The British Title

In recent years the International titles(eg WBC international championship) and intercontinental belts have become another route for prospects in Britain to work their way up the ladder, people like Amir Khan has never fought for a British title
So my question is simple do you think the British tiltle has lost some of its lustre because of this

I think some of the reason it's been left on the shelf is because it is harder to win in a lot of cases than an International belt........

I rate the British belt because it's generally two hungry fighters looking to snag something with heritage and value.....

Had time back home for the NABF and USBA titles which were always worth having..

I rate the European belt slightly more highly...........Think every Euro champ should get a world title shot..

Don't think the British belt has been devalued..... just think fighters can see less harmful ways of getting to a title shot...

I have no time for Intercontinental this or international that....

The British title has often been a sideshow and it's not just a modern phenomenon. Bruno won a European title but never boxed for a British one (in part because his stable-mate Horace Notice held the Lonsdale Belt and Frank didn't want to fight him). Cornelius Boza-Edwards boxed under a British licence for years but also didn't bother challenging for British honours. This was partly because i don't think that there was a British title on offer at 130 at the tme, but he would have been able to win a title at an adjacent weight at the time if he'd wanted a belt enough, you'd think. In any event, I believe Boza won a European title instead.

Witter, Magri and I think Winstone are among the British champions who have been awarded a Lonsdale Belt outright because of a lack of suitable challengers. Hatton only had one British title fight of which I'm aware, against Jon Thaxton, Eubank never fought for a British title and nor, I think, did Nigel Benn.

Go back far enough, though, and you find that the great Jack Kid Berg first fought for a British title four years after he became world champion and a couple after he had lost that belt.

There have always been alternative routes but the Lonsdale belt has never totally lost its lustre, not least because of the history attached to it, something that is still of some value to the fighters lucky and skilled enough to win one.

The likes of Jack Catterall and Tom Stalker have gone down this "WBO European" title route rather than looking for a British title fight as the alphabet trinket pushes them further up the world rankings.

Other fighters who won Lonsdale belts outright recently (against poor oppo) were Frankie Gavin and Jon-Lewis Dickinson.

It's a shame the Lonsdale belt is bypassed these days - rarely is the British champion the best domestic fighter at his weight.

Its because world title affiliated belts such as WBO European and WBC Int ect, now give you a ranking in the top 15 of that organisation. And if you find yourself in the right place at the right time....you could earn yourself a crack at a world title.

Good question

IMO if I was a boxer I would really focus on a British title and especially the lonesdale belt. Something very unique that you can't win anywhere else. Then I would look at progressing to Euro and eventually World level.

I understand that money is a huge factor and if I was fighting to feed my family then its understandable but I would never turn my nose up at a British title as its history and should be respected.

Whilst the British title has to some degree been marginalised to some extent through the proliferation of international and sliver belts the Lonsdale has something none of those have which is history. Win a British title and you will be joining some of the true greats from these shores who have gone before you. The BBBC have also been smart in keeping the belt looking the same, so you get a beautiful belt that looks exactly the same as those that were awarded to fighters from previous generations. Because of this, marginalised as it is, there is still a place for it and it is still treasured by fighters.

Recall watching a fight night on Sky with Jamie Moore and Ryan Rhodes and both of them stated they treasured their Lonsdale belt above all their other achievements. Is a pity so many other belts have sidelined the title and fighters now see alternatives as routes into world rankings, but despite this the British title still has a place, and always will.