List of The Ring World Champions | List Ring World Champions

List Of The Ring World Champions

This is a list of world champions who have been certified by The Ring magazine. The Ring is a boxing magazine that was founded in 1922. The Ring has its own version of the lineal championship in a given weight class. The Ring began awarding world championship belts in 1922. The first Ring world title belt was awarded to heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and the second was awarded to flyweight champion Pancho Villa. The Ring stopped giving belts to world champions in the 1990s but began again in 2002.

In 2002, The Ring created a lineal championship system that is "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class". The policy was updated in 2012 and there are now three ways that a boxer can win The Ring's title:

Defeat the reigning champion.
Win a box-off between The Ring's number-one and number-two rated contenders.
If the Nos. 1 and 2 contenders choose not to fight one another and either of them fights No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5, the winner may be awarded THE RING belt.

There are now also six ways that a boxer can lose The Ring's title:

The champion loses a fight in the weight class in which he is champion.
The champion moves to another weight class.
The champion does not schedule a fight in any weight class for 18 months.
The champion does not schedule a fight at his championship weight for 18 months (even if he fights at another weight).
The champion does not schedule a fight with a Top-5 contender from any weight class for two years.
The champion retires.

In 2007, The Ring was acquired by the owners of fight promoter Golden Boy Promotions, which has publicized The Ring's world championship when this is at stake in fights it promotes (such as Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones, Jr. in 2008).

Many media outlets and members are extremely critical of the new championship policy and state that if this new policy is followed, the Ring title will lose the credibility it once held.

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