In an effort to emphasize the quality of boxing talent in California, the state’s athletic commission is resurrecting the awarding of the state-championship belt, starting with Friday night’s Manuel Flores-Jorge Chavez Jnr featherweight rematch in Palm Springs, California.
Touting the most licensed fighters of any state in the nation while staging the greatest number of fights again in 2025, California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Andy Foster said bringing the California State Title back makes sense given the robust competition, particularly in Southern California.
Without owing any sanctioning fees, the Flores-Chavez winner will receive a special belt the state commissioned a designer to craft. Flores, 20-1-1 (16 KOs), and Chavez, 14-0-1 (8 KOs), fought to a majority draw July 24 in Indio, California.
The promoter, in this case Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, is responsible to pay the $1,000 belt cost.
The California commission requested BoxRec rank eligible fighters from California and neighboring states, and board members will approve the fights eligible for a state title as they are finalized. The bouts must occur in California for state-title recognition.
In the junior-featherweight division, for example, Flores and Chavez are ranked No. 3 and 4 among eligible fighters that include top-ranked former unified champion Murodjan Akhmadaliev and Sebastian Hernandez, who recently battled former bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani to a tightly contested decision loss.
More state-title bouts will occur in the near future with the 17 weight classes in consideration, Foster assured. Fighters ranked within the BoxRec top 15 will be eligible for the California title.
“We’re going to present the possibility of fighting for the belt to as many promoters and fighters as want to fight for it,” Foster said.
The California commission has backed Zuffa Boxing’s effort to alter federal boxing regulations, with the Dana White-run, Saudi Arabia-funded Zuffa vowing not to recognize the four major sanctioning bodies and award its own belts to members of its own developing stable.
“It [the title] is in our regulations already. We could’ve been doing it for a long time, but I’ve noticed there’s been an increase in the number of titles given out by sanctioning bodies, and the commission wants the state to be able to recognize the champions, because California has the most fighters, the most world champions, the most world-champion matches,” Foster said. “It’s important to recognize these fighters so they can fight for bigger opportunities. Fighters will want to fight for this because it will help their careers. It will mean something in boxing.”
California would rank as the fourth largest economy in the world if it was its own country, Foster reminded.
The boxing statistical company BoxRec, which doesn’t recognize the WBA titles, will recognize California champions.
Foster said the impressive nature of Flores-Chavez I made it logical to mark the resumption of the state-title fight, with Flores hailing from the Coachella Valley where the bout will be staged at the new Acrisure Arena.
Foster will attend the bout, hopeful word spreads among talented young fighters and their managers/promoters to pursue their own belt.
“It’s certainly significant for fighters coming out of this state,” Foster said. “It’s definitely on a different level than the Rhode Island state title.”
