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Boxing has more belts than a straight jacket, and is a sport crazy enough to need one. They seem to be growing at a rate of about one every dozen years or so.
In the 130 years of the Modern Boxing Era, en****** who "Sanction" world titles have come and gone, but stubbornly, those who are designed strictly for profit and make those profits, tend to stick around a while.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) begin in August 1962 in Panama, largely as a continuem of the old US based National Boxing Association (NBA). But it has not been clear sailing for them. As of August 2024, the respected boxing website BoxRec no longer recognizes WBA world title fights or world champions, due to what it sees as a pattern of abuses.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) was formed in Mexico City in February 1963 and really caught on by the mid 1960's as another purveyor of champions, and today boasts 161 member nations.
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) was founded in 1983, when Robert W. "Bobby" Lee Sr, a former New Jersey state boxing commissioner and regional WBA affiliate United States Boxing Association (USBA) president, lost the election in his bid to become WBA president, to Colombian Gilberto Mendoza.
Disgruntled, Lee and several other delegates withdrew from the WBA and founded USBA-International, and the new organization was renamed the International Boxing Federation on November 6, 1983, based in New Jersey, the U.S. The IBF gained credibility when they awarded their title recognition to Larry Holmes soon after its inception, when the long established lineal world champion dropped his WBC belt, citing their nonsensical demand to defend against undeserving contenders controlled by promoter Don King.
More recently, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) was formed after a group of Puerto Rican and Dominican businessmen broke out of the WBA's 1988 annual convention in Venezuela over disputes regarding what rules should be applied. The WBO achieved credibility when it was recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Each of these groups has promoted a process of inventing more weight classes over time, and added additional belts to offer, such as super, interim, regular and Man of Triumph belts, in order to boost sales of their recognition products, while gradually replacing, in the minds of casual fans and neophyte reporters assigned to cover the sport, the non-profit title regognizers such as the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), the British Boxing Board of Boxing Control (BBBC); the European Boxing Union (EBU) and The Ring Magazine, boxing's trade journal since 1922.
Today, in all weight classes except for heavyweight, the actual world title lineage is obscured by a history of strippings, disputes, weight class movements and retirements.
In 2025, it is common the hear the phrase "The four belt era", in reference to the aforementioned companies. Fighters who's management steers them towards contenders who possess one or more belts, and win them, are called "unified belt holders", and extra accolades are afforded in the press for milestones that are achieved specifically "In the four belt era".
But this is a profitable business, and because these groups have little to do with the actual governance and administration of international boxing; the selling of title recognition to promotion companies is almost pure profit. And thus, it is not surprising that there are other groups incorporated who are inching towards recognition by the press. The International Boxing Union, The World Boxing Society, The American Boxing Organization and The Transnational Boxing Board are among these.
Earlier this month, UFC and WWE parent company TKO announced a new boxing league in collaboration with Turki Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia's entertainment company Sela. Though not yet made clear, it is reasonable that their new "league" may soon enough move to usurp the tenuous authority of the existing organizations.
Indeed, we seem to be headed toward either the five, six, seven or eight belt era; or perhaps; to the utopian One Belt era.
Time will tell.
In the 130 years of the Modern Boxing Era, en****** who "Sanction" world titles have come and gone, but stubbornly, those who are designed strictly for profit and make those profits, tend to stick around a while.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) begin in August 1962 in Panama, largely as a continuem of the old US based National Boxing Association (NBA). But it has not been clear sailing for them. As of August 2024, the respected boxing website BoxRec no longer recognizes WBA world title fights or world champions, due to what it sees as a pattern of abuses.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) was formed in Mexico City in February 1963 and really caught on by the mid 1960's as another purveyor of champions, and today boasts 161 member nations.
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) was founded in 1983, when Robert W. "Bobby" Lee Sr, a former New Jersey state boxing commissioner and regional WBA affiliate United States Boxing Association (USBA) president, lost the election in his bid to become WBA president, to Colombian Gilberto Mendoza.
Disgruntled, Lee and several other delegates withdrew from the WBA and founded USBA-International, and the new organization was renamed the International Boxing Federation on November 6, 1983, based in New Jersey, the U.S. The IBF gained credibility when they awarded their title recognition to Larry Holmes soon after its inception, when the long established lineal world champion dropped his WBC belt, citing their nonsensical demand to defend against undeserving contenders controlled by promoter Don King.
More recently, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) was formed after a group of Puerto Rican and Dominican businessmen broke out of the WBA's 1988 annual convention in Venezuela over disputes regarding what rules should be applied. The WBO achieved credibility when it was recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Each of these groups has promoted a process of inventing more weight classes over time, and added additional belts to offer, such as super, interim, regular and Man of Triumph belts, in order to boost sales of their recognition products, while gradually replacing, in the minds of casual fans and neophyte reporters assigned to cover the sport, the non-profit title regognizers such as the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), the British Boxing Board of Boxing Control (BBBC); the European Boxing Union (EBU) and The Ring Magazine, boxing's trade journal since 1922.
Today, in all weight classes except for heavyweight, the actual world title lineage is obscured by a history of strippings, disputes, weight class movements and retirements.
In 2025, it is common the hear the phrase "The four belt era", in reference to the aforementioned companies. Fighters who's management steers them towards contenders who possess one or more belts, and win them, are called "unified belt holders", and extra accolades are afforded in the press for milestones that are achieved specifically "In the four belt era".
But this is a profitable business, and because these groups have little to do with the actual governance and administration of international boxing; the selling of title recognition to promotion companies is almost pure profit. And thus, it is not surprising that there are other groups incorporated who are inching towards recognition by the press. The International Boxing Union, The World Boxing Society, The American Boxing Organization and The Transnational Boxing Board are among these.
Earlier this month, UFC and WWE parent company TKO announced a new boxing league in collaboration with Turki Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia's entertainment company Sela. Though not yet made clear, it is reasonable that their new "league" may soon enough move to usurp the tenuous authority of the existing organizations.
Indeed, we seem to be headed toward either the five, six, seven or eight belt era; or perhaps; to the utopian One Belt era.
Time will tell.