Heavyweight... by far P4P was probably created in the absence of a great dominant heavyweight camp... as a torch bearer or face of the sport.
:huh "Probably"? There's no ambiguity about the origins of rating boxers on a p4p scale. It was created for Robinson, who's easily greater than any heavyweight in history by a very wide margin. How the hell do you justify the heavyweight championship being more prestigious (among people with more than a trifling interest in and knowledge of the sport)?
P4P's subjective, undisputed heavyweight champion is not. There are endless argument about who's the pound for pound champ, the undisputed heavyweight title is given to the guy who's beaten all the other guys who have the major belts in the division. One is an opinion, the other is a fact.
Those like you with thorough knowledge of the sport are in the VAST minority. The OP didn't specify but usually Prestige is something the general public elevates an athlete to more so than insiders. You could probably name several if not many exquisite fighters who the average person wouldn't even recognize. Yet EVERYONE remembers the Heavyweight Champ. And many years later if you mention, Ali, Foreman, Tyson, Holyfield, etc etc... MOST people will recognize those names... a much lower percentage will recognize the smaller men. Im not saying it's right... But it is a FACT!
Ah, see - it comes down to definitions. If prestige is meant to be synonymous with popularity, then yes of course heavyweights have always been and likely will always be more prestigious. I don't consider Avril Lavigne to be a more prestigious composer than Yo-Yo Ma, but going strictly by record sales she does probably mop the floor with him.
It is the P4P and PPV era... Being #1 P4P or in the top 10 for a long length is more prestigious than being undisputed heavyweight champion. Wladimir Klitschko is the undisputed heavyweight champion he can't even get on HBO anymore.
the undisputed heavyweight champion is more of a fact than undisputed p4p which can still be a matter of opinion, but being a heavyweight is always less pretigious than any other division. They have no weight limit and not much discipline and never really did. That is why it was great seeing guys like Holyfield and Tyson come along who were in always in shape.
Yet, does that mean if Wlad defeated Haye, Vitali retired, and Wlad got Vitali's belt, his status would be more prestigious than Floyd's or Manny's? I think the prestige of both is as subjective as the pound for pound title itself.
