It's a bit frustrating being a boxing fan at the minute with some of the things that have been going on. There seems to be a trend developing where boxers just move from weight class to weight class, handpicking opponents and fighting for paper titles to decorate their resumes. Of course, money has always been the focal point of any boxer's career but it is getting to the point where we are not seeing the best boxers given the chance to prove themselves as the ranking systems are nigh on meaningless.
When is the last time a big fight has been scheduled because one fighter was the mandatory challenger to another fighter's belt? It doesn't happen that often nowadays because the belts just dont mean that much anymore. For example, in his recent fight with Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr. refused to pay the 3% WBA sanctioning fee to fight for the title that night. Of course, this causes havoc because they couldn't really let Shane keep the belt when he lost the fight so its a bit of a farce that there is currently no holder of the belt. Floyd had good reason not to want to part with 3% of the takings (which is a lot of money in a Mayweather fight). There are so many different belts for every weight class that the titles have become diluted.
And the governing bodies are not helping themselves with some of the fights they are sanctioning. Manny Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto at a catchweight of 145lbs for the WBO Welterweight title, even though the limit for that weight class is 147lbs. Is this fair? How can a title be on the line when the fighters are not allowed to fight at the weight limit of that title's weight class? Now, it seems, Pacquiao will be fighting for the vacant WBC Super-Welterweight title against Antonio Margarito at a catchweight of 150lbs when the limit is 154lbs. Thats closer to Welterweight than Super-Welterweight! Not to mention the fact that Margarito should be banned from the ring after trying to use illegal handwraps or that it seems Top Rank promoted fighters are only allowed to fight each other. There are plenty of fighters who are able and willing to fight at 154lbs and are more deserving of a shot at the title than Pacquiao. If you cant fight at a weight class then you should stay out of the weight class, in my opinion. The WBC is more interested in getting a bigger paycheck than the health of the sport it seems.
As long as the governing bodies allow these shams of fights to happen, the more promoters and boxers will take advantage of it. They have lost the respect of the fighters and the boxing public and have let the sport descend into a money-making farce where the top names can face who they want at whatever weight class they choose, while the better boxers (and more dangerous opponents) are left out in the cold due to an ineffectual rankings system.
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