There are far too many belts awarded in professional boxing, but the one that has been made by the Saudis to present to the winner of the undisputed heavyweight championship bout on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between WBC/lineal champion Tyson Fury and INF-WBA-WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk is indeed special.
In the last year-plus, the Saudis have largely taken over big-time boxing at the behest of Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia. One of the big fights the Saudis put together as part of what they're calling Riyadh Season is Fury-Usyk.
Alalshikh commissioned an undisputed heavyweight championship belt to be presented to the winner, and he shared the image on his X (formerly Twitter) page.
It's a belt that looks worthy of the title it represents.
Boxing would be a lot better off with fewer of the sanctioning body belts. The sanctioning bodies award belts to regular champions, super champions, diamond champions, interim champions and champions in recess, among others.
Having one champion per weight class won't solve all that ails boxing, but it would certainly take a big swing at solving one of its biggest issues. Casual fans simply don't know who holds what belt.
For months, they heard that Terence Crawford was fighting Errol Spence on July 29 in Las Vegas for the undisputed welterweight title. Crawford won that bout going away, stopping Spence in the ninth, and he became interim champion. But not long after, he was stripped and the IBF made Jaron Ennis the champion.
Imagine the furor if the 49ers defeat the Chiefs on Sunday in Super Bowl 58 only to have the NFL strip the Niners and give the Lombardi Trophy to the Detroit Lions. Yet, that's exactly what happens all the time in boxing.
Alashikh's belt is a symbolic gesture, though one that hopefully will serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining championship integrity.