The International Boxing Organization (IBO) is a US based corporation that sanctions

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 ...

matches and awards world and regional championships. It is an independent and well-known organization not recognized by the "big four" governing bodies ( 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 ...

), who only recognize each other in their rankings and title unification rules. It is recognized as a legitimate world championship by the

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

, 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 ...

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

, and BoxingScene but is unrecognized as such by '' The Ring'' magazine.

History

The IBO was founded in 1988 and incorporated in Illinois in 1992 by John W. Daddono. The organization was later moved to Florida in 1997 and incorporated in Florida at that time. Ed Levine, who continues to serve as the organization's President became a partner and President of the IBO at that time. The organization received acclaim by implementing a computerized system 'The Independent World Boxing Rankings' in the late 1990s that removed subjective elements from the ratings in an effort to bring more credibility to the sport. From 2014 the organization now employs

Boxrec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

, the independent boxing records keeper and computerized rankings website to produce IBO's rankings. Many marquee champions have held and continue to hold the International Boxing Organization World title. The IBO permits only one world champion per weight division. "We have never had more than one champion per weight division nor will we", according to its president Ed Levine. In addition to world champions, IBO recognizes regional champions, including the Inter-Continental champion. If an IBO Inter-Continental champion successfully defends his title three times, he may receive a mandatory opportunity for the world title.

Notable past IBO champions

* Thomas Hearns, former Cruiserweight champion *

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold ...

, former Heavyweight champion * James Toney, former Cruiserweight champion * Wladimir Klitschko, former Heavyweight champion *

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

, former Light Heavyweight champion * Marco Antonio Barrera, former Featherweight champion * Naseem Hamed, former Featherweight champion *

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...

, former Welterweight champion * Ricky Hatton, former Light Welterweight champion * Manny Pacquiao, former Light Welterweight champion * Bernard Hopkins, former Light Heavyweight champion * Nonito Donaire, former Flyweight champion * Sergio Martínez, former Super Welterweight champion *

Andy Ruiz Jr. Andrés Ponce Ruiz Jr. (born September 11, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified heavyweight champion, having defeated Anthony Joshua to win the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles in 2019 to become the first ma ...

, former Heavyweight champion * Tyson Fury, former Heavyweight champion *

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021. At r ...

, former Heavyweight champion

Current IBO world title holders

As of June 2022

Male

Female

References

External links

* {{World boxing champions Professional boxing organizations International sports organizations Sports organizations established in 1988