Championship recognition

Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921

Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ring periodically led to a "true" champion going unrecognized, or for several to be recognized by the public for periods of time. Typically, public interest in having a single, "true" champion resulted in claimants to the heavyweight title being matched with one another; the winner of that bout was subsequently deemed the champion, with the claim (and title lineage) of the defeated boxer largely forgotten.

Sanctioning Bodies: 1921 to present

The

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

(NBA), was formed in 1921 as the first organization aimed at regulating boxing on a national (and later global) level. The prominence of New York City as the epicenter of boxing would lead to a governmental entity, the powerful

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

(NYSAC), to join the NBA in sanctioning bouts as "world championships." A third entity, with lesser public recognition inside the USA, the

European Boxing Union The European Boxing Union (EBU), formerly known as the International Boxing Union (IBU), is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the most-prestigious continental title in Europe, th ...

(EBU), would follow suit, with this triumvirate typically (but not always) recognizing the same boxers as world champions. At its 1962 convention the NBA's non-U.S. members exploited a membership rule and took control of the organization, rebranding it the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

. The (WBA), was joined a year later by a combination of state and national boxing commissions (including the NYSAC and IBU) to form a separate sanctioning body, the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC). Each organization would later have a spin-off competing sanctioning body emerge: the

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

(IBF), which was formed by members of the

United States Boxing Association The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

in 1983; and the

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO), which was formed in 1989. A fifth significant (but not as publicly accepted) body came in the form of the

International Boxing Organization The International Boxing Organization (IBO) is a US based corporation that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards world and regional championships. It is an independent and well-known organization not recognized by the "big four" gove ...

(IBO), in 1991, and today there are over a dozen sanctioning organizations, of varying degrees of public acceptance, sanctioning bouts as for a world championship and proclaiming their title winners "Champion of the World."

References

External links

{{World boxing champions Featherweight Champions * World boxing champions by weight class

Championship recognition

Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921

Sanctioning Bodies: 1921 to present

See also

References

External links