Should Shane Mosley be ESB Champ??

There's a legitimate argument that Floyd should be considered still to be lineal champion, I think.

When it is commonly stated that a lineal champion vacates the title when he retires, that assumes that retirement is a permanent state of affairs.

If someone announced in a post-fight press conference that they were retiring then changed their mind the next day, I don't think they would be considered to have vacated their lineal title. So where is the cut off for when it is vacated? Is it a set period of time?

What seems logical to me is that if the 'vacancy' in the lineage has not been resolved by the time the champion changes his mind about retirement, then he should still be considered lineal champion.

 

Fair enough argument. However Floyd Mayweather was out for a year and that is long enough for the state of the Welterweight division to change sufficiently enough in my mind to rule his title vacant. It wasnt as if he changed his mind the next day though was it?

You could make a case for Mosley being top dog though and Linear champion with his win over Margarito depending on how you ranked Mosley before it.

 

Thats fair enough, forgot about that rule.