Talk:Lineal championship

List
where is the list?

It is difficult to come up with a list without a set of rules. It seems easiest to come up with a set of rules for the heavyweight division as no heavyweight champion has ever changed weight classes to give up a title. With heavyweights the following rules would dictate a heavyweight lineal champion. 1. A fighter beats the current champion who is also recognized as the lineal champion.(Most turnovers.) 2. A fighter who is the actual champ beats a lineal champ who had come out of retirement or who had been previously stripped of his title.(Frazier beats ali, Holmes beats Ali, Tyson beats Spinks.) 3. A fighter who is the actual champ beats a lineal champ who may have not had the title. (Foreman, Briggs, Lewis). 4. A fighter wins the championship belt by elimination that the previous lineal champ had held.(Schmeling,Patterson, V. Klitschko). 5. A fighter retains his lineal championship upon coming out of retirement. Under these rules you have the following list starting at Tommy Burns. (Burns, Johnson, Willard, Dempsey, Tunney, Schmeling, Sharkey, Carnera, Baer, Braddock, Louis, Charles, Walcott, Marciano, Patterson, Johanssen, Patterson, Liston, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Ali, L. Spinks, Ali, Holmes, M. Spinks, Tyson, Douglas, Holyfield, Bowe, Holyfield, Moorer, Foreman, Briggs, Lewis, Rahman, Lewis, V. Klitschko). Klitschko regained his lineal championship when coming out of retirement and will hold it provided Lewis doesn't come out of retirement. Upon V. Klitschko's retirement the lineal title would then be held by the next man to win his belt. This creates an unbroken line. It would only become complicated if Lewis were to come out of retirement to fight a non-champion which seems highly unlikely. 134.139.233.170 (talk) 00:12, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Manny Pacquiao
Several good sources say Pacquiao is the only boxer to have won lineal titles at four weights. The fact that they have said so is notable, but not definitive. Whose definition of the championship are they using? I think it's Cliff Rold's, but in any case, it's only one opinion of many. An important point made in the article is that there is no single canonical list of lineal champions at any weight level, because there is no agreed method of what to do when the current champion retires or moves weight division. jnestorius(talk) 00:03, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Shouldn't the first paragraph, last sentence require citation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.89.77.117 (talk) 22:14, 27 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Indeed. I have reverted some edits. jnestorius(talk) 06:48, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

The page quotes "He held world titles at four different weights—lightweight (1972–79), welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1983–84) and middleweight (1989)". Is this not contradictory?

rm lists
I have removed the following lists. They are all WP:original research. As the article says, there is no definitive lineal championship.

"As the article says, there is no definitive lineal championship." er, yes there is.


 * That's not a very persuasive argument. I have spun the lists out into List of Cyber Boxing Zone lineal champions and edited the article to avoid the suggestion that CBZ is The One True List and others like BoxingScene and The Ring are mere impostors. jnestorius(talk) 21:32, 12 August 2013 (UTC)


 * I've asked for input at WikiProject Boxing. jnestorius(talk) 16:41, 15 August 2013 (UTC)


 * You might also be interested in Articles for deletion/List of Cyber Boxing Zone lineal champions. jnestorius(talk) 11:00, 17 August 2013 (UTC)
 * The guy who is undoing your changes is a sockpuppet of a blocked user. If he continues, we can have the article semi-protected. I support removing the lists from this article.--Jahalive (talk) 19:48, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Bloody elbow
I've removed this:
 * In Oriental Style/K-1 Rules kickboxing the lineal championships have been determined in such a way to avoid the issue of crowning a new champion when the recognized title holder retires. This method involves tracing the lineage from the world titles of every major kickboxing promotion (K-1, Glory World Series, It's Showtime, SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship etc.), and then crowning a lineal champion based on the number of lineal titles held at one time. Using this aggregated approach, active lineal champions have been crowned despite the retirement of previous lineal heavyweight champion Remy Bonjasky, and lineal 70 kg champion Masato.

There are a few problems with it: most importantly, it is entirely from a single source, Bloody Elbow (BE), and entirely the work of a "the self-proclaimed lineal title expert here at BE". Also, I'm not sure that the above Wikipedia summary of the BE pages matches the pages themselves. Finally, it's not clear what "lineal" means in the BE tables; there seem to be separate "lineal" titles for each promotion, and no account is taken of weight class; both are significant differences from the original boxing understanding of "lineal". There is also some blurring of the distinction between lineal and undisputed champions, which are totally distinct in boxing. If these differences are the consensus among kickboxing fans, the information could be re-added to the article backed by a wider variety of reliable sources; as it is it seems to me like some trivia by a single website. jnestorius(talk) 12:45, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

Lede
Several times an editor at various IPs (68.108.78.113, 204.62.111.60, 68.108.78.113)  has changed the lede to what I consider is an inferior text. Here are the two variants:


 * Lineal championship is the theoretical title meant to represent a singular "true" Champion in a particular weight class division, in combat sports such as professional boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA).  Within each combat sport there are different sanctioning bodies and promotion organizations which name and recognize their own champions.  This creates a scenario where, within each sport, there may be multiple competitors recognized as "champion," per weight division.  These different organizations also maintain the right to arbitrarily strip a title from a champion for reasons other than the win/loss results of a competition in the ring or cage.  The Lineal championship title is intended to negate this. Rather than having an "alphabet soup" of champions and rather than adhearing to the inclinations of one particlar organization over another, the lineal championship bases it's premise on the actual win/loss results of a competition and maintaining a singular direct line of championship succession.


 * In combat sports where champions are decided by a challenge, the lineal championship of a weight class is a notional world championship title held initially by an undisputed champion and subsequently by a fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a match at that weight class. In professional boxing, the lineal champion is informally called "the man who beats the man"., Champions recognised by sanctioning bodies such as the World Boxing Association or the Ultimate Fighting Championship may vacate their title voluntarily, or be stripped of the title for breaching the sanctioning body's regulations or contracts. There will thus be a breach of continuity in the list of champions. There is no single canonical list of lineal champions at any weight class, because there is no agreed upon method of determining the starting point for each lineage and conflicting opinions on what to do when the current champion retires or moves to a different weight class, although there is agreement that any stripping of a title be discounted.

Could we please have a discussion about this rather than a constant revert and pseudo-revert? jnestorius(talk) 23:56, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Lead section rewrite
Where to begin with this mess of a lead.. It desparately needs rewriting, but I'm not up to the task right now. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 19:01, 5 January 2019 (UTC)
 * What are your concerns? Other than the second sentence (which was added by an IP on Dec. 11 ), I think it's okay.--SaskatchewanSenator (talk) 22:48, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Needs paragraphs; unencyclopaedic use of "n't"; much better clarification needed on the whole undisputed thing; Klitschko–Chagaev is a poor quality, random example to throw in there. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 00:55, 12 January 2019 (UTC)
 * "the lineal championship of a weight class is a world championship title held initially by an undisputed champion."
 * This opening sentence is INCORRECT.
 * The Wiki Lineal page gives several versions of sites that document lineal champions, such as CBZ, Boxing Scene, Ring, TBRB and Lineal Boxing Champion. These are all decent sites. But please notice that none of these sites pay any attention to the belts and certainly don't rely on being "undisputed" to crown a lineal or Ring champion. The Ring's policy has been "1 Vs 2 or 3" for about 100 years. TBRB's is "1 vs 2" and CBZ supposedly follows the TBRB these days. Lineal Boxing Champion is also "1 vs 2 or 3" as well. Where has this undisputed idea come from? It doesn't match up with the Wiki page at all.
 * Half of the current lineal champs on wiki - look where the lineages started:
 * Cruiserweight started with Briedis/Dorticos - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Light heavyweight started with Pascal/Dawson - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Junior bantamweight started with Rungvisai/Estrada - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Junior flyweight started with Teraji/Kyoguchi - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Also, Lineal Boxing Champion recognises Tyson Fury as the current lineal heavyweight champion (and gives a well referenced account explaining why), but if you're going to say it's Usyk, well Usyk/Joshua was NOT an undisputed fight. Neither was Fury/Wilder 2 before that and neither was Wlad/Chagaev before that.
 * Sometimes an undisputed fight does happen to tie in with a lineal champion....but undisputed does NOT mean lineal and it never has - just have a quick look back at the previous champions listed by CBZ, LBC, TBRB and Ring and look at their championship policies. This definition needs to be changed as it undermines the entire page. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:16, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Undisputed champions were the original lineal champions ("the man" before he was beaten by the next in the line).

The leading contenders stuff you want to add is already there in the second paragraph. Jahalive (talk) 07:46, 4 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Undisputed champions were not the original champions and they're not how modern lineal champions are crowned, either. At heavyweight, the first vacancy after the retirement of James Jeffries was filled by the a fight between the top two guys, Hart and Root. It wasn't undisputed - there were other titlists such as Australian and black titlists.
 * And in the modern era post-Lennox Lewis, it was Wlad Vs Chagaev that filled the vacancy - not an undisputed fight.
 * There are countless other examples. Undisputed is not lineal. Ring, TBRB, Boxing Scene, LBC, CBZ...none of them use the belts to crown champions.
 * This needs to be removed from Wikipedia. It's inaccurate. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:16, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Neither of those fights you mentioned were universally considered lineal title fights. If you want to get my interest with examples, list some undisputed champions who were not considered lineal champs.
 * The stuff you want to add to the first paragraph is already there in the 2nd paragraph (at a level of detail appropriate for the lead) where it says "top "contenders for the title" must fight to become the next lineal champion".--Jahalive (talk) 18:20, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Lead paragraph
Very confusing explanation of what a lineal champion is. The idea should be compacted and more digestible. I’m sitting here like Gollum trying to figure out Bilbo’s last riddle after reading that. 108.46.189.178 (talk) 01:23, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

Current lineal boxing champions (men)
Under the "Current lineal boxing champions (men)" it says "These are the current lineal boxing champions recognized by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Cyber Boxing Zone. This is not 100% accurate.   The list says that Oleksandr Usyk is the current heavyweight lineal champion.   I just looked at the Cyber Boxing Zone's website on 09/16/2022, and it still says that Tyson Fury the heavyweight champion. http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/achamp.htm  It is therefore untrue to say that "These are the current lineal boxing champions recognized by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Cyber Boxing Zone".  It is true about the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, but it is not true of the Cyber Boxing Zone. Warblerab295 (talk) 21:09, 16 September 2022 (UTC)


 * Yes, Fury did not formally retire in 2022. He was given a formal deadline of August 26th 2022 by the WBC to verify his retirement in writing. He didn't retire so kept his title and defended the lineal championship/wbc belt two months ago (December 2022). He even then called out Usyk.
 * Reference - Tyson Fury stops Derek Chisora in round 10 to set up Oleksandr Usyk clash | Daily Mail Online
 * Reference  -   WBC Prez: We Gave Tyson Fury Until August 26 To Confirm Retirement in Writing - Boxing News (boxingscene.com)
 * Also, this page is well referenced and clearly still recognises Fury as lineal champion dating back to the Wlad win. Fury has never formally retired and is undefeated. Check it out: LinealBoxingChampion.com: The Record Keeper of Boxing's Lineal Title Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:52, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Lineal Boxing Champion men's list
I believe the list of men's champions on LBC is a more accurate list and represents Nat Fleischer's original policy of the lineal title being won and long only in the ring. Plus they use rating from The Ring, TBRB, Cyber Boxing Zone, Boxing Illustrated and Boxing Monthly to determine who the true top contenders are and if two men are rated top two by at least 3 of those 5 lists then those are the best in the division. 192.199.225.150 (talk) 17:18, 12 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Agreed. The site is well referenced and now lists the champions from the 1880s to the present day. Their policy is solid and their main pages explaining lineal champions and the heavyweight page is extensively researched/referenced. It gives much more clarity than the current confusing Wiki page. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:20, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Delete both tables
The deletion log for the old list of lineal boxing world champions article sums it up. Now that CBZ, LBC, TBRB and whoever else are not unified in their opinion of whether it's Fury or Usyk, there is no way in hell this table should exist. Just like with the list before, it fails WP:V, WP:SYNTH, and WP:FRINGE. It is incredibly bad practice and downright bush-league to perpetuate something when the sources given aren't even unified. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 17:04, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Speaking of bush-league, do these look like authoritative sources to anyone? – LBC, CBZ. At least TBRB looks a bit more professional, but again it's just their opinion against the other two. We've been yabbering over this for about six years now. For encyclopaedic purposes, a "lineal championship" is nothing but an abstract concept. The major sanctioning bodies are crooked, but at least it's set in stone as to whom has held their championships. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 17:14, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * This is not true.
 * The TBRB does not claim to list lineal champions; they are TBRB champions. And Wiki say the CBZ is following the TBRB these days. So the CBZ is following a site that is not tracking the lineal titles.
 * That leaves LBC, which does list lineal champions, past and present, across all weight classes. Take a look at the "What is the lineal championship?" and the "heavyweight champions" page - it's well referenced and stays up-to-date and appears to follow the traditional lineal concept, such as that described by original Ring methods and pre-sanctioning body days. Also, the panellists include international boxing research members, Ring Magazine journalists, Women's Hall of Fame authors and the ratings are backed by a TBRB founder/Boxing Scene editor/CBZ journalist. That seems solid to me.
 * (PS thanks for sign posting me to this page via the edit-area, so that I can participate in these discussions. Appreciated) Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:35, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * TBRB is mentioned in and used by multiple reliable sources, demonstrating notability. I always assumed CBZ was, but from a quick search, doesn't seem so. On top of that, CBZ is clearly outdated as seen by their current champions list. Conclusion: CBZ can't be used, if only for the inaccurate information; although notable and seemingly reliable, I think it would be inappropriate to use TBRB on it's own. Their list of champions can go in the respective articles. I support the deletion. As for LBC, not much has changed since I last looked. I can still only find a minimal amount of mentions in reliable sources, no significant coverage. Which on Wikipedia, means it isn't notable, and by extension, neither are their rankings. Having them listed is WP:UNDUE; the lack of coverage means they're not a significant viewpoint, so it doesn't need to be represented at all. I propose deleting the female table along with mention of LBC in the "Versions" section and trim the TBRB bit down to one paragraph. I'd also be open to removing the CBZ, as that seems about as notable as LBC.  –  2 . O . Boxing  00:26, 2 February 2023 (UTC)
 * The TBRB may demonstrate notability but it doesn't represent the lineal championship, so should really be deleted. See below, taken from linealboxingchampion.com:
 * "The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. Similarly to The Ring, the TBRB also “strip” its champions for several reasons. In an interview for NYFights [29] on August 29, 2018, co-founder of the TBRB, Springs Toledo said: “The ‘lineal’ champion doesn’t quite mean what many think means. It isn’t whomever The Ring tells you Is the champion, and it isn’t necessarily the champions identified by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board either.”
 * Another co-founder of the TBRB, Cliff Rold, who is editor of BoxingScene.com and has written in depth articles about the lineal championship for many years, also clearly views the TBRB championship as being distinct from the lineal championship. Rold identified Tyson Fury as the reigning Lineal Heavyweight Champion [31] in 2018, where as the TBRB vacated their heavyweight title in 2016. The TBRB also made their middleweight title vacant in 2017 [32] – Rold on the other hand, recognized Canelo Alvarez’s Lineal 160lbs title reign as being continuous from 2015 – 2018 [30]."
 * CBZ may not come up well on Google search results in 2023, but lack of modern day popularity shouldn't result in history being erased. CBZ was a valuable resource with respected historians running it in the 90s and 2000s - It's referenced in early editions of the Boxing Register too - it is therefore important to the history of the lineal title, especially as it essentially took over from The Ring in the 90's when the Ring stopped their belts and then reintroduced them a decade later (with no respect for the lineages). The CBZ's place in the lineal title history is vital.
 * In a similar way, LBC has carved its own place in lineal title history - it was the first to begin ranking and tracking the lineal title in women's boxing. It has panellists from well respected positions (Ring Magazine, the Women's Hall of Fame, Boxing Monthly), and its ratings are referenced by Boxing Scene and Women's Boxing Archive (a pioneering site in women's boxing). And now with the CBZ failing to update its site regularly, LBC also has complete records for men's boxing too - from the 1880s tot he present day. With the lineal title, it's not simply about one opinion, it's about the consensus opinion in boxing when it comes to crowning champions. Well, in the modern era LBC uses the ratings produced by Ring, TBRB, ESPN and BLH and documents them, to decide who the lineal champions are. Further back it also gives references from the newspapers/analysts of the era, even from the 19th century.
 * Ring Magazine obviously shows good notability but it shouldn't be listed as a current version of the lineal title, because well, it's not. Wasn't it mid-2018 when The Ring had Fury on its cover named as the lineal champion? At time when he had been stripped of the Ring belt. Ring champ doesn't mean lineal champ.
 * To summarise, I would be in favour of removing Ring and the TBRB, but keeping Boxing Scene, CBZ and LBC as they're the only sites that properly represent the lineal title.
 * Regards,
 * Anthony Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 00:24, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * "I would be in favour of removing Ring and the TBRB, but keeping Boxing Scene, CBZ and LBC as they're the only sites that properly represent the lineal title." Compromise: we get rid of the lists, because WP should not be reproducing disputed, debateable content on an intangible concept on which sources are not unified, but we keep the sections about TBRB, CBZ, LBC, The Ring, BoxingScene, etc. solely to provide information about those publications/organisations. Nothing more.
 * Also bear in mind this not a list article, and that should include sneaky tables purporting to showcase "current champions" (more like promotional agendas; i.e., Fury/Warren/Top Rank/ESPN). The list was deleted, and should stay that way. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 00:53, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Oh, and the section titled "Versions" should be renamed to "Interpretations", because that's what they are. There can't be versions of something which doesn't exist in a literal sense. To use an analogy from way out of left field, the articles for many-worlds interpretation and Copenhagen interpretation adhere to this logic—they're merely interpretations of quantum mechanics, not versions.
 * Even the lead section for interpretations of quantum mechanics sums it up nicely: "Despite nearly a century of debate and experiment, no consensus has been reached among physicists and philosophers of physics concerning which interpretation best 'represents' reality." Kinda sounds like lineal championships in boxing, huh? Mac Dreamstate (talk) 02:50, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Aw man.. Now we have this image being added to the lists again. As if we didn't need more muddying of the waters! Mac Dreamstate (talk) 13:30, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * The CBZ, TBRB, Boxing Scene and Ring are interpretations of the lineal championships...LBC literally means "Lineal Boxing Champion," and is tracking the lineal championship...it's not tracking the Ring champions or TBRB, it's literally tracking the lineal champions. Where the wiki page is muddled and causes clashes of opinion across these independent interpretations, LBC actually references all of them to find the common consensus when crowning lineal champions (as well as using ratings form ESPN and Bad Left Hook Boxing and taking into account opinions of historians at Boxing Scene and elsewhere), which essentially is how things were also done on the early 20th century and 19th century. It doesn't favour one particular set of rankings but does check and reference all of them.
 * But more importantly, the definition of lineal championship on Wiki really needs altering. CBZ, LBC, Boxing Scene, Ring and TBRB are ALL IN AGREEMENT - crowning a true champion does not necessarily involve unifying all of the belts. The widely accepted method across all these sites is "No.1 Vs No.2" (or No.3) in a weight class. Lineal does not mean undisputed. Any writer at any of these sites will tell you this.
 * In case you missed my earlier comment, here it is again:
 * Half of the current lineal champs on wiki - look where the lineages started:
 * Cruiserweight started with Briedis/Dorticos - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Light heavyweight started with Pascal/Dawson - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Junior bantamweight started with Rungvisai/Estrada - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Junior flyweight started with Teraji/Kyoguchi - Not an undisputed fight.
 * Also, Lineal Boxing Champion recognises Tyson Fury as the current lineal heavyweight champion (and gives a well referenced account explaining why), but if you're going to say it's Usyk, well Usyk/Joshua was NOT an undisputed fight. Neither was Fury/Wilder 2 before that and neither was Wlad/Chagaev before that.
 * I could find dozens and dozens of examples of lineal vacancies that were not filled with undisputed champions, in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
 * Where did this "undisputed" idea come from? I don't know anyone who thinks along these lines yet Wiki has kept this infuriating definition for years. It undermines the entire page and doesn't match up with a huge number of past champions and half of the current ones. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:53, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Respectfully, your fixation on the "undisputed" part of the lead section is deviating from the main topic at hand. Yes, it does need rewording because it's nonsensical: fights like Klitschko–Chagaev or Pascal–Dawson occurred without an undisputed championship at stake, but that is not the point of this topic—the tables are. We can address the lead another time.
 * "LBC literally means 'Lineal Boxing Champion,' and is tracking the lineal championship ... it's literally tracking the lineal champions." As I keep repeating, interpretations of a lineal championship fall apart whenever retirements occur. Fury has repeatedly sworn black-and-blue that he's retired on multiple occasions within the past seven years, only to make a grandiose return like nothing happened. I personally don't give a shit if it's him or Usyk with a claim to that mythical title. Its inclusion as part of a table that purports to display cold hard facts is unencyclopaedic and disingenuous. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 23:08, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * "LBC literally means 'Lineal Boxing Champion,' and is tracking the lineal championship ... it's literally tracking the lineal champions." As I keep repeating, interpretations of a lineal championship fall apart whenever retirements occur. Fury has repeatedly sworn black-and-blue that he's retired on multiple occasions within the past seven years, only to make a grandiose return like nothing happened. I personally don't give a shit if it's him or Usyk with a claim to that mythical title. Its inclusion as part of a table that purports to display cold hard facts is unencyclopaedic and disingenuous. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 23:08, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Soz chaps but I don't have the patience for Anthony's walls of text. I agree with renaming "Versions" and for reasons I and Mac have stated, the table needs to go. I still want to see the apparently non-notable LBC and CBZ removed, and the more I think of it, everything but The Ring; it's the only one whose rankings actually mean something. I'm fine with dropping that for now though. The tables are what we're here to discuss. – 2 . O . Boxing  00:45, 5 February 2023 (UTC)


 * The Ring Magazine is not the lineal championship - its current editor, Dougie Fischer, frequently reminds fans/media of this online. And neither is the TBRB title - its founders have explained this publicly. Even if you overlook these vital points, The Ring only began crowning champions in 1922 and the TBRB only documents TBRB champs from 2012. Without having the CBZ/LBC you would be cutting out the first 40 years of gloved boxing from the lineal championship! Unfortunately the CBZ no longer keeps up-to-date records but LBC does.
 * In a nutshell, if you exclude CBZ/LBC from the Wiki lineal page, you may as well delete the entire page, as it would be omitting a huge chunk of history, and what would be left (even if it did tick Wiki's rules and regulations) would be extremely biased and inaccurate. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 21:51, 5 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Even better—we get rid of CBZ and LBC, and instead collate sources only from reputable, notable, long-established, boxing-orientated mainstream outlets like ESPN, Boxing News, BoxingScene, etc. and construct a few paragraphs from that. Someone prose-savvy can write up a piece about the various interpretations of lineal titles, the disputes that have arisen, some history about a select few weight classes like heavyweight, and there you have some good encyclopaedic content. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 23:14, 5 February 2023 (UTC)

Boxing News uses TBRB ratings and the Boxing Scene editors are TBRB founders/panellists. This method is filled with bias, plus, as already mentioned, TBRB titlists are not lineal champions.

Using unreferenced articles/text from an American TV network’s website, just because it’s mainstream, is also disingenuous.

The best way to get an account of what happened from 1880s - 1920s (before The Ring existed), is to read and reference the newspapers from the era - this is what the IBRO historians at CBZ and LBC have done. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 18:30, 6 February 2023 (UTC)


 * ESPN

Using unreferenced articles/text from an American TV network’s website, just because it’s mainstream, is also disingenuous. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 18:31, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
 * It's not bias or disingenuous, it's Wikipedia. We follow what reliable, secondary sources say. And what they say about LBC and CBZ is little to nothing, making it bias and disingenuous to have LBC and CBZ being touted as some kind of recognised authorities. – 2 . O . Boxing  19:15, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

Quoting ESPN articles from the last few years, which are unreferenced, has no business replacing primary newspaper reports from 100 years ago. ESPN favours its own fighters in their ratings and reports. The Ring is owned by an American boxing promoter!

CBZ/LBC record and reference ratings/reports from all the available sites/papers, past and present (from Ring, TBRB, ESPN, Boxing Scene and BLH etc) giving an impartial viewpoint.

BTW the editor of Boxing Scene (who is also a founding member of TBRB) now regularly references LBC’s ratings/champions in articles for Boxing Scene. And first editions of The Boxing Register (the official record book of the Boxing Hall of Fame) give thanks to the CBZ, but here at Wiki you would rather back up your page with articles that may have been bashed out in 30 minutes by a newbie ESPN news writer.

This Wiki lineal page is corrupt, open to abuse and vandalism from people with little knowledge of the lineal championship; it’s becoming a tool to promote ESPN TV/website, Boxing News print magazines (pushing TBRB ratings) and The Ring digital magazines and belts. In all honesty, it needs deleting altogether. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 20:21, 6 February 2023 (UTC)


 * "In all honesty, it needs deleting altogether." – Even better! Now we're getting somewhere. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 21:43, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
 * That would certainly be the magical fix. In the meantime, per this discussion and previous ones at WP:BOXING, I'm removing the female table. The prose still needs tackling. – 2 . O . Boxing  04:54, 7 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I support deleting the tables, just like I did in the above section rm lists. As the article says: "there is no single canonical list of lineal champions"--Jahalive (talk) 18:34, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

SI using Ring lineage
I removed this sentence "Sports Illustrated used The Ring lineages for galleries of lineal heavyweight and middleweight champions." because this is prohibited original research. " The gallery does not explicitly mention the Ring's lineage, and it requires editors to analyze the gallery to note that is the case. Morbidthoughts (talk) 20:34, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I didn't understand your concern. What do you think of "Sports Illustrated published galleries of lineal heavyweight and middleweight champions that were identical to The Ring lineages."?--Jahalive (talk) 20:59, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I have not tracked whether the gallery lines up with The Ring lineages, but we should not be stating this is the case if no reliable source has noted this. Morbidthoughts (talk) 21:43, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

The opening sentence of the Lineal Championship page
The opening sentence to the Lineal Championship page:

"In combat sports where champions are decided by a challenge, the lineal championship of a weight class is a world championship title held initially by an undisputed champion..."

A small percentage of boxings fans/analysts share this view regarding an undisputed champion kick-starting a new lineal championship, but the overwhelming majority disagree, so to have it in the opening sentence to a Lineal Championship page is extremely misleading.

Quite rightly, the page later lists the most significant "interpretations" of the Lineal Championship as: - Ring - CBZ - Boxing Scene - TBRB - Sports Illustrated - Lineal Boxing Champion

It is important to recognise that all six of the "interpretations" listed fill vacancies via the two top contenders fighting, and do not use unification of belts (undisputed) as their method. One example: All six recognised Wladimir Klitschko (either via the Chagaev fight or via the Povetkin fight), as filling the Lineal vacancy at heavyweight - Wladimir was never undisputed champion. There are dozens and dozens of examples throughout history of new lineages recognised by these sites that did not begin with "undisputed" champions. The Ring's and TBRB's policies are surely common knowledge among boxing fans? #1 Vs #2 crowns a champion, nothing to do with sanctioning bodies.

Perhaps MMA is different? Maybe MMA needs a separate page?

The opening sentence is inaccurate and to people who are knowledgeable of the CBZ, Ring, LBC, TBRB. BS and SI champion lists, and boxing history, it undermines the whole page.

The second paragraph reads: "some require that top "contenders for the title" must fight to become the next lineal champion..."

Some require? No, 100% of the six interpretations listed require the top contenders to fight, not "some."

The opening paragraph should state:

"In combat sports where champions are decided by a challenge, the lineal championship of a weight class is a world championship title held initially by the winner of a fight between a division's leading contenders, as evidenced by most interpretations of the championship, and subsequently by a fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a match at that weight class. Incidentally, a less popular and less widely documented viewpoint is that divisional championship vacancies can only be filled by an undisputed champion. In professional boxing, the lineal champion is informally called "the man who beat the man"."

A quick search easily finds references for the six interpretations listed on the page - all of which do not require an undisputed champion: http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/pastchp.htm ^ https://tbrb.org/rankings-archive ^ https://www.si.com/boxing/2012/11/12/12lineal-heavyweight-champions#gid=ci0255c887200824a5&pid=marvin-hart ^ https://www.linealboxingchampion.com/lineal-world-champions-boxing-men ^ https://www.ringtv.com/ratings/ ^ https://www.boxingscene.com/crowning-recognizing-lineal-champion-part-i--18453

I have tried amending this paragraph many times, but end up in a battle with people who revert it, yet no credible references are offered in explanation.

As a result, I find that whenever the Wikipedia Lineal Championship page gets brought up in boxing circles online, it gets ridiculed and dismissed by knowledgeable fans.

Adding the "undisputed" definition to the opening sentence (with little/no credible references) screams of someone trying to push their undisputed ideology, then adding "fight between leading contenders" in the second paragraph, seems like an attempt to appear impartial.

Unless more significant/credible references can be shared than those listed above, it is important to rewrite the opening paragraph.

I look forward to hearing your responses. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:32, 4 September 2023 (UTC)

@Jahalive Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:34, 4 September 2023 (UTC)
 * 1) We might be interpreting that sentence differently. What I think "initially" means is that when the concept of a lineal champion was first popularized, when there started to be multiple titles, the line went back to the time where there was one champion (an "undisputed champion") and from there followed "the man who beat the man".
 * 2) You can't take
 * A) the rules of The Ring, TBRB, etc. titles
 * and because
 * B) people consider the The Ring, TBRB, etc. titles to be interpretations of the concept of a lineal champion
 * say that therefore
 * C) The Ring, TBRB, etc. rules are the rules of how to determine a lineal champion--Jahalive (talk) 17:07, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * C) The Ring, TBRB, etc. rules are the rules of how to determine a lineal champion--Jahalive (talk) 17:07, 7 September 2023 (UTC)


 * There have been NYSC, NBA and Ring champions from the 1920s onwards. But even before this, there were multiple title claimants in each division from around the world, who had backing from newspapers/journalists.


 * The heavyweight lineal champions are the most famous and heavyweight is the most referenced division when it comes to lineal discussions.


 * The first and only two heavyweight vacancies before the creation of The Ring and the NYSC/NBA were filled by John Sullivan and Marvin Hart. Sullivan was never won an "undisputed" gloved contest (if so, what is your reference for this?) and neither did Hart (again, what reference shows otherwise?), yet both are down in history as lineal champions. There were other gloved title claimants when Sullivan fought and when Hart was champion. It is well documented that Hart/Root was a battle of "top contenders" as picked by Jeffries, to fill the championship vacancy - it received lots of backing from the press but not 100% backing from everyone; there were other claimants and it was certainly not an "undisputed" fight.


 * The origins of the sport do not support lineal vacancies being filled by purely by "undisputed" champions (yes, many times they coincide but being undisputed is not essential), and neither do the "interpretations" (Ring, LBC, CBZ etc) from the last 100 years. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 10:26, 8 September 2023 (UTC)
 * For example, John Sullivan is documented as being the first lineal heavyweight champion, with many, including BoxRec and Wiki referencing the McCaffrey fight as being his crowning moment - but in no way was this an "undisputed" fight, as there were other title claimants.
 * See below, from the BoxRec Sullivan/McCaffrey page:
 * "At that time, Tom Lees was heavyweight champion of Australia and so would have just as much right to claim the new vacant world's championship. Patsy Cardiff, who was by birth a Canadian, would have had an equal right to proclaim himself Marquess of Queensberry champion as he was unbeaten and considered Northwest Champion at this date." Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 16:32, 8 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Those two examples are guys that fought long before anyone wrote about a lineal champion. CBZ and maybe a few others have done retrospective lists of lineal champions, but it's not a widely held viewpoint.--Jahalive (talk) 21:41, 10 September 2023 (UTC)
 * The word "lineal" wasn't used but the analysts/reporters documented the champions using similar methodology to how the CBZ/ LBC and Ring do now, long before the 1920s and long before the sanctioning bodies existed. So, boxing's original lineal interpretations and the more modern ones are all following similar rules - top contenders fight to fill a vacancy, undisputed isn't required.
 * What credible references, examples and lineal lists, past or present, can you share with this Talk Page that demonstrate there is a consensus in boxing for needing an *undisputed* champion to fill a *lineal* vacancy? So far, nothing is mentioned on the Wiki page that supports that opening sentence. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 22:44, 10 September 2023 (UTC)
 * There is no consensus in boxing for how to fill a *lineal* vacancy. That is explained in the 2nd paragraph of the article.--Jahalive (talk) 17:26, 12 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Even the current reference for the first paragraph/sentence supports what I am saying!
 * (Reference from ESPN: In an ideal world, Casamayor fights the 'Galaxxy Warrior' next - ESPN)
 * "But Casamayor holds The Ring lightweight championship and the lineal title indicative of who's the man that beat the man, and Campbell, despite recognition in many quarters as the best fighter at 135 pounds right now, hungers for what Casamayor has."
 * This lightweight lineage that started in 2004 when Mayweather left the division did not start with an undisputed champion!
 * The article references Castillo/Lazcano as the start of the lineage - "the top two fighters in the weight class at the time..."
 * Time to change the wording of that first paragraph. Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 12:51, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
 * It looks like Eric Raskin is conflating The Ring and lineal titles in that article. It's not surprising since he was the Editor of the magazine at the time he restarts the lineage, after Mayweather left the division. Anyway, that doesn't contradict the first paragraph. The reasoning he's used to declare Casamayor the lineal champ is covered by the second paragraph.--Jahalive (talk) 18:49, 16 September 2023 (UTC)
 * The ESPN reference supports two contenders fighting to fill a Lineal vacancy.
 * I have just checked the other reference that has been used to back up the "undisputed" method of filling a Lineal vacancy. Interestingly this little known blog page (written by Daniel Castellano) also does not support the "undisputed" method. It states: "the vacancy is filled in the usual way, with a bout between two top contenders."
 * So, in summary the current Wiki references (ESPN and Castellano) support top contenders fighting to fill a Lineal vacancy, as do all of the following sites: CBZ, Sports Illustrated, TBRB, Ring, Lineal Boxing Champion, Boxing Scene, World Boxing News and ESPN.
 * And the first ever break in the heavyweight lineage (Jeffries retiring) was filled by two top contenders fighting.
 * There is an overwhelming consensus in the boxing world that supports two top contenders fighting to fill a Lineal vacancy. Where is the credible evidence that supports the undisputed method? Anthony Williams Boxing (talk) 23:15, 17 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I have no issue with the wording proposed by Anthony Williams, namely top contenders establishing a new lineage rather than an undisputed bout. A contemporary example which completely refutes the undisputed method is Jean Pascal vs Chad Dawson in 2010, when the light heavyweight division wasn't even close to having an undisputed champion, but a new lineage was clearcut. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 23:22, 17 September 2023 (UTC)