cotto-Mosley will happen before Mayweather-Hatton, so the winner will only become (probably) the #1 contender. If Hatton wins and then vacates the title, then the new Ring champ would be: a) Cotto-Mosley winner vs. Paul Williams or b) Cotto-Mosley winner vs. Mayweather
140 has been around a long time. Not as long and without the history of 147, but it isn't all that new, like super middle or cruiser.
Tony Canzoneri and Barney Ross held the title in the 1930s. I think the first 140 lb. champion was in the 1920s. No junior division can really compete in a historical sense with a traditional division, but junior welterweight is still probably the most decorated of the junior divisions. 140 and 130.
I've tried to argue this point on numerous occasions. The Ring Belt is better able to track the goings and wade through the corruption and staleness of the organizing bodies. One day, I hope HBO will formally adopt The Ring rankings as official, because pretty much what HBO says goes. Better, maybe HBO, Showtime and ESPN all would recognize The Ring. That way, they could post rankings pertinent to each fight, giving the bout some greater context. And if Buffer gets in on the act -- announcing championship fights only as true championship fights -- it will bring at least a little order to the chaos. And like you say, The Ring has its American bias and other problems, but it's a far better representation of the best fighters than any other set of rankings.
:nod Most people always think that the 140 division was created in the 1960s. That was the 154 weight class.
One thing though Sweet Pea, getting the Ring #1 and 2 fighters to actually fight each other can be a tricky thing. Especially when Ring isnt an official sanctioning body and doesnt actually partake in the promotion/sanctioning aspect. Just like with Lineal, it's almost catch 22 because ultimately? the org's are still pulling the strings whilst every one else try's to make sense of it. Boxing itself needs 1 commission, better all around management, and at least TWO FLUSHES, if ya catch my drift. Until it happens, we are stuck at the mercy of the corrupt/inept, and sometimes ridiculous. Based on that?? I'll always favor Unification as it means you beat the other champions and that includes the BO(IMO as they do have some real champs these days). Now the orgs can still strip a guy ahead of time but fans can see thru BS when results are there.
