Best British sporting performance this year but

[Nearly Sane]

So little coverage



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/57216305

[jeremyp]

So little coverage



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/57216305

It's boxing. Relatively few people care about boxing anymore.

[Nearly Sane]

It's boxing. Relatively few people care about boxing anymore.

Huge coverage of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

[jeremyp]

Huge coverage of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Is there? I'm vaguely aware that there is some kerfuffle about that but it's not like in the days of my youth when a fight involving Mohammed Ali would get half the nation watching.

[ProfessorDavey]

Huge coverage of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

There is indeed.

However I think the notion of unifying a boxing division is more about the legal and business side of the sport than the actual achievements. You can't only unify a division if you are allowed to fight the person holding the other belts and it seems that promoters and legal teams make that very difficult in practice.

We'd have had a Brit unifying the heavyweight division within a couple of months had it not been for a court ruling.

Out of interest, once a division is unified can it ever be 'ununified' again - surely once one person holds all four belts anyone fighting that person will win all four belts if they are victorious.

[jeremyp]

Out of interest, once a division is unified can it ever be 'ununified' again - surely once one person holds all four belts anyone fighting that person will win all four belts if they are victorious.

Yes, if a fight between the holder of all four titles and a challenger is not recognised by one or more of the organisations.

[ProfessorDavey]

Yes, if a fight between the holder of all four titles and a challenger is not recognised by one or more of the organisations.

Thanks - and why wouldn't it be recognised?

[jeremyp]

Thanks - and why wouldn't it be recognised?

Politics.

[ProfessorDavey]

Politics.

Yeh thought so, and money.

I guess it isn't in the interests of the money in the sport to have one person holding all the belts and then either keeping them or losing them all  each time a fight takes place.

I think the whole business with Fury, Joshua and Wilder is bonkers. In any sane world why would you sanction the same fight as has happened twice before (and only involves two, I think of the belts) over a fight that would unify all the belts and would clearly be a bigger fight.

I'm not really a fan of boxing at all, but if I were I think I'd find it really frustrating that a Fury/Joshua fight is being blocked by lawyers.

[Enki]

Yes, if a fight between the holder of all four titles and a challenger is not recognised by one or more of the organisations.

or if the holder chooses not to make a mandatory defence put up by any one particular governing body, then he relinquishes that title

or if he retires still holding all titles then  each governing body decides who are the contenders for their title.

It's crazy.

[Nearly Sane]

If Cavendish were to beat or equal Merckx's record, it will be one of the great achievements. Being close is amazing.

[ProfessorDavey]

If Cavendish were to beat or equal Merckx's record, it will be one of the great achievements. Being close is amazing.

In a way - but winning stages isn't like winning the actual Tour de France is it.

As well as winning loads of stages, Merckx won the actual tour five times in just seven years. Cavendish, for all his stage wins, has never come close to winning the actual Tour.

[Nearly Sane]

And Cavendish has now equalled Merckx's stage win total. The greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour De France, coming back from illness. If he can get through the Pyrenees, could well beat the record in Paris, and pretty well certain to win the green points jersey.