It seems today that that these two titles represent the opposing ends of the boxing spectrum. The true boxer is prepared to fight any other man in his given weight division to prove that he is the best, or amongst the best, fighting for fair purse in any location to justify his status. Giving my all is his catchphrase. The career boxer chooses a path of least resistance, weighting the gloves forever in his favour, more interested in putting his name in lights and his bank balance on fire. Risk and reward is his catchphrase. In the real world of professional boxing we know know things are never black and white, and that we have shades of these two extremes in every boxer. Adding to the mix, we then have the slippery worlds of boxing promoters and belt organizations, all wanting to blow their own trumpets, act in their own interests and take slices of everybody's pie. This rot has left us in the unfortunate situation where the true boxer cannot get the fights he needs to prove his worth because no one is prepared to fight him. This is why I would like this opportunity to congratulate the top guys at SMW who have had the guts to be true to boxing, and to fight each other to decide the best of the division. Even more respect and weight from their actions would come if they decided together to throw away their token belts in the process. This is a real way that the public, and the boxers themselves can judge the results as true and fair. This could well be the first significant step in turning the boxing world around and treating the fans like they are worth something too, not just cash cows to milk at every opportunity. Obviously such a transparent system would see huge resistance, a lot of people who make a lot of money on the backs of others would be going their all to resist any change to their power balances. But thats hopefully for a day in the not too distant future. Boxing needs some truth and for now lets get behind these guys who are doing just that and hope that it leads to bigger things.
