In professional boxing, the lineal championship of a weight class is a notional world championship title. It is initially held at some moment in time by a boxer universally acclaimed as the best in the class. Another boxer can only win the lineal championship by defeating the reigning lineal champion in the ring. The lineal champion is described as "the man who beat the man".^[1][2]

The concept was developed by boxing fans dissatisfied by the tendency of each of the various sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, IBF, etc.) to recognize different champions, and in particular to strip a champion of his title for refusing to fight its top-ranked contender. Prior to the 1970s, this rarely happened; the National Boxing Association (NBA) and the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) sometimes recognised different champions, but there was usually only a short interval before one champion defeated the other. The "lineal championship" is intended as a return to that era. Several top boxers have specified holding the lineal championship as a personal accomplishment (e.g., Lennox Lewis^[3]) or goal (e.g., Nate Campbell^[1]).

An issue in the implementation of a "lineal championship" is what to do if the lineal champion retires, dies, or moves to a different weight class. Different ways of resolving this vacancy mean the "lineal championship" may itself be subject to dispute. In the NBA/NYSAC era, a title vacancy was generally filled by having a box-off between 2, 4, or even more top-ranked contenders. Since the modern lineal championship is merely a notional title tracked by fans, there is no money or organization to arrange such box-offs, and there may not be consensus on who the top contenders are.^[2]

The Ring, boxing's most respected magazine, has its own version of the lineal championship. In 2007, The Ring was acquired by the owners of fight promoter Golden Boy Promotions,^[4] which has publicized The Ring's world championship when this is at stake in fights it promotes (such as Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones, Jr. in 2008).^[5]

The Cyber Boxing Zone website maintains its own lists of lineal champions.^[6]

Another criticism of the lineal championship is that a fighter may defend it against inferior opponents. For example, George Foreman was considered lineal champion from 1994 till 1997, when Shannon Briggs beat him. After the WBA and IBF stripped him of their titles in 1994, he fought only two minor opponents before Briggs.^[2] The lineal champion is not necessarily the boxer viewed as the best.^[1]

[edit] See also

• Undisputed Champion
• List of current world boxing champions

[edit] References