Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions could be set to launch their own version of a world title belt, four years after initial reports began.
Social media is currently awash with the chatter of an imminent move by the PBC to gazump the rest of the current sanctioning bodies.
WBN first asked the question initially when the PBC made their lone foray into the sport.
Haymon took his considerable stable away from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions in a split that rocked boxing back in the day.
The name ‘Premier Boxing Champions’ was a controversy in itself and led to fears when announced by chiefs.
At the time, WBN asked World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman for his view on the possible threat.
“The WBC has its priority to support anything that is good for the sport,” Sulaiman exclusively told World Boxing News back in 2015.
“The WBC has actively participated in the development of the sport in many countries and in many ways, including developing TV networks relationships to support the sport.
“Mexico is a perfect model to prove the great benefits of open TV. Every Saturday night, millions of fans watch fights on three and sometimes four different TV networks, so boxing in Mexico has flourished tremendously.
“The Premier Boxing Champions model has created great expectations with many different groups having opinions and has shaken the foundations of many of these groups. But the WBC will not rule or take actions on perceptions or gossip of any kind (regarding titles) of information which is not yet factual.
“The WBC board of governors has decided to be as supportive as possible to the PBC and will do its best efforts to have boxing benefit from this series, which is only one of the many components of the boxing world.
“We at the WBC have certain rules which we are closely monitoring to make sure they are respected and adhered to by the promoters when a WBC title is at stake on PBC,” he added.
In what would be a similar situation to the UFC title, which uses it’s strap in-house only, any title would be exclusive to the PBC roster.
But what would this mean for the current organizations?
Well, the WBC, IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO would face the considerable threat of not being involved with any Haymon-signed boxers in the future.
IN-HOUSE
Until we know more, it’s hard to speculate. It does seem that any branching out would have massive repercussions for a large portion of the current climate.
PBC holds a mass of top stars, including Deontay Wilder, Errol Spence, Manny Pacquiao, Andy Ruiz Jr. and many more.
And would other promotional outfits then follow suit?
It’s another tough question to answer, but how would it then transpire if we saw a Top Rank title holder facing a PBC title holder?
Do they win a one-off strap and then keep their own title? – Or does this mean the end of PBC working with any outside fighters?
There are far more questions than answers and it could be a highly controversial situation should Haymon actually confirm the move in 2020.