World Titles: Keep It Simple

World Titles: Keep It Simple

In just a few hours time Rocky Fielding gets the sort of opportunity he could only have dreamed about at the start of the year. In New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden Fielding gets some would say the unenviable task of facing Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in defence of his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title.

The validity of the belt at stake is obviously questioned, and clearly shows the at times absurdity of the sport. In this modern age a fight is seemingly not a worthy fight unless some sort of manufactured belt is on the line. The simplistic nature of boxing is often made all too complicated by the people who run the sport. Callum Smith is, of course, the WBA  ‘super’ champion while Fielding holds the ‘regular’ title. Having more than one world champion at the same weight is bad enough but having two in the same governing body is nonsensical.

My love affair with the Nobel Art started at a time when there was just the WBA and the WBC, still not perfect but manageable and bearable. Then the IBF, WBO and others joined the party and in the process further devaluing the meaning of a boxer calling himself the world champion, it’s now very much a case of being a world champion and not the world champion.

While wearing a world title belt doesn’t carry the same weight it once did, but it can still mean a life-changing moment for the boxer. Fielding is once such case, without the title he currently holds, he would not have even been in the conversation for a fight and the financial reward that comes with it, with the modern-day legend Alvarez.

I don’t begrudge any boxer that can add a little bit extra on their paycheck for holding one of the numerous titles that are on offer today, they sure earn every penny. If a boxer can earn more from the craziness in the sport that they ply their trade in, then good luck to them.

While personally, I long for the era of fewer weight divisions and one world champion per weight class, but for the fighter, winning a world title still means everything to them but it should mean a whole lot more.