Still a champ, just in recess

You can understand why boxing fans and critics are lashing out at the World Boxing Association (WBA) for its confusing and polluted title hierarchy. The WBA has so many title belts its officials likely have no idea how many champions they have or who among them is the legit one.

The recent case of Manny Pacquiao shows how convoluted the WBA’s title procedure is. The WBA recently stripped Pacquiao of his “super” version of the welterweight title due to inactivity but stressed that the Filipino superstar remains a champion, albeit in recess.