Silver Platter Champion 

By Romuel Alarcon

It is a perennial thing in the different World Boxing Bodies to elevate a boxer, coming from the ranks to be the champion. This normally happens when the ongoing champion boxer vacates his crown or for being stripped of his crown for whatever reason maybe. 

I understand very well that the top honcho of a said boxing body can decide who will replace the champion who was stripped of his crown or just go one division level higher.  But the problem lies there, in the process of elevating a boxer to be a champion without throwing a single punch.  Remember that a champion takes the crown when he wins against an opponent if the boxing crown is vacant.  If there is a champion, the challenger should beat the champion to take the crown.  But for the so-called prestigious boxing bodies, what they do is simply elevate a boxer to be a world champion.  That is doing injustice to the former champion because he took the crown the hard way.  He needs to absorb a lot of punches to win the crown and beat his opponent.   

But what are the world boxing bodies doing? They are showing to the boxing fans, boxing enthusiast and boxing stakeholders that they have no respect and stripped-down dignity to the former champion by giving away the crown to someone they like, and crown him as world champion without any drop of sweat.  

Is it rightful in the eyes of the boxers who put everything they could to attain their dream to be a world boxing champion? Do top ranked boxers have no right to protest the handling of a boxing crown to a boxer, not getting it from a legitimate manner which is fighting atop the ring.  

As far as I am concerned, No Boxing Crown should be ever given without a fight.  Every Boxing Crown should be won atop the ring. This is the only way to show that the said champion is legitimate.  When a boxer wins the crown because he was just elevated to be a champion, he must be called Silver Platter Champion.  No boxing champion wants to be called Silver Platter Champion because the championship belt was just handed down to him in a Silver Platter.