Boxing: Tyson Disagrees With Mayweather Rant, Says More Belts Means More Opportunities

In October, Floyd Mayweather Jr. blasted boxing bodies for having too many belts. The undefeated retired boxer alleges that the sport has now become all about money and that multiple belts have made it confusing to properly recognize a true champion.

Fast forward to the present, another former boxer has given his take on the issue in Mike Tyson. For the “Baddest Man on the Planet,” boxing has not too many belts. He points out that each time there is a championship bout, it means more money for the fighters, Boxingscene reported.

“There’s never enough belts you know? To say there’s one champion and there are 10 guys, how long will it take for the champion to fight the 10 guys? Plus they gotta go through each other … It’s good to have [multiple] champions because then everybody can get paid … Everybody makes money. That’s what this business is about. Money,” Tyson said.

Tyson is perhaps in the best position to prove that winning multiple belts translates to making more money. He was the youngest champion to win the WBC crown in 1986. He went on to win the IBF and WBA world titles which led to him making hundreds of millions of dollars.

This is, of course, Tyson’s opinion. But in the eyes of Mayweather, it does not look good for boxing.

In a previous post, Mayweather took a shot at boxing bodies for having interim, regular and super champions. For the 43-year-old boxer, there is no such thing.

Money also singles out the sanctioning fees that organizations implement on fights. Boxing bodies take 3 percent from the purses of champions and challengers. The IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO charge promoters a flat fee for sanctioning title fights.

“I don’t wanna knock no fighter, but I’m tired of seeing fighters after the fight, everybody got a championship belt now. Now boxing, all these belts is like trophies. The WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO, y’all have to clean this sh-t up. Y’all have to clean this up. This is bad for boxing. Ain’t such a thing as no super champion. You guys are just taking extra money from all these fighters, getting extra money from sanctioning fees,” Mayweather was quoted of saying at the time.