Reverse Linear "Defeats Don't Matter" Championships

Good afternoon

Inspired by ONETWO's preposterous notion that fighters who lose a fight should be declared the winner if it is "for the good of the game", I thought I'd track the Heavyweight Title from John L Sullivan to the present day using the criteria that a defeat doesn't mean that you lose the title (actually, the WBC already do this don't they?) and the title simply passes to the last opponent faced (win or lose, it doesn't matter) before the champion's retirement as a way of keeping the line going.

The list is surprisingly short, considering the fact that it covers over 150 years of boxing history.

It starts in a familiar way, then veers off slightly, then returns with a bang, as you will see below :

15/10/1858 John L Sullivan
07/09/1892 James J Corbett
14/08/1903 James J Jefferies
04/07/1910 Jack Johnson
28/04/1931 Brad Simmons
20/05/1931 Tiger Jack Fox
09/12/1950 Jose Ochea
14/05/1951 Lonnie Malone
02/03/1957 Monroe Ratliff
18/11/1963 Wilhelm Von Homburg
11/12/1970 Rudiger Schmidtke
30/10/1976 Bernd August
05/11/1983 Reiner Hartmann
01/11/1985 Steffen Tangstad
06/09/1986 Michael Spinks
27/06/1988 Mike Tyson
11/06/2005 Kevin McBride

So there we are, if results were no object, The Clones Colossus would be linear Heavyweight Champion.

Make of that what you will.

EDIT : That was so well received I have decided to complile lists for the other divisions...

The Reverse Linear "Defeats Don't Matter" Light Heavyweight Championship

26/05/1876 Jack Root
26/02/1906 Fred Russell
18/05/1908 Victor McLaglen
11/10/1920 Arthur Townley
28/05/1925 Gipsy Daniels
12/05/1938 Alf Robinson
15/01/1940 Tommy Martin
02/02/1942 Al Robinson
17/06/1948 Bill Brennan
05/12/1950 Johnny McLeavy
24/01/1955 Dick Richardson
26/03/1963 Henry Cooper
16/03/1971 Joe Bugner
04/07/1998 James 'Bonecrusher' Smith
18/06/1999 Larry Holmes
27/07/2002 Eric Esch


The Reverse Linear "Defeats Don't Matter" Middleweight Championship

15/12/1862 Nonpareil Jack Dempsey
18/01/1895 Tommy Ryan
29/11/1911 Denver Ed Martin
18/11/1921 Harry Wills
04/08/1932 Vinko Jankasa
19/12/1932 Jose Santa
02/05/1935 George Godfrey
10/08/1937 Hank Hankinson
26/10/1938 Max Baer
04/04/1941 Lou Nova
25/06/1945 Tami Mauriello
05/10/1949 Cesar Brion
10/10/1955 Omar Kader
21/01/1967 Santiago Alberto Lovell
01/04/1978 Felipe Rodriguez
08/08/1987 Jean Chanet
22/06/1995 Samuel M'Bendjob
10/11/1998 Antoine Palatis
12/05/2007 Nabil Haciani
06/08/2008 Mohamed Benguesmia
13/05/2010 Andrey Zaitsev

The Reverse Linear "Defeats Don't Matter" Welterweight Championship

19/03/1913 Pat Bradley
18/08/1920 Army Welch
20/04/1926 Fred Lenhart
24/06/1938 Tiger Jack Fox
09/12/1950 Jose Ochea
14/05/1951 Lonnie Malone
02/03/1957 Monroe Ratliff
18/11/1963 Wilhelm Von Homburg
11/12/1970 Rudiger Schmidtke
30/10/1976 Bernd August
05/11/1983 Reiner Hartmann
01/11/1985 Steffen Tangstad
06/09/1986 Michael Spinks
27/06/1988 Mike Tyson
11/06/2005 Kevin McBride

The Reverse Linear "Defeats Don't Matter" Lightweight Championship

06/12/1869 Kid Lavigne
25/12/1909 Dick Nelson
06/11/1921 Emil Christiansen
12/02/1922 Alfred Jensen
30/11/1925 Gummy Snyder
10/05/1930 Henry Goldberg
08/06/1932 Paul Pirrone
18/12/1939 Joe Sutka
15/06/1945 Jimmy Edgar
02/12/1947 Chuck Hunter
13/07/1953 Freddie Manns
10/08/1954 Billy Tisdale
29/06/1959 Freddie Little
06/07/1972 Billy Walker
27/03/1973 David Love
21/05/1983 Jeff McCracken
30/05/2002 Jonathan Young
29/04/2005 Michael Simms

Well it's a splendid list good to see giants of the game such as Simmons and Tangstad finally getting the respect they are often denied.

Why was McBride keeping the belt rather than Adamek ‘for the good of the game’?

Poor effort.

I do wonder about you sometimes Union, yet another busy day in the office i assume?

And i'm going to become a pornstar and call myself "Wilhelm Von Homburg". What a cracking name.

Now includes Middleweight list.

Light Heavyweight added, with a surprising current champion...

Union

You can do one for every division and i still wouldn't have the foggiest what you're on about.

Still maintaining you're married Union?

rowley wrote:Still maintaining you're married Union?

I found a picture of the happy couple:

Spoiler:

I love reverse linear threads, Ive been looking forward to them making a return to the boards.

This one looks like another barnstormer.

This is possibly the first one I have vaguely understood, which is a little worrying.

Welterweight List is now in, which strangely morphs into the Heavyweight List in 1938.

Not to besmirch your thread or ingenuity, Union, which is inspiring, but perhaps if you took into account only each lineal champions final opponent at the weight which they are champion of?

I have absolutely no idea what is going on.

KingMonkey wrote:I have absolutely no idea what is going on.

Kevin McBride is an ATG welterweight, that's all.

KingMonkey wrote:I have absolutely no idea what is going on.

Bang your head until you have severe concussion then sink a bottle of vodka and it might help

Union is my favourite poster ever.

This is... different.

I'd only just reovered from the last reverse linear series. Great work, as ever, Union, but it's sent my brain to meltdown point after a day at work.

Lightweights are in.

Cruiserweight Michael Simms is the current champion.

Might try sodhat's idea...

Wilhelm Von Homburg welterweight and heavyweight champion, Bob Fitz who?

this is too much for me coming towards a loooooooong day at the office.

coxy0001 wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:this is too much for me coming towards a loooooooong day at the office.

Spoiler:

How did you know...?

AlexHuckerby wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:this is too much for me coming towards a loooooooong day at the office.

Spoiler:

How did you know...?

Calculated guess

You truly are a wonder boy Coxy.

Wait, McBride is what now?

I have just tried compiling a list for the Cruiserweight division using the sodhat method, it's too much for even me.

Spoiler: