In combat sports where champions are decided by a challenge, the lineal championship in a weight class represents an intangible world title initially held by the victor of a bout between top contenders in the division, as commonly interpreted. [1] An alternative, less mainstream perspective suggests that vacancies in divisional championships can only be filled by an undisputed champion. [2] A fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a match within that weight class becomes the next lineal champion. In professional boxing, the informal term for the lineal champion is "the man who beat the man." [3] [4]
A break in the lineage may occur when the current champion retires or changes weight class, disrupting the uninterrupted lineage of a lineal championship. Additionally, other factors such as prolonged inactivity, legal issues, or a champion being unable to defend their title for various reasons can contribute to a disruption in the lineage. Notably, there is no universally recognized and accepted protocol for how to start each lineage, and instances where sanctioning bodies strip a title (such as the WBA, WBC, IBF, or WBO) are commonly disregarded in the determination of lineal champions.
The concept of a lineal champion was developed by boxing fans dissatisfied by the tendency of each of the various sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, etc.) to recognize different champions, and in particular to strip a champion of his title for refusing to fight its top-ranked contender. Prior to the 1970s, this rarely happened; the National Boxing Association (NBA) and the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) sometimes recognized different champions, but there was usually only a short interval before one champion defeated the other. In that era, a title vacancy was generally filled by having a single-elimination tournament box-off between two or more top-ranked contenders. The lineal championship is intended as a return to that era.
Early boxing champions at various weight divisions were established by acclamation between 1880 and 1920. Once a consensus champion had been awarded the title, the championship could usually be taken only by beating the reigning holder, establishing a lineal championship.
Several top boxers have specified holding the lineal championship as a personal accomplishment (e.g. Lennox Lewis [5] ) or goal (e.g., Nate Campbell [3] ). Many boxing experts view the lineal championship as a prestigious status which trumps the world titles being issued by the sanctioning bodies (e.g. Steve Farhood). [6]
In mixed martial arts (MMA), the lineal championship is of particular relevance because until the mid-2000s, the top-ranked fighters were spread out among a number of mixed martial arts promotions across the globe. This included Japanese promotions such as Pride Fighting Championships, Pancrase, and Dream, as well as US-based promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cage Fighting (WEC), and Strikeforce. The UFC eventually purchased most of the major promotions [7] and, as a result, all of the lineal champions are currently signed with the promotion. Former UFC champion Jon Jones was suspended and stripped of the title for reasons resulting from an alleged hit-and-run felony charge. [8] Daniel Cormier, whom Jones had just defeated, subsequently won the vacant UFC title.
An issue in the implementation of a lineal championship is what to do if the lineal champion retires, dies, or moves to a different weight class. Different ways of resolving this vacancy mean the lineal championship may be subject to dispute. Since the modern lineal championship is a notional title tracked by fans, there is no money or organization to arrange a box-off to fill a vacant title, and there may not be consensus on who the top contenders are – this is true both for boxing and MMA. [4] One example given by Cliff Rold, writing for Cyber Boxing Zone, is the light heavyweight title, considered vacant from the time Michael Spinks moved up to heavyweight in 1985 until 1996. While Rold considers WBA titlist Virgil Hill's defeat of IBF titlist Henry Maske in 1996 as the beginning of the next line of succession, others trace the title through Roy Jones Jr. [9] after he had unified the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles in 1999. [10] The Ring presented Jones with its inaugural light heavyweight belt in 2002 even though then WBO titlist Dariusz Michalczewski had defeated Hill for the WBA and IBF titles in 1997 and was stripped of them. [10]
Another criticism of the lineal championship is that a fighter may defend it against inferior opponents. For example, George Foreman was considered lineal champion from 1994 until 1997, when Shannon Briggs beat him. After the WBA and IBF stripped him of their titles in 1995, Foreman fought only two, low-ranked opponents before Briggs. The lineal champion is not necessarily the boxer viewed as the best. [3] Cyber Boxing Zone and BoxingScene considered Zsolt Erdei the lineal light-heavyweight champion from his 2004 defeat of Julio César González until 2009 when he vacated his title and moved up to cruiserweight. As he had not fought the highest-ranked opponents in the interim, Cliff Rold conceded, "while the concept of a champion needing to lose a title in the ring is solid, the practice is sometimes highly flawed". [11]
In mixed martial arts, most controversy centers on the proper method for determining the first lineal MMA champion within each weight class. Early fights did not follow the currently agreed upon weight classes determined by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, a rule set that was not finalized until the year 2000. For example: Some consider Mark Coleman's victory in 1997, when he became the first UFC Heavyweight champion, to be the beginning of the Heavyweight lineage. Others argue that Royce Gracie's victory at UFC 1 in 1993 is the true heavyweight starting point due to the Open-weight nature of the tournament. In this case, however, the lineal titles converge and unify with the current UFC Heavyweight title, so the champion remains the same regardless of which lineage one chooses to follow. [12]
The boxing magazine The Ring has its own lineal championship. The original sequence was from its first publication in the 1920s until its hiatus in 1989, continuing as late as 1992 in some divisions. When it started awarding titles again in 2001, it did not calculate retrospective lineages to fill in the gap years, instead nominating a new champion. [13] CBZ commented in 2004, "The Ring has forfeited its credibility by pulling names out of its ass to name fighters as champions". [14] In 2007, The Ring was acquired by the owners of fight promoter Golden Boy Promotions, [15] which has publicized The Ring's world championship when this is at stake in fights it promotes (such as Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones, Jr. in 2008). [16] Since 2012, to reduce the number of vacant titles, The Ring allows fights between a #1 or #2 contender and a #3, #4, or #5 contender to fill a vacant title. This has prompted further doubts about its credibility. [17] [18] [19]
The Cyber Boxing Zone (CBZ) website maintains lists of lineal champions, with input from boxing historian Tracy Callis of the International Boxing Research Organization. [14] [20] [21] These were first published in 1994, and are retrospective to the introduction of Marquess of Queensberry Rules in 1885. [21] The historical lists have sometimes been updated when new information about old fights comes to light. [22] If its lineal champion at one weight class moves to another class, CBZ does not automatically vacate his title. [23]
BoxingScene.com disagrees with the lineages given by The Ring and by CBZ, especially in lower weight divisions with a higher rate of champions changing division. [9] BoxingScene has traced its own most recent lineages, generally back to the 1990s. [24] [25] [26] [27]
The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) was formed in October 2012 as a volunteer initiative to provide boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identify the singular world champion of every division by strict reasoning and common sense, and to insist on the sport's reform. [28] [29] Board membership includes fifty respected boxing journalists and record keepers from around the world who are uncompromised by sanctioning bodies and promoters. The board was formed to continue where The Ring "left off" in the aftermath of its purchase by Golden Boy Promotions in 2007 and the following dismissal of the editorial board headed by Nigel Collins. [30]
After the new editors of The Ring announced a controversial new championship policy in May 2012, [31] three prominent members of the Ring Advisory Panel resigned. These three members (Springs Toledo, Cliff Rold and Tim Starks) became the founding members of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, [32] which was formed over the summer of 2012 with the assistance of Stewart Howe of England. The board only awards vacant championships when the two top-ranked fighters in any division meet, and currently recognizes legitimate world champions or "true champions" each weight classes. [33]
SI.com published galleries of lineal heavyweight and middleweight champions. [34] [35]
Since April 6, 2019, LinealBoxingChampion.com (LBC) has been producing monthly, non-computerized divisional rankings for women's professional boxing. [36] Prior to this, no such impartial, independent rankings existed. The rankings are compiled by an international team of ten boxing experts, [37] which includes site editor and member of the International Boxing Research Organization, Adam McMeeking (from the UK), [38] International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame 2019 inductee, [39] David Avila (from the US), Max Boxing journalist [40] and former Boxing Monthly contributor, Anthony Cocks (from Australia) [41] and Ring Magazine contributor, Yuriko Miyata (from Japan). [42] In keeping with the tradition, the lineal champion status is awarded to the winner of a fight between the number one and number two ranked contenders. [43] Currently LBC recognizes the following lineal champions in women's boxing: Savannah Marshall (super middleweight), Claressa Shields (middleweight and junior middleweight), Jessica McCaskill (welterweight), Chantelle Cameron (junior welterweight), Katie Taylor (lightweight), Amanda Serrano (featherweight), Dina Thorslund (bantamweight), Marlen Esparza (flyweight), Jessica Nery Plata (junior flyweight) and Yuko Kuroki (atomweight). [44] Due to its limited number of competitors LBC does not recognize the light heavyweight division. LBC also keeps a record of the lineal champions in men's boxing, across all 17 weight classes, from the 1880s to present.
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing-oriented publication. The magazine is currently owned by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Enterprises division of Golden Boy Promotions, which acquired it in 2007. Ring began publishing annual ratings of boxers in 1924. With its November/December 2022 issue, the magazine stopped publication of its regular monthly print issues and will remain a digital publication, offering occasional special interest print issues.
The International Boxing Organization (IBO) is a US based corporation that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards world and regional championships.
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican-American former professional boxer who competed between 1994 and 2017. He held multiple welterweight world championships, including the WBO title from 2002 to 2007, the IBF title in 2008, and the WBA (Super) title from 2008 to 2009. He also challenged three times for a light middleweight world title between 2004 and 2011. Nicknamed El Tornado de Tijuana, Margarito was known for his aggressive pressure fighting style and exceptionally durable chin.
James Nathaniel Toney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1993, the IBF super middleweight title from 1993 to 1994, and the IBF cruiserweight title in 2003. Toney also challenged twice for a world heavyweight title in 2005 and 2006, and was victorious the first time but was later stripped due to a failed drug test. Overall, he competed in fifteen world title fights across four weight classes.
Cory Spinks is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2013. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed welterweight title from 2003 to 2005, and the IBF junior middleweight title twice between 2006 and 2010. Additionally, he challenged once for the lineal middleweight title in 2007.
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight, is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports.
In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all recognized major organisations by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have only been 19 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously.
Roberto Garcia Cortez is a Mexican-American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2001, and held the IBF junior lightweight title from 1998 to 1999. He has since worked as a boxing trainer, and was voted Trainer of the Year by The Ring magazine in 2011, and by the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2012. He is the older brother of professional boxer Mikey Garcia, who was a world champion in four weight classes.
In different sports when a sportsman wins seven crowns, titles, medals, belts or another distinctions is called a Septuple Champion.
In boxing, a weight class is a measurement weight range for boxers. The lower limit of a weight class is equal to the upper weight limit of the class below it. The top class, with no upper limit, is called heavyweight in professional boxing and super heavyweight in amateur boxing. A boxing match is usually scheduled for a fixed weight class, and each boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Although professional boxers may fight above their weight class, an amateur boxer's weight must not fall below the lower limit. A nonstandard weight limit is called a catchweight.
An octuple champion is a boxer who has won major world titles in eight different weight classes. Manny Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to have won twelve major world titles in eight different weight divisions.
The history of boxing in the Philippines is the history of boxing and the evolution and progress of the sport in the Philippines. In the Philippines, boxing is one of its most popular sports, together with basketball, due to the many accolades it has brought to the country, having produced 45 major world champions, one of the most in the world. Despite not having won a gold medal in boxing, the Philippines has had multiple Olympic standouts, with 8 out of its 12 total Olympic medals coming from boxing, along with some of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. Filipino greats like Pancho Villa and Flash Elorde are members of the two highly respected boxing hall of fames – International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) and World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF) thus, giving the Philippines the most number of boxing hall of fame members out of Asia.
Manny Pacquiao competed in professional boxing from 1995 to 2021. Regarded by boxing historians as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to win twelve major world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in five different weight divisions, as well as being the first boxer in history to win major world titles in four of the original eight weight divisions of boxing, also known as the "glamour divisions": flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
The mission I set out on in the beginning – to become heavyweight champion of the world, undisputed, lineal champion – you could say that mission is complete.
I don't want to give the alphabets too much credit and Wilder is obviously an alphabet champion with the WBC, but there's something to be said about lineal titles. It kind of overrides the alphabets at times because we know the alphabets can be nonsensical in who they choose to be champions and who they give title fights to. To me, Fury lost the lineal title when he retired for personal reasons.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Pacquiao has won titles as a flyweight (1998), junior featherweight (2001), featherweight (2003, The Ring), junior lightweight (2008), lightweight (2008) and junior welterweight (2009, The Ring), which equals Oscar De La Hoya's six-division record. And boxing historian Cliff Rold pointed out that Pacquiao is the only fighter in history to win four lineal titles (112 pounds, 126, 130, and 140)