Ring belt on the line for khan peterson

jesus they just turned the ring into another alphabet belt

 

2. If the Nos. 1 and 2 contenders choose not to fight one another and either of them fights No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5, the winner may be awarded THE RING belt.


"May" is an important word in that statement.

 

Yeah, in more ways than one:
- It doesn't mean that no.2 v no.5 will guarantee a ring belt if vacant (= good)
- But it also unfortunately means that the ring rules are now flexible, something which has always been it's differentiating factor from the ABC's. (=very bad)

It used to be the one belt that pretty closely approximated what many boxing fans wanted in terms of lineal titles. However, it has traded credibilty for a little flexibility, and in doing so it has gone a long way to destroy what remained of it's already dwindling reputation.

GBP buying out the ring magazine resulted in one of the most predictable destructions of a one credible company.

 

There's a few divisions where the top few guys are very evenly matched a some where the top 2 are head and shoulders above the rest, they're just giving themselves a bit more leeway for when a relevant match happens they can award the belt and actually get a few of them out there. It doesn't mean every time number 2 fights number 5 it's for the Ring title. I'm not going to moan about the decision, the Ring belts been back for a decade now and I can't remember more than about 7 of the titles being held at the same time.

 

They already had the leeway to sanction their belt for the #1 vs #3, which imo was sufficient. The fact they can now do it for #2 vs #5 (whether this scenario will ever actually arrive) is a bit ridiculous imo.

The fact so few Ring bouts were being fought says more about the way our sport operates than the criteria being too stringent. Afterall in most sports the top two teams/individuals are kind of expected to meet each other every now and then. Now all they've done is devalue their belt, and while the RING belt was never certain to be the lineal belt, generally it was. That will seemingly often not be the case anymore.