18.02.07 – By Adrian Saba: Many boxing fans think that The Ring favors Americans, a belief that has been existing for years, probably because of what happened between Roy Jones Jr. And Dariuz Michalczewski. The Tiger defeated Virgil Hill and unified his division, however, when The Ring Championship Policy was reinaugurated in 2002, they gave their presitgious, antique-looking, Ring belt to Roy Jones. He was the Undisputed and universally-recognized Champion at that time, but had defeated Virgil Hill after Michalczewski. It’s an episode that many won’t forget.
But The Ring isn’t really biased towards Americans. Let’s remember that…..
…six non-Americans are listed in their very respectable Pound-For-Pound ratings: Pacquiao, Cotto, Marquez, Barrera, Calzaghe, Hatton. The americans are Mayweather, Wright, Taylor and, of course, Bernard Hopkins.
…Britain’s Ricky Hatton is still the World Light Welterweight Champion, the fact that he made no defences of the Title during 2006 didn’t matter. He has only defended his belt in two occasions since he beat Kostya Tszyu in 2005, against Carlos Maussa and Juan Urango. Moreover, Urango, his most recent defence, was not a Top10 fighter.
…there are only four American fighters in the Heavyweight division’s Top10: John Ruiz, James Toney, Lamon Brewster and the apparently ill Shannon Briggs. The rest are fighters born in the former Soviet Union, except the Nigerian Sam Peter. There isn’t a single American boxer in the Top3.
The Ring Title is vacant in the following weight divisions: 105, 112, 115, 118, 126 y 130. Some people would say that The Ring does not give much importance to those weight classes, the “lower weight divisions”. But their rules and The Ring’s Championship Policy are explained in their website (at least grosso modo) and there won’t be Champions in those divisions until the key fights happen. By the way, it is well known that non of the #1 contenders of those weight classes are Americans:
-Ivan Calderon is Puerto Rican.
-Pongsaklek Wonjongkam is Thai.
-Nobuo Nashiro is Japanese.
-Rafa Marquez is Mexican.
-Chris “The Dragon” John is Indonesian.
-Manny Pacquiao, as you all know, is Filipino.
Are they biased towards Americans? Their rankings show that they are not.
Do they discriminate the lower weight classes? No, the rules are the same in all weight divisions without exception.
The Ring continues being the best alternative, and much better than the sanctoning bodies. They have to sell, of course –what business doesn’t!? –but, at the moment, that isn’t interfering with their objectivity. Let’s hope it stays like that.
However, these are some questions that many fans would ask:
1. Why was Nikolay Valuev suddenly moved from the #8 spot to the #4?
2. When exactly do they decide that a #1 vs. #3 bout should be for a vacant Championship? What are the requisites?
3. What kind of sanctions will they apply if one of their Champions sits on the belt for more than a year? They have to do something if this happens, but they can’t submerge into the pathetic tier of the sanctioning bodies and their strippings.
4. What factors are fundamental ingredients of their P4P ratings?
5. What strategies are they going to implement in the future to keep expanding the Championship Policy?