I recently squabbled with an insignificant scribe about the cause of this problem; the problem of why so many undeserving fighters are receiving title shots. With the news of Oleg Maskaev's defense against utterly undeserving Peter Ohkello I am absolutely disgusted and the WBC should be ashamed that they are allowing this to happen. Jose Sulaiman, you should lose your job over this disgrace. The Maskaev-Ohkello debacle isn't the only title fight that lacks merit.

As you readers know, one Mr. Marley and one Mr. Ondrizek are members of the Shannon Briggs fan club. However, even as an active member of this prestigious group, one cannot withhold an objective truth of fact that Briggs has yet to defeat a credible opponent to earn himself a title shot. Briggs is the most marketable heavyweight out there today based on his personality, charisma, fighting style, and history of being former linear heavyweight champion (the only modern linear heavyweight champion to never capture a belt).

The truth is that most champs fight soft opposition for their first few defenses. That fact is generally overlooked when the champ is a true linear champion. The heavyweight division lacks that luxury at this particular juncture in its history and thus the massive uproar in the lack of willingness or feasibility of unification of the belts. I echo that sentiment and would love to see an eight man tournament consisting of the four belt holders and four contenders. I am more likely to win the Nobel Peace Prize for my writing than there is of a meaningful heavyweight tournament getting off the ground. So we are left with sanctioning bodies imposing mandatories and wanting to collect fees and muddling up the entire situation. Now that the obvious has been stated, we cannot blame Ohkello, Briggs, or any of the paper champs for that matter for taking these fights. The money isn't greater if they go against one another and there would be greater sanctioning fees and lower purse splits, thus meaning less money for the fighters.

There is another and what quite possibly is the main reason for it all, I hate to sound redundant, but all roads lead to Don King. That's right I said it, here comes the lawsuits, sorry Mike. Okay, let's review our history. We'll start with Briggs, who recently signed with King, and poof, he gets a title shot. Briggs almost had a title shot, but Shelly Finkel banked on Brock over Briggs and lost his investment. Briggs is facing Sergei Liakhovich, another King fighter who earned his title in a dramatic and crowd-pleasing fight with former titlist and King fighter, Lamon Brewster. Liakhovich hadn't fought in nearly sixteen months when he was suddenly ranked by the WBO and received his shot at Brewster.

During the same time frame another King fighter in Nikolai Valuev got his title shot against King fighter John Ruiz. Valuev wasn't promoted by King until he beat Ruiz, but Valuev didn't earn his shot at the title, either. It was handed to him by the judges in his bout with Larry Donald. Donald looked very good against Valuev and looked like he did enough to beat Valuev in the ring, just not on the cards. Then Valuev fought a close fight with Ruiz, but the truth is we aren't sorry Ruiz is on hiatus. Valuev went on to take the worst title defense (since outdone by Maskaev/Ohkello) by taking on Owen Beck, who lost a damn eliminator and received a title shot. Beck, by the way, is another King fighter.

That covers the WBO and WBA. So in the retarded world of Sulaiman and the WBC we can go back to see that Maskaev is not promoted by King so he cannot take the blame for the Ohkello crap. However, Maskaev took the title from Rahman, who at the time of the loss was not a King fighter, but he was in position for the title by being a King fighter. Rahman fought soft opposition himself (Calloway, Cawley, Cole) on his way up the rankings until he met Kali Meehan for a title eliminator. Rahman was handed the title after Vitali Klitschko retired due to some brilliant maneuvering by King and after a boring ass fight with Monte Barrett.

Oh, that leads me to Valuev's next defense, Monte Barrett. Barrett hasn't fought in over a year, and the last time he did fight, he lost to Rahman in a pathetic fight. Well that leaves us the IBF. Klitschko is a non- King man who took the title from former King boy Chris Byrd. Byrd, who has since flown King's coup, was a pawn of King's for some time and participated in what was quite possibly the most boring heavyweight title fight ever against DaVarryl Williamson last October. Williamson, by the way, is yet another King fighter. Are you guys starting to get the point?

The heavyweight division desperately needs unification, but sanctioning bodies and promoters like King make that task very difficult. It's all about the money, and truth be told, there is more money is a fractured division than there is in unification at the moment. We need a fighter with skills and personality to take over to force unification by making it profitable. Until then we will see that the more alphabets there are, the easier it is for King to have control and to keep the titles from being unified. We might have a chance for unification if Klitschko stays around a while, or if Briggs puts Liakhovich to sleep. The best bet is still Alexander Povetkin and it won't be long until he is mentioned in the title picture. Until then, enjoy the Roy Jones Jr. style of title defenses.