THE RISE OF THE “SANCTIONING MOBS”
Pittsburgh, PA– In my earliest memory of a big fight, Larry Holmes stopped Gerry Cooney in defense of his heavyweight championship back when you knew who the champ – the singular champ – was. Only two years later, as a nine year old, I distinctly recall being bothered by the new sanctioning organization (the IBF) giving Holmes its belt when he decided against defending his WBC strap. And so, for me, it began: the confusion and controversy over who the real champ is, the creation of yet another (the WBO, in 1988) major sanctioning body, and ultimately the obscene proliferation of phony titles, to the point where today, everyone’s a champion, and yet no one is.
ARE THE ALPHABETS BOXING’S PROBLEM?
As the four major sanctioning bodies, also including the original, the WBA (formerly the NBA), have continued their climb in the last 25 years, the sport’s popularity has fallen. With “Sugar Ray” Leonard, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, the fall was blunted for some time, but it has never been more conspicuous, especially since Lennox Lewis’ retirement and the distance since then from a unified heavyweight championship. Now look at the mess: Interim and super “champions.” Absolutely zero unified champions. 80 belts. And that doesn’t include the IBO and IBA, which have the most integrity but the least strength, and Ring Magazine, which cannot govern our championships while owned by one of the sport’s premier promoters, Golden Boy. But yet, writers like me complain and complain, and the big four only get stronger.
THE COLD TRUTH: OUR COMPLAINTS ARE NOT WORKING
I’ve written at least a half dozen articles ridiculing or excoriating the alphabets for extorting the fighters and holding the sport hostage, and voices much louder and stronger than mine constantly bemoan their atrocious practices, and to what effect? They deal their belts like dealers’ drugs, knowing that every time a Chad Dawson vacates his light heavyweight title, a Tavoris Cloud will take his place to pay the title’s sanctioning fee. So what can we do about these “sanctioning mobs,” as the legendary Larry Merchant called them to me?
WHAT DO THE EXPERTS HAVE TO SAY?
Frankly, writing another column to just complain about boxing’s fractured and confusing disorganization at the hands of the alphabets is a waste of time, so I consulted with experts: HBO’s Merchant; Showtime’s Al Bernstein and Steve Farhood; Ali biographer and prolific boxing writer Tom Hauser; BoxingScene editor and RingTalk alum Cliff Rold; longtime manager Bob Spagnola; former IBA ratings chair Norm Longtin; and Pennsylvania State Athletic Commissioner Greg Sirb. I found some interesting and revealing consistencies, including pessimism about any organizational unity in boxing but, most notably, a formula for success that’s almost embarrassingly basic, and should have been staring me in the face.
THE PERTINENT QUESTIONS
For each of our experts, I essentially asked three things: (1) How much a part of the sport’s declining popularity can be attributed to the sanctioning bodies and their innumerable “world champions”? (2) Should we, and if so, how can we, unify our champions and rankings in boxing? (3) How can we save our sport? The experts’ answers revealed that, as with anything, experience usually generates pragmatism over idealism, reality over wishful thinking. And “at the end of the day,” as Merchant might say and as you’ll see, I can live with that. So what’s your solution?
NEXT – PART TWO: DEALING WITH BOXING’S NEW MOB
Brian Gorman