Editing The Ring (magazine) (section)

==World champions==
{{main|List of The Ring world champions}}
''The Ring'' has its own championship belt in a given weight class where ''The Ring'' champion holds a lineal reign to the throne, the man who beat the man. ''The Ring'' began awarding 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, then reintroduced their titles in 2002.

''The Ring'' stated that their title was "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given [[List of boxing weight classes|weight class]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thering-online.com/ringpages/about.html |title=About ''The Ring'' |date=June 26, 2006 |work=The Ring |access-date=June 6, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221053336/http://thering-online.com/ringpages/about.html |archive-date=February 21, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It echoed many critics' arguments that the sanctioning bodies in charge of boxing championships had undermined the sport by pitting undeserving contenders against undeserving "champions" and forcing the boxing public to see mismatches for so-called "world championships". ''The Ring'' attempts to be more authoritative and open than the sanctioning bodies' rankings, with a page devoted to full explanations for ranking changes. A fighter pays no sanctioning fees to defend or fight for the title at stake, contrary to practices of the sanctioning bodies.

However, many boxing journalists complained that ''The Ring'' ignored the world championship lineage when they started awarding titles again. A controversy described by Cliff Rold of ''BoxingScene.com'' is for example, the "world" light-heavyweight title was considered vacant from the time [[Michael Spinks]] went up to heavyweight in 1985 until 1996. While the ''Cyber Boxing Zone'' and the International Boxing Research Organization considers [[Virgil Hill]]'s defeat of [[Henry Maske]] (who were the two highest rated light-heavyweights) as the beginning of the new lineage,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/lheavy.htm|title=The Cyber Boxing Zone|work=cyberboxingzone.com}}</ref> ''The Ring'' awarded their newly reintroduced title to [[Roy Jones]].<ref name="rold2">{{cite web|url= http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/w0707-rold.htm|title=Boxing's Lineal Mathematics: Champion Versus Champion II|last=Rold|first= Cliff|work=Wail!|publisher=CBZ|access-date=January 29, 2010}}</ref> In 2002, ''The Ring'' editor, Nigel Collins, acknowledged that if their championship policy was in place in 1997, [[Dariusz Michalczewski]], who defeated Hill, "probably would have been ''The Ring'' Champion."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maxboxing.com/Kim/kim092602.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041015134801/http://www.maxboxing.com/Kim/kim092602.asp|title=Boxing News : The Disputed Light Heavyweight Champion of the World|archive-date=October 15, 2004|work=maxboxing.com}}</ref>

Under the original version of the championship policy, there were only two ways that a boxer could win ''The Ring''{{'}}s title: defeat the reigning champion; or win a box-off between the magazine's number-one and number-two rated contenders (or, sometimes, number-one and number-three rated). A vacant ''Ring'' championship was filled when the number-one contender in a weight-division battles the number-two contender or the number-three contender (in cases where ''The Ring'' determined that the number-two and number-three contenders were close in abilities and records).  The ratings are compiled by the magazine's editorial board, with the participation of ''The Ring'' Ratings Panel of boxing journalists from around the world. A fighter could not be stripped of the title unless he lost, decided to move to another weight division, or retired.

In May 2012, citing the number of vacancies in various weight classes as primary motivation, ''The Ring'' unveiled a new championship policy. Under the new policy, ''The Ring'' title can be awarded when the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters face one another or when the No. 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. In addition, there are now seven ways for a fighter to lose his 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 five contender from any weight class for two years.  
* The champion retires. 
* The champion tests positive for a banned substance.<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Ring'' updates championship policy|url=http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/172677-the-ring-updates-championship-policy|date=May 3, 2012|work=Ring TV|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531102137/http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/172677-the-ring-updates-championship-policy|archive-date=May 31, 2012}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chat with Dan Rafael|url=http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/43689/boxing-with-dan-rafael|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506045416/http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/43689/boxing-with-dan-rafael|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 6, 2012|work=[[ESPN]]|access-date=January 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Horrible New Ring Magazine Championship Policy|url=http://thecomeback.com/queensberryrules/2012-articles/the-horrible-new-ring-magazine-championship-policy.html|last=Starks|first=Tim|date=May 4, 2012|work=Queensberry Rules|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507093439/http://queensberry-rules.com/2012-articles/may/the-horrible-new-ring-magazine-championship-policy.html|archive-date=May 7, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ring Magazine's pretend rankings upgrade 'championship' policy|url=http://theboxingtribune.com/2012/05/ring-magazines-pretend-rankings-upgrade-championship-policy/|last=Magno|first=Paul|date=May 4, 2012|work=The Boxing Tribune|access-date=January 3, 2016}}</ref> They then later changed the policy so vacant belts can only be awarded to the winner of  No. 1 vs No. 2 or if No. 3 is deemed worthy by The Ring's editorial board.<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Ring'' current championship policy|url= https://www.ringtv.com/ratings/}}</ref>

The purchase of ''The Ring'' magazine by Golden Boy Promotions in 2007,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/media/2007/sept/9.12.07_mag.htm |title=Golden Boy Enterprises' Subsidiary, Sports and Entertainment Publications, LLC, Acquires The Ring Magazine, KO, World Boxing and Pro Wrestling Illustrated |date=September 12, 2007 |publisher=[[Golden Boy Promotions]] |access-date=November 20, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119150246/http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/media/2007/sept/9.12.07_mag.htm |archive-date=November 19, 2008 }}</ref> the dismissal of editor-in-chief Nigel Collins and several editorial staff in 2011 and a series of questionable ratings decisions by the new editors<ref>{{cite web|title="The Ring" Changes The Rules, Further Clouds Title Scene|url=http://www.boxingscene.com/-ring-changes-rules-further-clouds-title-scene--52718|author=Cliff Rold|date=May 10, 2012|publisher=Boxing Scene|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Occupy the Ring|url=http://www.thesweetscience.com/feature-articles/14560-occupy-the-ring|author=Springs Toledo|date=May 10, 2012|publisher=The Sweet Science|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220080836/http://www.thesweetscience.com/feature-articles/14560-occupy-the-ring|archive-date=December 20, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> prompted many members of ''The Ring'' Ratings Advisory Panel to resign. This led to the formation of the [[Transnational Boxing Rankings Board]] in 2012 headed by boxing historians Springs Toledo, Cliff Rold and Tim Starks.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/the-balls-of-wrath/2015/feb/02/transnational-boxing-rankings-board-sport-titles|title=Boxing loses credibility with every new champion. Can the sport be saved?|first=Paul|last=Gibson|date=2 February 2015|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board: An Opening Bell For Reform|url=http://thecomeback.com/queensberryrules/2012-articles/the-transnational-boxing-rankings-board-an-opening-bell-for-reform.html|last=Starks|first=Tim|date=October 11, 2012|work=The Queensberry Rules|access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref>

Golden Boy has publicized ''The Ring'''s World Championship when the title is at stake in fights it promotes (such as [[Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr.]] in 2008).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-178384366.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022090855/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-178384366.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 22, 2012|title=Calzaghe claim far from undisputed|last=Kimball|first=George|date= April 27, 2008|work=[[Boston Herald]]|access-date=November 14, 2008}}</ref>