Boxing’s Sanctioning Bodies Have To Go

To provide an example of how insane this is, I was six years old when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in their November 1999 rematch at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. I’m 30 years old now, and the way things are going in boxing, I could be 60 the next time we get another undisputed heavyweight champion.

Breaking Down The Confusion

Usyk was initially ordered to face Hrgovic in November 2022. However, the IBF rescinded the order a few months later, clearing a significant hurdle to crown an undisputed champion. When this occurred, the WBA had not had a mandatory title defense in more than four years. As a result, Usyk, who won three heavyweight title belts in September 2021 when he defeated then-titleholder Anthony Joshua and beat him again in a subsequent rematch. He was then forced to fight WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois. Usyk scored a ninth-round knockout of the Englishman in their August 2023 meeting in Poland. Dubois fought four months later and stopped previously unbeaten Jarrell Miller in the 10th and final round of their fight. Now he’s being awarded a title shot against Hrgovic.

To our casual fans, it’s okay if it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense to us, either. If there’s anyone to blame for the bad optics, it’s the IBF. They rescinded the first order, which allowed Usyk to tackle another mandatory obligation. Furthermore, the undisputed fight with Fury was postponed due to the latter’s eye injury. The fight was rescheduled, and Usyk made history by winning, but now he’s being unfairly punished for his “overdue mandatory.”

It’s also unfair to Hrgovic. He holds a win over Zhilei Zhang and deserves a shot, but boxing fans won’t consider him a legitimate world champion if he beats Dubois to win a vacant title. In a sense, the IBF is robbing Hrgovic of proving his mettle against the true champion of the division. A win over Usyk would mean a heck of a lot more than beating a guy who got knocked out by him less than a year ago. Everyone knows that Usyk is the man at heavyweight regardless of what these self-serving parasitic organizations say.

There Is A Solution

The IBF is only a part of the problem. The WBC, WBA, and the WBO have no interest in advancing the sport, either. All they care about is money. Forcing a fighter to pay a fee shouldn’t be a requirement to be a world champion, but it is in our sport.

The Gervonta Davis–Ryan Garcia fight exemplified that belts aren’t necessary. If the matchup is good and it’s a fight that fans want to see, they won’t give an iota that a belt isn’t on the line. Davis-Garcia was a non-title fight and drew 1.2 million pay-per-view buys, making it the first boxing match to break a million buys since 2021.

So, what’s the solution? Let’s just call it boxing’s form of peaceful protest. All fighters should refuse to pay their sanctioning fees and keep the money for themselves. Once the current structure is rendered useless, we’ll usher in a new era by creating one body with an executive director with a long history of integrity and trust. Also, wait for it, one champion per weight class and no sanctioning fees (Editor’s Note: The Ring Magazine currently recognizes only one champion per weight class and does not require any fees).

This is where the UFC has an edge over boxing. You don’t have all these organizations infiltrating the sport that operate under different sets of criteria and rankings. It’s a recipe for disaster. In the UFC, the best are guaranteed to fight the best, and the fans love it. The pay could be better, but UFC puts out a consistently strong product, while we’re lucky to have a good event once in a blue moon.

To be completely frank, I have no confidence that things will ever change, but one can dream.