The Women's International Boxing Association (WIBA) is a sanctioning body for
women's professional boxing. Established in July 2000, it quickly grew into a major force in the sport.
History
The WIBA was officially founded by American Ryan Wissow, and Colombian Luis Bello-Diaz.
Ryan Wissow is the president and owner of the WIBA.
Luis Bello-Diaz heads the Universal Boxing Council (UBC), an obscure men's sanctioning body headquartered in Bello's hometown of
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...
. The UBC is a separate entity from the WIBA.
The WIBA considers itself a respectable championship organization for a number of reasons.
The WIBA has received praise for their accurate and up-to-date ratings, but the quality of WIBA title fights in inconsistent. A number of highly touted boxers have held WIBA titles at some point in their career.
WIBA has had title fights in Asia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean, in addition to the USA.
WIBA is very geographically balanced, having champions and title fights in many parts of the world, and giving opportunities to female fighters all over the globe, truly opening up the sport worldwide.
WIBA is also credited for several 'firsts' in the sport.
WIBA was the first to establish a 102-pound division for women's boxing, citing the need for a smaller weight class for female boxers. WIBA is also credited for legalizing women's professional boxing in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Women's professional boxing was not legal in the Philippines (despite the fact that the island nation has a strong amateur women's boxing team). Ryan Wissow and the WIBA worked with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB), who oversee all professional sports in the Philippines, to change the laws in their books to allow women to box there professionally.
The WIBA is also responsible for sanctioning the very first title fight, male or female, to take place in
Guyana
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
and in
Macao
Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...
.
The WIBA rates all worthy professional female boxers, including champions of other sanctioning bodies.
WIBA also encourages unification bouts with other major women's sanctioning bodies like the IWBF, IFBA,
WIBF, and the
WBC Female Title.
WIBA's current and former champions include
Laila Ali
Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the World Boxing Council, WBC, Women's ...
,
Jacqui Frazier-Lyde,
Ann Wolfe,
Leatitia Robinson,
Gina Guidi,
Sumya Anani,
Kara Ro,
Chevelle Hallback,
Maribel Zurita,
Ria Ramnarine,
Emiko Raika
Emiko Raika (来家 恵美子, born January 24, 1975, in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese female professional boxer and mixed martial artist.
Although more Japanese women have taken up traditionally male sports such as karate, kickboxing and wrestlin ...
,
Marcela Acuña
Marcela Eliana Acuña (born 16 October 1976) is an Argentine professional boxer and part-time politician. She has held multiple super bantamweight world titles, including the IBF title since 2018; the WBA title from 2006 to 2008; the WBC titl ...
,
Ada Vélez,
Anita Christensen,
Melinda Cooper,
Jenifer Alcorn,
Jeannine Garside,
Mary Jo Sanders,
Duda Yankovich and
Melissa Hernández, Sylvia Scharper.
Current champions
See also
*
Women's International Boxing Federation
The Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) is one of the more recognized world championship fight sanctioning organizations in women's boxing. Founded in March 1989, it is based in Miami, Florida, and presided over by Barbara Buttrick. Th ...
References
External links
*
{{World boxing champions
Professional boxing governing bodies
International women's organizations
Sports organizations established in 2000
Women's boxing
International sports organizations
Women's sports governing bodies