Photo by Ed Mulholland

HOPKINS IN THE RING RANKINGS

Hi Dougie,

Big fan by the way.

Can you shed some light to the face that Bernard Hopkins is still rated in the 175-lb rankings having not fought in 19 months and coming of a huge one sided lost at that. As a Carl Froch fan I couldn’t help but notice that 12 months of inactivity the Cobra was immediately dropped by both the P4P and 168-lb rankings.

Speaking of the two protagonists, who wins Hopkins v Froch at 175 lbs?

Also can I get you thoughts at the following mythical match ups:-

Shane Mosley 2009 v Kell Brook 2014

Roberto Duran 1980 v Floyd Mayweather 2007

Miguel Cotto v Amir Khan….both present

Regards. – Alan Worrell

Thanks for sharing your questions, Alan. The subject of Hopkins’ place in THE RING’s rankings has come up during the magazine’s Editorial Board ratings meetings in recent weeks (after being shelved during the first half of the year amid rumors of a fight announcement).

An unwritten (and longtime) rule of the ratings has been to hold off on dropping an inactive fighter from the divisional rankings if there are special circumstances to his ring absence (such as legit injuries or fights falling out) or he has a fight in the works, even if his inactivity has exceeded 12 months and the future bout is not a done deal.

Hopkins has spoken on record about wanting a farewell fight since last spring. He was rumored to be eying a final bout against Arthur Abraham (at 168 pounds) and had even entertained the notion of fighting Froch for his swan song, which was supposed to take place in late 2015 or January of this year. Both Hopkins and Tom Loeffler, the representative for Gennady Golovkin, admitted that there had been some preliminary talks for a GGG showdown earlier in the year. And the future hall of famer spoke openly (and on record) about trying to get the finale to his legendary career made (with the assistance of HBO) for late summer or fall during the Canelo-Khan fight week in Las Vegas.

All of this speculation and conjecture has caused the Editorial Board to repeatedly shelve the matter of Mr. Hopkins, but we realize that a discussion with the Ratings Panel and ourselves is long overdue.

Frequent RingTV.com contributor and BWAA president Joseph Santoliquito is scheduled to interview his famous fellow Philadelphian on Monday (today), so stay tuned for an update on Hopkins’ plans and perhaps even an announcement.

Regardless of what is learned today (or later this week), know that we will address Hopkins’ 175-pound ranking, and we will also use this somewhat slow period of the summer to examine other inactive fighters in THE RING rankings, such as No. 1-rated cruiserweight Grigory Drozd. The once-beaten Russian, who was named “Champion-in-Recess” by the WBC in March, hasn’t fought since making the first defense of the WBC belt (against Lukasz Janik) last May. We’re aware that Drozd has been out of the ring for more than 12 months but we take the injury to his left hand into consideration, as well as his announcement that he intends to challenge newly crowned WBC titleholder Tony Bellew by the end of this year.

There are other RING-ranked fighters, including No. 5-rated featherweight Abner Mares and No. 4-rated junior bantamweight McJoe Arroyo, who are approaching one year of inactivity and we will also take into consideration their respective medical issues and prospective fights upon our review.

Regarding Froch’s removal from THE RING rankings last June, if memory serves me right, a major factor in the decision to drop him was the anticipation of his retirement. The word from our British contributors and correspondents was that the four-time super middleweight titleholder’s retirement was “imminent,” and Froch did indeed announce that he was hanging up the gloves a month later. So, there wasn’t anything personal against Froch. We love The Cobra.

Speaking of the two protagonists, who wins Hopkins v Froch at 175lbs. If the fight were to happen before the end of 2017 without either veteran engaging in a tune-up bout, I would favor Froch by close decision.

Your mythical match ups:

Shane Mosley 2009 v Kell Brook 2014 – Brook by competitive but clear UD

Roberto Duran 1980 v Floyd Mayweather 2007 – Duran by one-sided UD

Miguel Cotto v Amir Khan….both present – Cotto by come-from-behind TKO in a good fight

CANELO VS. THE MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Hi Doug,

Huge fan of the mailbag, and your straight-forward common sense.

Like most boxing fans I was not happy about the Canelo Vs Smith announcement, not because I think Liam Smith will be a dull fight, I just wanted to see how Canelo would fair against a proper middleweight.

So how do you see these match ups going right now?

Canelo vs Jacobs, Saunders, Lemieux, Lee, Eubank Jr.

Hope to make the mailbag. You and the fam have a great 4th. – Jesse

Thank you Jesse, we’re planning to have a great day.

One could argue that by the time they step into the ring both Canelo and Smith will be “proper SUPER middleweights” (if not somewhat water-logged light heavyweights), but I get your point. Canelo is supposedly aiming for a December ring return if all goes well against “Beefy” in September. If he does indeed fight three times in 2016, maybe his third bout will be against a real middleweight.

That third fight is supposed to be a “regular” HBO main event, which means there probably won’t be a lot of money for Canelo’s opponent (especially at the end of the year). That should tell us that he won’t be in with an elite 160 pounder, but maybe we’ll see him tested by a solid fringe contender like Curtis Stevens or Hassan N’Dam.

So how do you see these match ups going right now?

Canelo vs Jacobs, Saunders, Lemieux, Lee, Eubank Jr.

Jacobs over Canelo by close-but-clear unanimous decision in an entertaining boxing match that threatens to break out into a fight but never does due to Canelo’s modest ring-cutting ability.

Canelo over Saunders by close/controversial decision (and let’s be real, ALL of Alvarez’s close victories have been and likely always will be considered controversial) in a somewhat uneventful boxing match. (If it were to take place in the UK, I’d slightly favor BJS by close decision.)

Canelo over Lemieux via late TKO in a thrilling and punishing fight.

Canelo over Lee via come-from-behind TKO in an awkward boxing match.

Eubank Jr. over Canelo by close, maybe majority decision in an entertaining boxing match that features many heated exchanges.

MYTHICAL MATCHUPS

Hi Dougie,

Hope this letter finds you well. I reckon Jonathan Taconing will knock Ganigan Lopez out. What do you reckon?

Mythical Match ups:

1.Vasyl Lomachenko Vs. Diego Corrales @ 130

2.Vasyl Lomachenko Vs Flash Elorde @ 130

3.Vasyl Lomachenko vs your son Edwin Valero @ 130

3.GGG vs Randolph Turpin @ 160

4.GGG vs the Marvelous One @ 160

5.GGG vs Carlos Monzon @ 160

6.Flash Gordon Vs QuickSilver (200 meter dash)

7.Wolverine Vs Sabertooth (Spelling Contest)

Kind Regards. – Alvin Meynard Arceo

I reckon Ganigan Lopez retains his WBC 108-pound belt against Jonathan Taconing because that’s what I read in Ryan Songalia’s report early Sunday morning.

Your mythical match-ups:

1.Vasyl Lomachenko Vs. Diego Corrales @ 130 – Loma by unanimous decision in a high intensity fight due to the amount of punishment Chico willingly absorbs as he stalks the Ukrainian uber-talent and the wobbly moments the dearly departed puncher inflicts upon the southpaw.

2.Vasyl Lomachenko Vs Flash Elorde @ 130 – Elorde by close but unanimous decision in a fast-paced, high volume boxing match.

3.Vasyl Lomachenko vs your son Edwin Valero @ 130 – Valero by late-rounds knockout in what surprisingly (for most observers) begins as a tit-for-tat chess match.

3.GGG vs Randolph Turpin @ 160 – Golovkin by close decision in a very physical and competitive fight.

4.GGG vs the Marvelous One @ 160 – Hagler by close, maybe majority or split decision in brutal-but-technical battle of attrition.

5.GGG vs Carlos Monzon @ 160 – Monzon by competitive but clear unanimous decision in a good fight that features a lot of quality boxing but also plenty of rough stuff.

6. Flash Gordon Vs QuickSilver (200 meter dash) – My man
   
   

   Flash might keep up if he’s riding one of these.

   
   Pietro Maximoff takes this one easy. Flash Gordon ain’t The Flash of DC Comics, he’s a collegiate polo player (according to the old comic strips from the ’30s), or an astronaut (according to the ’50s version) or a pro football player (according to the 1980s film version) who found himself in a faraway star system inhabited by several alien kingdoms.

7.Wolverine Vs Sabertooth (Spelling Contest) – Wolvie! Come on, man, Logan lives in a freakin’ school!

CHANGED OPINION, LOST RESPECT

Before I use to read your column as I always found your opinions useful and without bias…now that’s all changed. you stated in your last mail bag that Canelo will lose his ring middleweight belt if he beats Liam smith for the 154lb belt,…its a sham the ring belt is still with him as he has not faced a middleweight fighter and has now ducked his number one mandatory….there’s nothing worse than reading a so called expert’s opinion when there openly biased towards there paymaster and fighter….give it up Fischer YDSAB and start being your own man for a change instead of sucking up to golden boy…. It’s pathetic – Steve

I’ve been my own man from Day One, Steve. I’m SELF-made and don’t you ever forget it. I didn’t get here because somebody picked me out of obscurity, I forged my own path and created my own niche.

I’m doing what I want to do and what I love to do, and I say and write what I want. What about you? What career have you built for yourself. What’ve have you done?

And WTFDYKAB? (That’s What The F__k Do You Know About Boxing?)

you stated in your last mail bag that Canelo will lose his ring middleweight belt if he beats Liam smith for the 154lb belt,… No, I said that he wouldn’t lose his RING title. A RING champ can go up or down in weight for one fight and keep his belt as long as returns to the division where he holds the title. We didn’t strip Chad Dawson of the 175-pound title when he dropped down to super middleweight to fight Andre Ward. We didn’t strip Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the welterweight title when he went up in weight to challenge Canelo (in fact, he was allowed to hold both the 147- and 154-pound titles for a period of time after he beat him). We won’t strip Roman Gonzalez of the flyweight title if he goes up in weight to challenge Carlos Cuadras for the WBC 115-pound belt in September.

its a sham the ring belt is still with him as he has not faced a middleweight fighter and has now ducked his number one mandatory…. Miguel Cotto stopped RING/WBC middleweight champ Sergio Martinez and then-No. 4-rated contender Daniel Geale before being outpointed by Canelo, so even though the future hall of famer weighted under 154 pounds in his last two bouts I think he counts as a “middleweight fighter.” And as for his “number-one mandatory,” GGG might be THE RING’s No. 1-rated middleweight but he was the WBC’s mandatory. If you want to say Canelo’s “ducking” Golovkin, go right ahead, but the redhead gave up the green belt, so you can’t say he’s denying the Good Boy Killa his shot at the title or that he’s over anyone’s deadline to make that fight.

there’s nothing worse than reading a so called expert’s opinion when there openly biased towards there paymaster and fighter…. Hey man, Canelo is going to fight GGG in his own time. Deal with it and move on. And I’m gonna be me no matter what. I ain’t new to this and I ain’t going anywheres for a LOOOOOONG time (please read those last two lines with a defiant Ozark Hillbilly accent). So deal with it and move on.

AARON FROM MIAMI (BY WAY OF CANADA)

Hey Dougie,

Thanks so much for responding to my email it made my day to see me in Friday’s column. I also appreciated you taking the effort to respond to me in such detail.

BTW I think you might have misconstrued a couple of things I said. For example, I am a huge fan of GGG and have seen him fight live 3 times. As far as why I said his only challenge at 160 is Jacobs is because I don’t think anyone else (including Billy Joe and Eubank) have a chance. Also I have no American bias I may live in Miami for the last 20 years but I am Canadian born. My favorite current fighters are Rigo, Luis Ortiz, the recently retired Froch, Kessler and Pac all non-USA.

Anyway more importantly have a great 4th all the best to you and your family and thanks for the feedback on previous email. Regards. – Aaron, Miami

Thanks for the Fourth of July wishes and for writing in again, Aaron. This email definitely has a different tone from the one you sent to this past Friday’s mailbag. I like it! And I’m glad you’re not sore at me.

Thanks so much for responding to my email it made my day to see me in Friday’s column. Thank you, too, your email made for a lively debate.

I also appreciated you taking the effort to respond to me in such detail. Hey, it’s what I do. I’m long-winded. I can’t help it.

BTW I think you might have misconstrued a couple of things I said. I do that. A lot.

For example, I am a huge fan of GGG and have seen him fight live 3 times. OK, now I like you. Respect.

As far as why I said his only challenge at 160 is Jacobs is because I don’t think anyone else (including Billy Joe and Eubank) have a chance. Fair enough, but it says here that Saunders and Eubank Jr. are better than you think. Are they better than Jacobs? I can’t say that right now, as both have only recently emerged on the world-class scene, but they have talent, smarts, skill and courage.

Also I have no American bias I may live in Miami for the last 20 years but I am Canadian born. Cool. I’ve yet to meet a Canadian I didn’t like.

My favorite current fighters are Rigo, Luis Ortiz, the recently retired Froch, Kessler and Pac all non-USA. OK, OK, OKÔǪ don’t overdo it; I don’t want to have to accuse you of being anti-American on my nation’s Independence Day.

WARD AND THE DREADED ‘L’

Hi Dougie,

Just a quick one from me (I think), why is Andre Ward taking on a super middleweight to prepare for Sergey Kovalev? Ward has the quality, even without fighting these warm up bouts, but if they’re gonna be a measure for what’s coming from Kovalev surely he should fight someone who’s more Light Heavy/Cruiser than Super Middle/Light Heavy.

Second, is taking a loss more devastating in the last 10 years than it was in the previous eras? Its seems that whenever a fighter who’s had 20/25 fights loses a fight people are talking about him retiring or that he should stick to domestic fights.

MM: Haye v Usyk @ Cruiser & Eubank Jr V Pirog

All the best. – Stephen, Manchester

Thanks for sharing your questions and opinions, Stephen (and, yes, you made it quick – at least in comparison to everyone else).

Why is Andre Ward taking on a super middleweight to prepare for Sergey Kovalev? Well, for starters, his showdown with Krusher is all set for Nov. 19 in Las Vegas, and I’m sure he wants to make it to that date without too much resistance. It’s his first pay-per-view headliner and arguably the biggest fight of his pro career. He needs to be sharp for this challenge but he also needs to get there injury free. An opponent like Brand ensures that Ward won’t be dinged up going into what looks like his most physical matchup (on paper). But to add to Ward’s defense, Brand was not his first choice of opponent. Legit light heavyweights were offered the fight, including RING-rated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (a “Krusheresque” boxer-puncher), but the unbeaten Ukrainian reportedly turned it down due to money issues and the others found reasons not to take on the former super middleweight champ. So, I’m not going to be too hard Dre. I don’t think much of Brand, but I’m not Ward or his trainer. They know what they need to do in order to get into the right physical and mental shape to challenge Krusher. Maybe all Ward needs is another fight at light heavyweight to shake off his remaining ring rust in order to be ready. Maybe the level and style of his opponent isn’t that important. He will practice dealing with Kovalev’s specific style against the appropriate sparring partners during his camp for the WBO/WBA/IBF titleholder (away from spying eyes – you should know by now that Dre and Virgil Hunter value their privacy).

Is taking a loss more devastating in the last 10 years than it was in the previous eras? HELL YES. Fighters are the fiercest of competitors, so they’ve always hated to lose, but taking an “L” wasn’t the end of the world in previous decades (especially if it was a good, competitive fight against a worthy opponent). Now it seems like it is, regardless of the circumstances. We’re just now coming out of the Mayweather Era, and the most successful and highest-profile boxer of the past 10 years built his brand, reputation and legacy around an unbeaten record, so it’s only natural that younger fighters will try to emulate him and adopt his philosophy. However, it goes beyond the boxers. I think the fans and the media (including networks) are guilty of “loss intolerance.” I think they/we turn their/our backs on boxers that suffer losses quicker than other fighters or trainers/managers/promoters.

Its seems that whenever a fighter who’s had 20/25 fights loses a fight people are talking about him retiring or that he should stick to domestic fights. Yeah, and that line of thinking is really lame, not to mention wrong most of the time.

Your mythical matchups:

Haye v Usyk @ Cruiser – Hayemaker by late TKO (and if the Brash Brit wears his Afro into the ring, I think his bushy hairdo beats out the Ukrainian’s traditional chub haircut).

Eubank Jr V Pirog – Euby Jr. by close, perhaps majority or split decision in an intense and entertaining nip-and-tuck battle.

THROW THE BELTS ON THE GROUND

Doug,

The Ring’s divisional championships are in seriously bad shape. Four champs in 17 divisions, and one of those four has never fought at the divisional limit. The requirements for filling the vacant titles were liberalised a few years ago, with no effect. Worse still, once a guy becomes a Ring champion, he hardly has to do jack-s**t in order to retain the title indefinitely. For all their faults, the alphabets can at least make their champions defend against their mandatories; The Ring can’t.

The solution? Abolish the divisional championships altogether. The Ring’s “ratings” are actually rankings, the purpose of which is to show at a glance who is the best in the division, who is second best, and so on. A “champion”, who doesn’t have to be the best in the division, serves no purpose in this scheme other than to obfuscate the issue of who is the best. The worst-case scenario is what we see now in the middleweight division, where there is effectively a two-tier system: the championship tier of elite non-middleweights, and the middleweights below that, with the second tier never getting a look-in to the championship tier.

The only argument in favor of having a divisional champion is history and tradition. But that doesn’t fly, either, because The Ring’s champions are not linear, as evidenced by the fact that vacancies get filled in terms of a mechanism devised by The Ring’s ratings panel. None of the current champs can trace their lineage directly back to the days when there was a single champion in every division; so what’s the point of having them?

Bottom line: if you don’t have the ability to make your champion fight the number one contender, you shouldn’t pretend you have a champion (and by “you”, I obviously mean The Ring, and not the great Dougie Fischer). Later. – Pierre Burger, Johannesburg, SA

Thanks for your “solution” Pierre, but I think we’ll stick with THE RING championships – which are not the same as “lineal” titles. Sometimes THE RING champ is recognized as the lineal champ, but most of the divisions are without any direct lineage to an undisputed past champions. The middleweight division is the rare exception because Bernard Hopkins unified all four major sanctioning body titles, so a new lineage began late in his historic reign. But there is no uninterrupted lineage back to the “days when there was a single champion in every division,” as you put it, in any weight class. So it’s silly to want to abolish THE RING’s championship policy for that reason.

However, you are spot on when you mentioned that there’s “history and tradition” in the magazine having divisional titles.

THE RING title dates back to 1922, so they predate the oldest major sanctioning organizations by several decades. The tradition of RING championship belts is just six years away from 100 years. Why stop now? Because we can’t force our champions to fight the No. 1 contenders? Do you follow boxing? I hate to break this sad news to you, P.B., but the sanctioning organizations can’t force their “champs” to fight the No. 1 contenders. In just the last 24 months, Peter Quillin, Mickey Bey and Canelo abdicated their various alphabet titles (WBO, IBF and WBC) rather than face their mandatory challengers, while the IBF stripped Tyson Fury for not fighting their (lame) choice for No. 1 contender. Did you miss all that? Well, let me tell ya, this monkey business has been going on for decades. The fans never really know if any so-called “world champion” is indeed the best in his division unless he tries to unify all of the belts in his weight class and succeeds. Most titleholders don’t even try, let alone even partially unify major belts in their division. That’s why when I consider voting for retired fighters for hall of fame induction or compile “all-time great” lists, I always have a higher regard for undisputed champions like Hopkins or Joe Calzaghe than even the most talented boxers who were content to hold just one major title.

The Ring’s divisional championships are in seriously bad shape. Four champs in 17 divisions, and one of those four has never fought at the divisional limit. Patience, grasshopper. THE RING middleweight champ is supposedly on a collision course with our No. 1 middleweight. And the current Gang of Four will soon be joined by other RING champs.

The Terrence Crawford-Viktor Postol WBO/WBC 140-pound title unification bout that takes place in three weeks will crown a new RING junior welterweight champ.

THE RING lightweight title will be on the line when Jorge Linares takes on WBA beltholder Anthony Crolla on Sept. 24.

The proposed James DeGale-Badou Jack IBF/WBC 168-pound title unification bout that is to take place in the fall will be for the vacant RING super middleweight championship.

Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido are THE RING’s Nos. 1 and 2-rated junior lightweights. If they engage in a rematch of their Fight of the Year candidate, as fans and media are beating the drums for, THE RING’s 130-pound title will be on the line.

Shinsuke Yamanaka and Anselmo Moreno are THE RING’s Nos. 1 and 2-rated bantamweights. Moreno earned a WBC-mandated rematch against Yamanaka with his decision victory over Suriyan Sor Runvisai on April 30. When that return bout takes place, THE RING’s vacant bantamweight title will be on the line.

And there are other divisions where potential fights could fill RING title vacancies, such as featherweight, where Gary Russell Jr. and Leo Santa Cruz are the Nos. 1 and 2 contenders. If Santa Cruz beats Carl Frampton on July 30, that’s a fight that can be made.

Bottom line, top contenders and beltholders are facing each other in a number of divisions (you’d notice this if you weren’t so focused on what isn’t happening/negative things). These fighters deserve the honor of fighting for THE RING title.

The requirements for filling the vacant titles were liberalised a few years ago, with no effect. That’s not true, there were several RING champs crowned from 2011 to 2014.

Worse still, once a guy becomes a Ring champion, he hardly has to do jack-s**t in order to retain the title indefinitely. This is not true at all. In the last 18 months, RING titles were stripped from Andre Ward (the 168-pound belt), Floyd Mayweather Jr. (the 154-pound belt), Adonis Stevenson (the 175-pound belt) and Guillermo Rigondeaux (the 122-pound belt) for inactivity and/or not defending their titles against quality opposition.

For all their faults, the alphabets can at least make their champions defend against their mandatories. No they can’t. Give me half an hour and I can probably come up with more than 50 examples of the alphabets organizations’ failure to get their champs to defend against their mandatory challengers.

The Ring can’t. We shouldn’t have to.

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Periscope.