It might mean something to some fighters, but the big guys dont care anymore. The ring belt is cool to have.Its the closest there is to a unified belt. Even then,its not perfect.
Say what you want but Ward is under pressure. He will soon be forgotten in his gym in Oakland. They all make more money then him and he has no passport. Kessler and Froch are forcing Ward to travel or face 48 year old Hopkins. I understand why no one wants to come to Oakland! Ward will never be the people's Champ like SRL with that clinching style.
Belts only mean something in the sense that they remind you of a lineage of who beat who (and not even that if they are vacant; or a very short lineage if recently vacated). Picking up a WBA title from Malignaggi is impressive only because it means he beat Senchenko to get it. Even if no belt was on the line, the win is the exact same quality as it would be if there was no belt. If Paulie vacates the belt, a win over him now is no different than if he hadn't vacated it. Picking up a WBA title from Kono is impressive only because it means he beat Tepparith to get it. Even if no belt was on the line, the win is the exact same quality as it would be if there was no belt. If Kono vacates the belt, a win over him now is no different than if he hadn't vacated it. ...and so on, so on. They mean almost nothing. Who you beat and when you beat them is all that matters.
Also, in this case, Ward holds clear victories over each of the current titlists when they were closer to their prime than they are now. WBA Kessler, IBF Froch, and WBO Abraham.
Warddke won't fight outside the USA and therefore earns less than Kessler, Froch and Bute. Those three are quite happy fighting each other and travelling abroard to earn big money. Warddke isn't.
Three other belt holders in his division and he's beat them all. I still think he should travel to fight the winner of Froch-Kessler. It would be great for his legacy and shut up all the haters.
Ward should only be concerned with the IBF if Kessler manages to win it. He's worth bothering for it, wheras Carl -- who he's outclassed easily already -- is not. Because with Kessler there's a sense of injustice amongst some fans because of the "headbutts". Re-visiting him to prove he can beat him regardless of "headbutts", wouldn't be a bad thing.