In
professional boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...
and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champion may fight an opponent who might offer greater revenue potential than a mandatory challenger.
Mandatory challengers are designated by the champion's sanctioning body; in boxing, the major sanctioning bodies are the
WBA,
WBC
WBC may stand for:
Business
*Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS
*Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company
*Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...
,
IBF
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 ...
and
WBO
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 ...
. The sanctioning bodies often order eliminators between top-ranked contenders to decide who will receive the mandatory challenger status. If the champion vacates the belt, the mandatory challenger is paired against another challenger for the vacant belt. Due to boxing politics, the champion of one sanctioning body is excluded from the rankings of rival sanctioning bodies, so
unification fights cannot be mandatory defences. Conversely, mandatory challengers may be forced to wait for a title shot if the champion pursues a unification bout with a champion of a different sanctioning body, as a unification fight supersedes a mandatory defence.
See also
*
Interim championship
References
{{reflist
External links
WBA regulations on mandatory challengersWBC regulations on mandatory challengers
IBF regulations on mandatory challengersWBO regulations on mandatory challengers
Boxing terminology
Boxing champions