26.03.06 – By Dan Horgan: Today in boxing, it is popular belief that the cure all to the dreadful heavyweight division is a unification tournament which would wipe out all of the division’s troubles. This would make perfect sense if the four best heavyweights in the world all had belts, but that’s where the problem lies.
The heavyweight division right now is obviously a mess, and it seems that with every fight, the mess gets bigger and bigger. Who the best heavyweight in the world right now is anyone’s guess, and we certainly don’t seem to getting closer to finding out. So a unification tournament seems like the most logistical thing to do, letting one man, and one man alone stand as champion. In boxing however, in order to be considered a true champ, one has to earn their belt, and as of right now, the “champions” of the division have no legitimacy in holding those trinkets high and saying that they are the best.
It’s almost comical how the heavyweight belts have been dished out as of late, as not one of the champions today have actually taken their belt from a defending champion. Take Hasim Rahman, for example. How many champions in boxing today have three legitimate, unavenged losses to guys who are still active and world ranked? John Ruiz, Oleg Maskaev and David Tua, all still active and ranked, have gotten the best of him, yet he still calls himself the champion of the world. In my opinion, if it weren’t for the help from some people getting him underserved shot after underserved shot (and eventually the chance to fight journeyman Monte Barrett who he won the “interim” belt against), Rahman wouldn‘t be ranked let alone have a belt.
Similar criticism can be made about the other champions in the division. As far as I’m concerned, Nikolay Valuev’s title was simply a gift, as he won controversial decision after controversial decision until he finally got his shot against John Ruiz and was again almost handed the fight. Chris Byrd won his trinket against a way past his prime Evander Holyfield, and Lamon Brewster caught Wladimir Klitschko at the lowest point of his career to win his vacant title.
So I beg the question: How in the world would having a unification tournament prove who is truly the best? Would the winner of this tournament really claim supremacy over everyone else in the division? There’s no way!
With contenders such as Calvin Brock, Sam Peter, Sultan Ibragimov, and Ruslan Chagaev, who needs titles? Personally, I feel that none of the championships in the division today are legitimate, so what would a unification tournament really do? Will combining four paper championships form a real one? Boxing fans need to stop calling for a unification tournament and start pushing for quality match ups, as putting the men who are truly the best in with each other will decide who indeed is the best heavyweight in the world.