By Jake Chaney,
In the 19th century, boxing record books such as Boxiana and Pugilistica (in Britain), and newspapers such as the Police Gazette (in America), documented the world champions and shaped public opinion as to who the leading contenders were.
Famously, at the beginning of the 20th century, when Heavyweight Champion Jim Jeffries retired, it was Jeffries himself who approved the bout between Marvin Hart and Jack Root as being worthy of filling the Championship vacancy - no world title sanctioning bodies existed. Jeffries explained:
"The championship, however, rests with the people. They and the press alone can confer the title of world champion upon the victor and they will name the heavyweight champion." (The San Francisco Call, July 4, 1905).
The Ring’s ratings and journalism largely led the way through much of the 20th century, and now in 2019, various boxing websites (Boxing News, ESPN, Boxing Monthly) produce independent ratings to help keep fans informed, offering clarity amidst the ever growing assortment of ABC belts. The Lineal Championship continues in the same traditional path. Boxing’s knowledgeable press unscramble the plethora of ABC Champions, deciphering who the best boxers are in each division, and when they fight, a true World Champion is crowned. Call the winner of such a match-up, “The Lineal Champion”, or the “true” champion - call him what you want, but the fight fraternity, generally consider the victor to be the real champion.
Unfortunately women’s boxing has always lacked an impartial, reliable independent set of non-computerised ratings that fans can turn to in order to make sense of who the best fighters are in each division. BoxRec is valuable resource, but its computer algorithm is prone to oddities. In their pound-for-pound list, BoxRec currently have Claressa Shields at #13. Yes, #13! Shields is our P4P No.1, No.2 with Boxing Monthly and No.3 with World Boxing News. And Jessica Chavez, who has not fought for over 2 years at Flyweight, is currently BoxRec’s No.1 in this division. At bantamweight, Helen Joseph is rated at No.3, above long-time 118lbs star Mariana Juarez. These high profile examples can be easily spotted, but in the less popular divisions, preposterous peculiarities similar to this go unnoticed. Such ratings simply cannot be relied upon.
Our Pound-for-Pound #1, Claressa Shields
It seems the sanctioning bodies have been given free rein to fill the sport with ABC belts, leaving the majority of female fight fans, totally bewildered as to what is really going on.
The once prestigious title of “world champion” in boxing, has been diluted and rendered almost meaningless. Shouldn’t there be only one World Champion in each division? How many worlds are there? Four or five it seems these days. Shouldn’t a fight to fill a vacant world championship involve the best two fighters in the world?
Here are just a few examples of the absurd match-ups the ABC organisations have allowed (or are scheduled)
to take place for vacant “world” titles in recent years:
Lorissa Wallace Vs Gwendolyn O’Neil for the vacant WBC Heavyweight belt – scheduled to take place on November 9th, 2019. O’Neil is 50 years old, and hasn’t fought in over 3 years. She hasn’t won a fight in over 4 years.
Amanda Serrano Vs Dahiana Santana for the vacant WBO Bantamweight belt (April 22nd, 2017). Serrano had never previously fought at Bantamweight in her entire career. Santana entered the fight coming off a loss at Junior Lightweight and had not fought at Bantamweight for over 11 years, which explains why she failed to make the 118lbs limit for her bout with Serrano. The contest took place anyway, with Serrano winning the vacant belt.
Alicia Napoleon Vs Femke Hermans for the vacant WBA Super Middleweight belt (March 3rd, 2018). Alicia had never previously weighed within the Super Middleweight limit of 160 – 168lbs in her entire career. Hermans and Napoleon both weighed under 160lbs for their “super middleweight” title contest.
Cecilia Braekhus Vs Vinni Skovgaard for the vacant WBC and WBA belts (March 14, 2009). Vinni was a Junior Welterweight and had never beaten an opponent heavier than 140.5lbs – yet this bout created a “unified” Welterweight champion.
Ivana Habazin Vs Sabrina Giuliani for the vacant IBF Welterweight belt (March 22nd, 2014). Giuliani entered the bout coming off a loss, and had never previously beaten a Welterweight.
A 50 year old that hasn’t won a fight in over 4 years?
Fighters that have never fought at the weight?
How can contests like these be allowed to crown vacant world championships?
This is why, In May 2019, we began producing monthly ratings.
Our ratings panel contains impartial, knowledgeable women’s boxing experts from around the world. Currently we have the following members from the USA, Poland, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and Argentina:
Our ratings page includes divisional rankings and our Pound-for-Pound top 10. When the leading contenders in a division fight each other, we recognise the victor as the true (Lineal) world champion of the division.
As of November 2nd, 2019 we recognise four Lineal World Champions:
Katie Taylor at Lightweight – via her #1 Vs #2 fight with Delfine Persoon
Jessica McCaskill at Junior Lightweight – via her #1 Vs #2 fight with Erica Farias
Claressa Shields at Middleweight – via her via her #1 Vs #2 fight with Christina Hammer
Geovana Peres at Heavyweight - via her #1 Vs #2 fight with Claire Hafner
If the likes of Shields/Hammer and Taylor/Persoon had tossed their ABC belts aside before their fight, would it have mattered? Not at all. Sanctioning bodies or not, the press and the fans knew they were the best in their respective divisions and that their fights would crown true champions – no belts needed. This is the traditional World Championship. This is the Lineal World Championship.
Women’s boxing is overflowing with a confusing assortment of ABC belts. We hope our monthly ratings offer some much needed clarity in this rapidly growing, and increasingly popular sport.
Click here to view our latest rankings.