THE constant mention of the โfour-belt eraโ is becoming something of a nuisance. Firstly, letโs take nothing whatsoever away from the seven male fighters who have won all four belts because, well, thatโs what the sanctioning bodies do.
I know Iโve said all this before. Even so, after reading a report published via Press Association (PA) about Jermall Charloโs victory over Brian Castaรฑo, I was a little frustrated to see almost as much space being given to the โfour-belt eraโ as the (very good) fight itself. PA were far from the only guilty party.
Itโs almost as if the โfour-belt eraโ is somehow worming its way into public consciousness as a golden era due to the amount of titles fighters now have to win to gain universal recognition as the world champion. Without question, itโs not easy to win all four titles. Itโs even harder to retain them; thus making the tag of โundisputedโ the end of a journey rather than the start. The word would be better utilised as the name of an annual tournament โ now, thereโs an idea โ rather than a championship status.
Similarly, the notion that titles get โunifiedโ as soon as a fighter holds more than one of them is also bothersome. Unification is two or more things coming together to make one. When a boxer wins the IBF and WBA titles, for example, they do not then become one championship. The titles remain independent because they are operating from different rules and rankings. Though it may appear the sanctioning bodies are now more willing to work together to create that โundisputedโ showpiece, there is very little unity at all. Once the organisations have draped their silverware over the fighter of the moment, the usual mayhem ensues.
In this โfour-belt eraโ, there have been only three successful defences of an โundisputedโ championship (in 34 years) and only four defences in total. Only one fighter โ Jermain Taylor when he beat Bernard Hopkins at middleweight in 2005 โ has actually won all four belts in one fight. Because he then decided to honour his rematch with Hopkins, Taylor had to give up the IBF strap. By now, the WBA were recognising Maselino Masoe as a โworld championโ in the same division where Taylor was also their king.
Josh Taylor clinched all four titles last year and last week he lost one of the belts because he failed to agree a defence against the WBA mandatory, Alberto Puello. Had Taylor opted to take the fight against Puello he would risk losing his IBF and WBO straps because neither rank the Puerto Rican as a viable contender. Puello is unranked by BN, too.
So how can one organisation rank a fighter at No.1, as the most deserving challenger, when another organisation does not rank them at all? After all, all four organisations are privy to the form of boxers so why do the ratings of each body differ so wildly?
Puello was previously the WBA โinterimโ belt-holder when there was absolutely zero need for an interim belt-holder. Before that he held a WBA โFedelatinโ bauble. So heโs been paying sanctioning fees to the WBA since 2017. The only other organisation to rank Puello is the WBC (at 13th). Puello held the WBC โLatinoโ trinket not so long ago, again paying sanctioning fees.
One may therefore conclude that Puello has essentially bought his rankings. Inarguably, Puello has not beaten anyone remotely worthy of consideration of a place in the Top 10.
For further context on the absurdity, Ismael Barroso, the WBA โgoldโ titlist (and unrated by any other organisation) is ranked at two despite being inactive for 16 months; Jack Catterall, beyond unfortunate not to get the nod over Taylor in February, is rated at 12th by the WBA; Teรณfimo Lรณpez โ yet to fight in the weight class โ is rated at number eight and up at three is Ohara Davies, who has lost to both Catterall and Taylor already.
It paints a murky picture of the workings of the rankings that formulate this โfour-belt eraโ. Though it is of course important for leading contenders to get their shot and rules to be adhered to, itโs surely even more important for those leading contenders to have proved they deserve a shot so the rules are actually fair.
This weekend, David Benavidez and David Lemieux will contest the vacant โinterimโ WBC gong at super-middleweight. Meaning there will suddenly be some dispute to the โundisputedโ reign of Canelo รlvarez just five months after he โunifiedโ the division.