markusmaar
07-01-2007, 12:07 AM
With his victory tonight, we haven't seen the last of Evander Holyfield in the boxing ring. Perhaps this isn't a bad thing for boxing.....
In the quest for a (publicly) recognized champion, Holyfield could be of tremendous value. Imagine the following scenario:
Holyfield gets a title shot against one of the current Heavyweight champs (let's say Chagaev or Ibragimov) and it becomes a moderate PPV success. (Hold on, this isn't the point yet)
If Holyfield wins, the public recognizes him as the "legitimate" champion. If he loses, his conqueror is seen as the "legitimate" champion. (Now comes the useful part)
Either way, the winner must then face the Winner of Klitscko/Brewster, or the winner of Peter, Maskaev, V. Klitschko.
The casual (mainstream) boxing fan would then have a recognizable Heavyweight boxing champ, without having to unify all the titles (those left out would be irrelevant to the mainstream sports media).
I'm not stating that I wish for this to happen, nor do I predict it. Yet, it would be interesting and could help usher in a (hopefully) new, younger Heavyweight champ for the public to acknowledge.
Thoughts?
Markus
In the quest for a (publicly) recognized champion, Holyfield could be of tremendous value. Imagine the following scenario:
Holyfield gets a title shot against one of the current Heavyweight champs (let's say Chagaev or Ibragimov) and it becomes a moderate PPV success. (Hold on, this isn't the point yet)
If Holyfield wins, the public recognizes him as the "legitimate" champion. If he loses, his conqueror is seen as the "legitimate" champion. (Now comes the useful part)
Either way, the winner must then face the Winner of Klitscko/Brewster, or the winner of Peter, Maskaev, V. Klitschko.
The casual (mainstream) boxing fan would then have a recognizable Heavyweight boxing champ, without having to unify all the titles (those left out would be irrelevant to the mainstream sports media).
I'm not stating that I wish for this to happen, nor do I predict it. Yet, it would be interesting and could help usher in a (hopefully) new, younger Heavyweight champ for the public to acknowledge.
Thoughts?
Markus