What the alphabets are doing to boxing’s glamour division

Rating heavyweight fighters has always proven controversial. Sanctioning bodies, boxing magazines, and guys at your local tavern will never agree with precision on a firm top ten. In times past, however, disputes were usually settled in the ring. The inordinate control of boxing by the more well known worldwide sanctioning bodies, often referred to as the alphabets, is the subject of much derision among fans, fighters, managers, and most promoters who do not control some aspect of the ratings. Most of the ill feelings are well deserved. Fighters who toil in obscurity, skipping encounters with ranked – and feared – contenders all too often find their way into so-called mandatory title defenses only to lose and fall back into the shadows of the boxing world.