World Boxing Association

World Boxing Association
Abbreviation WBA
Motto Simply the pioneers
Formation
  • 1921 (as NBA)
  • August 23, 1962 (as WBA)
Purpose Boxing sanctioning organization
Headquarters Panama City, Panama
Region served
Worldwide
President
 Gilberto Mendoza Jr.
Main organ
 General Assembly
Website www.wbaboxing.com

The World Boxing Association (WBA) is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the IBF, WBC, and WBO. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded in the United States in 1921 by thirteen state representatives as the National Boxing Association (NBA), in 1962 it changed its name in recognition of boxing's growing popularity worldwide, and began to gain other nations as members.

By 1975, a majority of votes were held by Latin American nations, and the organization headquarters were moved to Panama. After being located during the 1990s and early 2000s in Venezuela, the organization offices returned to Panama in 2007. It is the oldest of the four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO).

History

The World Boxing Association can be traced back to the original National Boxing Association, organized in 1921. The first bout it recognized was the Jack Dempsey–Georges Carpentier Heavyweight Championship bout in New Jersey.

The NBA was formed by representatives from thirteen American states, including Sam Milner, to counterbalance the influence that the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) wielded. The NBA and the NYSAC sometimes crowned different world champions in the same division, leading to confusion about who was the real champion.[1]

The International Boxing Research Organization describes the early NBA as follows:

Originally more comparable to the present American Association of Boxing Commissions than to its offspring and successor, the NBA sanctioned title bouts, published lists of outstanding challengers, withdrew titular recognition, but did not attempt to appoint its own title bout officials or otherwise impose its will on championship fights. It also did not conduct purse bids or collect "sanctioning fees."[2]

The NBA officially became the WBA on August 23, 1962.[3] Gilberto Mendoza was the president of the WBA from 1982 until his death in 2016, after which Gilberto Mendoza Jr. took over as president. In the 1990s, the WBA moved its central offices from Panama City, Panama, to Caracas, Venezuela. In January 2007, it returned its offices to Panama.

Controversies

The WBA has been plagued with charges of corruption for years. In a 1981 Sports Illustrated article, a WBA judge claimed that he was influenced by the WBA president to support certain fighters. The same article also discussed a variety of bribes paid to WBA officials to obtain title fights or rankings with the organization.[4] In a 1982 interview, the promoter Bob Arum claimed that he had to pay off WBA officials to obtain rankings for his fighters.[5]

Though the "Super Champion" designation are for WBA champions who concurrently hold titles with the WBO, IBF and/or WBC, in some instances, the WBA has designated as "Super Champion" fighters with only the WBA title. (See below for the WBA's explanation of this.) This particular practice has come under scrutiny, as several boxing experts consider it a means for the organization to gain more sanctioning fees within each division.

The WBA garnered some attention in 2015 when it continued ranking Ali Raymi in its flyweight rankings, despite Raymi, who worked as a colonel in the Yemeni military was reportedly killed by a Saudi airstrike that year. Ali Raymi was ranked Number 6 at the time of his death and Number 11 after his death.[6]

Super titles

The WBA recognises the title holders from the WBC, WBO, and IBF organisations. The WBA refers to a champion who holds two or more of these titles in the same weight class as a "Super Champion", "Unified Champion", or "Undisputed Champion". This applies even if the WBA title is not one of the titles held by the "Undisputed Champion."[7][8] In September 2008 for example, Nate Campbell was recognized as the WBA's "Undisputed Champion" at lightweight due to holding the WBO and IBF titles as well, while the WBA's "Regular" champion was Yusuke Kobori.[9]

If a fighter with multiple titles also holds the WBA's title, the fighter is promoted to "Super Champion" and the WBA title—which is then referred to as the "Regular" title—becomes vacant for competition by other WBA-ranked boxers. As a result, the WBA's official list of champions will often show a "WBA Super World Champion" and a "WBA World Champion" for the same weight class, instead of simply "WBA Champion."[10] The WBA has even been known to recognize three different fighters as one form of champion or another in the same weight class ("Super", "Regular", and "interim champion"), and there have been occasions where two different WBA "World" champions have defended their own versions of the same title, in the same weight class, on the same night, in two different parts of the world.

A WBA champion may be promoted to "Super Champion" without winning another organization's title: Chris John, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Anselmo Moreno are examples. The WBA will also promote their titlist to a "Super" champion when he successfully defends his title five times.[11]

As of 2017, the WBA continues to issue Regular titles, despite having previously stated that they would seek to reduce their number of titles to one per weight class.[12][13]

Current WBA world title holders

As of October 24, 2018.

Male

World champions

Weight class: Champion: Reign began: Days
Minimumweight  Thammanoon Niyomtrong (THA) June 29, 2016 847
Light flyweight  Hekkie Budler (RSA) (Super Champion) May 20, 2018 157
 Carlos Cañizales (VEN) March 18, 2018 220
Flyweight  Artem Dalakian (UKR) February 24, 2018 242
Super flyweight  Kal Yafai (UK) December 10, 2016 683
Bantamweight  Ryan Burnett (UK) (Super Champion) October 21, 2017 368
 Naoya Inoue (JPN) May 25, 2018 152
 Reymart Gaballo (PHI) (Interim champion) March 23, 2018 215
Super bantamweight  Danny Roman (USA) December 9, 2017 319
Featherweight  Léo Santa Cruz (MEX) (Super Champion) January 28, 2017 634
 Jesús Rojas (PUR) July 5, 2018 111
 Jhack Tepora (PHI) (Interim champion) July 15, 2018 101
Super featherweight  Alberto Machado (PUR) October 21, 2017 368
Lightweight  Vasyl Lomachenko (UKR) May 12, 2018 165
Super lightweight  Kiryl Relikh (BLR) March 10, 2018 228
Welterweight  Keith Thurman (USA) (Super Champion) November 2, 2016 721
 Manny Pacquiao (PHI) July 15, 2018 101
Super welterweight  Jarrett Hurd  (USA) (Unified Champion) 7 April 2018 200
 Brian Castaño (ARG) November 18, 2016 697
Middleweight  Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez (MEX) (Super Champion) Sept 15, 2018 39
 Ryōta Murata (JPN) October 22, 2017 367
Super middleweight  Callum Smith (UK) (Super Champion) September 28, 2018 26
 Rocky Fielding (UK) July 14, 2018 102
Light heavyweight  Dmitry Bivol (RUS) May 21, 2016 886
Cruiserweight  Oleksandr Usyk (UKR) (Undisputed Champion) July 22, 2018 94
Heavyweight  Anthony Joshua (UK) (Unified Champion) April 31, 2017 543
 Manuel Charr (SYR) November 25, 2017 333

Female

World champions

Weight class: Champion: Reign began: Days
Light minimumweight (102 lbs) Vacant
Minimumweight (105 lbs)  Anabel Ortiz (MEX) 23 July 2013 1919
Light flyweight (108 lbs)  Yesica Bopp (ARG) 20 June 2009 3413
Flyweight (112 lbs)  Naoko Fujioka (JPN) 13 March 2017 590
Super flyweight (115 lbs)  Linda Lecca (PER) 15 April 2016 922
Bantamweight (118 lbs)  Mayerlin Rivas (VEN) 16 January 2015 1377
Super bantamweight (122 lbs)  Liliana Palmera (COL) 18 November 2017 340
Featherweight (126 lbs)  Jelena Mrdjenovich (CAN) 11 March 2016 957
Super featherweight (130 lbs)  Choi Hyun-Mi (KOR) 15 August 2013 1896
Lightweight (135 lbs)  Katie Taylor (IRL) 28 October 2017 361
Super lightweight (140 lbs)  Ana Laura Esteche (ARG) 18 January 2014 1740
Welterweight (147 lbs)  Cecilia Brækhus (NOR) 14 March 2009 3511
Super welterweight (154 lbs)  Hanna Gabriel (CRC) 18 June 2016 858
Middleweight (160 lbs)  Claressa Shields (USA) 22 June 2018 124
Super middleweight (168 lbs)  Alicia Napoleon (USA) 3 March 2018 235
Light heavyweight (+168 lbs) Uninaugurated

WBA affiliated organizations

  • WBA Asia
  • WBA Oceania
  • Federación Latinoamericana de Comisiones de Boxeo Profesional (WBA Fedelatin)
  • Federación Bolivariana de Boxeo (WBA Fedebol)
  • Federación Centroamericana de Boxeo (WBA Fedecentro)
  • Federación del Caribe de Boxeo (WBA Fedecaribe)
  • North American Boxing Association (NABA)

Transition of WBA titles

References

  1. ↑ Mullan, Harry (1996). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing. London: Carlton Books. p. 121. ISBN 0-7858-0641-5.
  2. ↑ "Boxing Bodies: A Brief Chronology and Rundown". International Boxing Digest. 40 (1): 58. January 1998.
  3. ↑ "World Boxing Association History". WBA. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ Heller, Peter (1988). Bad Intentions: The Mike Tyson Story. New York: New American Library. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0-688-10123-2.
  5. ↑ Mullan. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing. p. 122.
  6. ↑ "WBA ranking update leaves questions and criticism". Asian Boxing.
  7. ↑ "Super championships guidelines". WBA. Archived from the original on 2008-06-05. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  8. ↑ "WBA Super Championships". WBA. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  9. ↑ "Official Ratings as of September 2008" (PDF). WBA. September 2008. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 31, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  10. ↑ "Official Web Site >> World Boxing Association". Wbanews.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  11. ↑ Gabriel F. Cordero (November 30, 2012). ""Chocolatito" is the latest WBA super champion". Fightnews.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  12. ↑ "A Title Fight in Name Only - Boxing.com". www.boxing.com.
  13. ↑ "WBA orders Matthysse-Kiram, Barthelemy-Relikh II, Machado-Mensah".
  14. ↑ "WBA Intercontinental Champions".
  15. ↑ "WBA International Champions".
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