HW division in 1995 was a mess. Official beltholders Frank Bruno, Bruce Seldon and Francois freakin' Botha weren't even Top 5 in the world. Botha wasn't even Top 10. The lineal champion George Foreman practically lost his recognition after losing 2 belts he won off Moorer and refusing to give Schulz a rematch after the fight majority of observers thought he lost. Ring title wasn't awarded at the time, so he had no physical embodiment of his status, besides a minor WBU belt. During this time, Riddick Bowe established himself as the number 1 in the world. To solidify his status, he beat Evander Holyfield in the trilogy fight, which was seen as the number 1 vs number 2 match-up at the time. He was even awarded with the championship belt by New York Daily News. Historically these type of match-ups re-established the lineage, so it was pretty smart move by the publication in attempt to replace Ring Magazine in awarding press titles to fighters. Could we say that, despite not being the lineal champion and not having any of the alphabet belts, Riddick Bowe had the best claim to the world championship between November 1995 and July 1996?
