The championship fight. The pinnacle of achievement across combat sports for centuries. A premiere attraction that draws millions every year. But not all title matches are created equally.
So which title matches every week are the ones to watch? We’ll look over every title fight from across the combat sports landscape and give you the five best based on five criteria:
- Competitiveness: Is this an even matchup? Or just a warm body to throw at a champion? It’s a title fight, so we want the best possible at that division in that promotion.
- Excitement: How exciting will this fight be? A clash of two elite talents throwing everything they have at each other in an attempt to win the gold? Or a half-dead plod-fest devoid of action or risk?
- Juice: A sort of catch-all term for all the factors behind the matchup. Is there a story leading up to the match? A true rivalry? Do the fighters dislike each other? Were the circumstances leading to the fight extraordinary, or was it just a promoter putting two names against each other?
- Prestige: Applies to the belt itself, but also to the fighter wearing it. Is this a long-tenured champion defending? Is this an interim title or one that was vacated? Has the champion increased the prestige of the title or is this a fight that will increase the prestige of it?
- Viewing Ease: We all don’t mind suffering for our art (or hobbies), but sometimes paying twenty dollars for a choppy stream, or searching your cable plan for a channel you’re pretty sure was just invented three days ago in the 6000s isn’t the best of times. How easy and stress-free is this bout to watch?
So here are your five best gold options for the weekend.
t1. WBC World Junior Flyweight Championship: Ganigan Lopez (c) (27-6) vs. Jonathan Taconing (22-2-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 9:00, Televisa
Competitiveness: 5: What does hard-nosed veteran Lopez earn for winning his first world championship and taking it on his opponent’s home turf? A bout against an incredibly dangerous mandatory challenger in Taconing.
Excitement: 4
Juice: 2
Prestige: 4: The most prestigous title on the line this weekend.
Viewing Ease: 2: Unless you have Televisa, you are in the dark here.
Total: 17
t1. WGP Heavyweight Championship: Felipe Micheletti vs. Clifford Meza
When/Where: Saturday, 7:00, Eliteboxing.tv
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 4: Could be the best actual fight of the lot.
Juice: 2
Prestige: 3: WGP is a big-time promotion in the world of kickboxing. Lots of great fighters, including many Brazilians, have come through WGP and held gold, especially heavyweights.
Viewing Ease: 3: EliteBoxing is a great and reliable service that I’ve watched many times and the price is very reasonable.
Total: 17
3. Legacy FC Featherweight Championship: Kevin Aguilar (10-1) vs. Tony Kelley (3-0)
When/Where: Friday, 10:00, AXS
Competitiveness: 3
Excitement: 3
Juice: 1
Prestige: 3: Like most of very high-level regional promotions (Legacy, RFA, TitanFC, etc…), there isn’t a lot of prestige in the belt, in an of itself, but there is prestige in winning it, because that means you’re probably due for a call from the big boys very soon.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 14
4. IBF World Minimumweight Championship: Jose Argumendo (c) (17-3-1) vs. Julio Mendoza (11-4)
When/Where: Friday, Untelevised
Competitiveness: 2
Excitement: 3
Juice: 2
Prestige: 4: Not the best division by a long shot, but it’s still a legitimate world championship.
Viewing Ease: 1
Total: 12
5. WBC World Female Junior Bantamweight Championship: Zulina Munoz (c) (46-1-2) vs. Vanesa Lorena Taborda (8-6-3)
When/Where: Saturday, Untelevised
Competitiveness: 1
Excitement: 2
Juice: 1
Prestige: 4: Here’s something you may not know, female junior bantamweight is loaded. Look at Munoz’s record, and that female boxing isn’t an enormous pool as is, and BoxRec has her as the #3 junior bantamweight. Number three! So this is really the marquee division in women’s boxing.
Viewing Ease: 1
Total: 9
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