Pictured: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez


The Ring's Ratings Panel and Editorial Board have decided that The Ring's vacant middleweight title will be on the line when their #1 ranked contender Gennady Golovkin meets the currently unranked (by The Ring) Canelo Alvarez on September 15. Alvarez had been stripped of The Ring's title earlier this year after he was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol.

Alvarez has served his suspension, enrolled in the WBC's Clean Boxing Program, and agreed to year-round VADA testing. What he hasn't done is fight his way back into the ratings drug-free. Despite not being included in The Ring's rankings, Alvarez has had the opportunity to regain The Ring title bestowed on him. The great majority of The Ring's Ratings Panel and its Editorial Board have no problem emulating the sanctioning bodies by sidestepping their rules.

Reasons cited for approving the match as a title bout are that it would be "unfair" if Golovkin could not fight for The Ring's title just because of Alvarez' transgressions and that Canelo is now adhering to the rules. So, because the Golden Boy Promotions-promoted Alvarez is no longer breaking the rules, the Golden Boy Promotions-owned magazine's staff and associates no longer have to pay attention to theirs.

Managing editor Brian Harty actually wrote, "If it sounds like the rules are being ignored, whatever." Panel member Michael Montero added, "This is one of those occasions where a slight bending of typical procedures/rules makes sense." Slight bending of the rules? Approving a bout between the #1 contender and an unranked fighter in his first bout since serving a PED-related suspension as a title bout is much more than a "slight bending" of the rules. But as Mr. Harty would say, "Whatever!"

Panel member Adam Abramowitz demonstrated that integrity and common sense are not completely absent at The Ring. He opposed approving the fight for the vacant title and wrote, "rules are there for a reason and our rules wouldn't have teeth if we immediately elevate the winner." His argument fell on deaf ears.

In the end, The Ring's title is The Ring's just like the WBC's is the WBC's, the WBA is the WBA's, etc., etc. The Ring can do with their title whatever it likes but by blatantly disregarding its own rules, The Ring continues to lessen the value and the prestige of its belt. While Alvarez-Golovkin II is a much anticipated contest, it could be designated as being for The Ring's title only if one of its owner's fighters was given preferential treatment which obviously he has.