Floyd Mayweather Jr. embarked on an epic rant against the ever-growing number of world championship titles in boxing, and the sanctioning fees that come with them.
Whereas, at one stage in boxing history, there were eight weight classes at which to compete and one world championship per division, the modern game features 17 weights with four separate sanctioning bodies — the WBA, the WBC, the WBO and the IBF — all having their own recognised versions of a world title.
On top of that, there is The Ring magazine's world championship, which follows a linear policy (to be the champ, you have to beat the champ) whenever possible. Then, of course, each championship can install 'interim' champions at any point, with no guarantee that a unification between the 'interim' and 'regular' titleholder will be the immediate priority.
Then there are the WBA 'Super' champions, who often reign alongside a 'regular' and 'interim' champion at any given time; the IBO, whose championships aren't recognised as on the same level as the other four; a host of 'International' world titles, 'Diamond' world titles and more.
“There’s too many champions in the sport of boxing right now,” Mayweather said in a video courtesy of Showtime.
“Too many champions. It’s no such thing as a super champion, not at all. And I’m not taking anything away from no fighter. It’s too many belts.
"And the reason why it’s too [many], let me tell people what’s going on in the sport of boxing, why there are so many different titles and so many different belts.
"People don’t know you have to pay, for every belt you win, there’s a sanctioning fee. If a fighter has just the regular belt, he has to pay a sanctioning fee. If a fighter is a super champion, he has to pay a sanctioning fee. This is not good for the sport of boxing.
"Every fighter is a champion now. Belts now is like a fighter winning an amateur trophy.
"We gotta clean this sport of boxing up. This s—, this doesn’t look good.”
Mayweather, 50-0 in his professional career, has plenty of first-hand experience of the title belt situation.
In his final professional contest prior to retiring, his stoppage victory over UFC crossover Conor McGregor in August 2017 was for the WBC 'Money' championship, a lavish belt created specifically for the occasion.
The 43-year-old has been linked with another un-retirement, though it remains to be seen whether or not he will indeed lace up the gloves again.