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Retired boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. blasted boxing’s alphabet belt culture on Thursday in an epic tirade that succinctly pointed out boxing’s single biggest problem in 2020.
Mayweather, 43, believes boxing’s overcomplicated and somewhat absurd championship mess has gotten out of hand, and the ex-fighter-turned-promoter vowed to help change things for the better.
“I don’t wanna knock no fighter, but I’m tired of seeing fighters after the fight, everybody got a championship belt now,” Mayweather said per Boxing Scene. “Now boxing, all these belts is like trophies. The WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO, y’all have to clean this s*** up. Y’all have to clean this up. This is bad for boxing.”
Mayweather’s Epic Rant
Mayweather’s rant explained how ludicrous things have gotten over the years in the sport, especially since boxing’s major sanctioning organizations seem to have realized that offering multiple versions of the same world title belts in each weight class essentially amounts to them being able to print money.
That’s because boxers pay for the right to fight for these belts, typically around 3% of their total purse. But Mayweather put the sanctioning organizations on blast during a press event streamed via YouTube showcasing Gervonta Davis, who Mayweather promotes, as he prepares for his fight against Leo Santa Cruz on October 31 on Showtime pay-per-view.
“Ain’t a such thing as no super champion,” Mayweather said. “You guys are just taking extra money from all these fighters, getting extra money from sanctioning fees. And this goes for my company as well. We gotta clean this sport of boxing up. This s***, this don’t look good. When you look on TV now, everybody’s a champion. You see all these fighters posing with a belt.”
Why Are There So Many Belts in Boxing?
Boxing sanctioning organizations are great at coming up with bad ideas that serve themselves but diminish the sport as a whole.
Did you ever wonder how boxing enjoyed over a 100-year headstart on MMA but has seemingly been overtaken in global popularity? Short-term thinking is one of the biggest reasons why.
The latest move on the horizon is coming from the WBC offices, which makes that two moves in a row following its disastrous WBC “Franchise” title that came along to confuse everyone about which of the various titles the WBC offers is supposed to be the legit one.
Regardless, the WBC now seems to have decided boxing’s 17 weight classes (which has already expanded from the original eight) aren’t enough anymore and have proposed a new weight class somewhere between cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Why? Some have proposed it’s so the sanctioning organization can offer more title belts and bring in more money.
Mayweather: ‘Too Many Belts’
Mayweather said he’s plain sick of that kind of thing in boxing and that it’s hurting the sport.
“I don’t care if it’s Top Rank, if it’s Golden Boy [Promotions], if it’s Mayweather Promotions, if it’s PBC – there’s too many champions in the sport of boxing right now,” Mayweather said.
Still, it’s easy to point out the problem but harder to actually solve it. After all, the only person Mayweather can control in full measure at any given time is himself, and he competed for the same types of alphabet titles during his 50-0 run in the sport.
Mayweather even fought for something called the WBC “Money Belt” in his very last fight against UFC superstar Conor McGregor in 2017.
Davis vs. Santa Cruz
No matter what Mayweather said about the issue, Davis and Santa Cruz remain set to compete for Santa Cruz’s WBA “super” 130-pound title and Davis’ WBA world 135-pound belt, the latter of which is one of those secondary titles Davis’ promoter Mayweather believes are ruining the sport.
Mayweather’s words about titles in boxing are true and good, but what boxing probably needs most is someone willing to do more than just point out what others have done wrong.
What boxing needs is a huge superstar to recognize he or she is bigger than any gold trinket.
That star could dump the alphabet crew altogether.
That star could change the sport.
That star has yet to come along.
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Twitter: @Kelsey_McCarson
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