List of current world boxing champions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of current boxing world champions who are certified by the four major boxing sanctioning bodies[1] and The Ring magazine. Each champion's professional boxing record is shown in the following format: wins-losses-draws-no contests (knockout wins).
The World Boxing Association (WBA) was founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA)—a national regulating body of the United States. On August 23, 1962, the NBA became the WBA—a Venezuelan-based worldwide regulating body.[2] According to WBA championship rules, when a boxer holds both a WBA world title and a world title from at least one of the other three major sanctioning bodies, the boxer is granted special recognition: unified champion (if he holds two titles), undisputed champion (three titles), or super champion (all four titles). The 'regular' WBA world title is then vacated.[3]
The World Boxing Council (WBC) was founded in Mexico City, Mexico on February 14, 1963 in order to establish an international regulating body.[4] The WBC established many of today's safety measures in boxing, such as standing eight-counts,[5] a limit of 12 rounds instead of 15,[6] and additional weight classes.[6]
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) originated in September 1976 as the United States Boxing Association (USBA) when American members of the WBA withdrew in order to legitimize boxing in the United States with "unbiased" ratings.[7] In April 1983, The organization established an international division that was known as the United States Boxing Association-International (USBA-I).[7] In May 1984, the New Jersey-based USBA-I was renamed and became the IBF.[7]
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) was founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1988. Its motto is "dignity, democracy, honesty."[8] Some media sites do not include the WBO in their list of champions,[9][10] whereas others do.[11][12]
The Ring is not a sanctioning body but is a boxing magazine that was founded in 1922. In 2002, The Ring created a championship system that is "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class."[13] There are only three ways that a boxer can win The Ring's title: defeat the reigning champion; unify the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles; or win a box-off between The Ring's number-one and number-two rated contenders (or, sometimes, number-one and number-three rated).[14] There are also only three ways that a boxer can lose The Ring's title: lose a championship fight, move to a different weight class, or retire.[14] (The Ring does not strip its champions' titles like the sanctioning bodies do.)
[edit] Current champions
[edit] Heavyweight (200+ lb, 90,7+ kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO[15] | The Ring |
 Nikolai Valuev46-0-0-1 (34 KO) |
Oleg Maskaev 34-5 (26 KO) |
 Wladimir Klitschko48-3 (43 KO) |
 Shannon Briggs48-4-1 (42 KO) |
vacant |
[edit] Cruiserweight (200 lb, 90,7 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO[15] | The Ring |
 Jean-Marc Mormeck[16]33-3 (22 KO) |
Jean-Marc Mormeck 33-3 (22 KO) |
 Krzysztof Włodarczyk37-1 (27 KO) |
 Enzo Maccarinelli25-1 (19 KO) |
Jean-Marc Mormeck 33-3 (22 KO) |
| Virgil Hill 50-5 (23 KO) |
||||
| Valery Brudov[17] 33-1 (25 KO) |
[edit] Light heavyweight (175 lb, 79,4 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Silvio Branco55-8-2 (34 KO) |
Chad Dawson 23-0-0-1 (15 KO) |
Clinton Woods 40-3-1 (24 KO) |
 Zsolt Erdei26-0 (16 KO) |
Bernard Hopkins 47-4-1-1 (32 KO) |
[edit] Super middleweight (168 lb, 76.2 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Mikkel Kessler[16]38-0 (29 KO) |
Mikkel Kessler 38-0 (29 KO) |
 Alejandro Berrio26-4 (25 KO) |
Joe Calzaghe[18] 42-0 (31 KO) |
Joe Calzaghe 42-0 (31 KO) |
 Anthony Mundine28-3 (22 KO) |
[edit] Middleweight (160 lb, 72.6 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Javier Castillejo62-6 (41 KO) |
Jermain Taylor 26-0-1 (17 KO) |
 Arthur Abraham22-0 (17 KO) |
Jermain Taylor[18] 26-0-1 (17 KO) |
Jermain Taylor 26-0-1 (17 KO) |
[edit] Super welterweight (154 lb, 69.9 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Travis Simms 25-0 (19 KO) |
Oscar de la Hoya 38-4 (30 KO) |
Cory Spinks 36-3 (11 KO) |
Sergiy Dzindziruk 33-0 (21 KO) |
vacant |
[edit] Welterweight (147 lb, 66.7 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Miguel Angel Cotto29-0 (24 KO) |
Floyd Mayweather Jr. 37-0 (24 KO) |
Kermit Cintron 27-1 (25 KO) |
 Antonio Margarito34-4-0-1 (24 KO) |
Floyd Mayweather Jr. 37-0 (24 KO) |
| Shane Mosley[17] 44-4-0-1 (37 KO) |
[edit] Super lightweight (140 lb, 63.5 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Souleymane M'Baye 35-1-1 (20 KO) |
Junior Witter 35-1-2 (20 KO) |
Lovemore N'dou 45-8-1 (30 KO) |
Ricardo Torres 30-1 (27 KO) |
Ricky Hatton 42-0 (30 KO) |
[edit] Lightweight (135 lb, 61.2 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Juan Díaz 31-0 (15 KO) |
David Díaz 32-1-1 (17 KO) |
Julio Díaz 34-3 (25 KO) |
 Acelino Freitas38-1 (32 KO) |
 Joel Casamayor34-3-1 (21 KO) |
| Michael Katsidis[17] 22-0 (20 KO) |
[edit] Super featherweight (130 lb, 59 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Edwin Valero21-0 (21 KO) |
Juan Manuel Márquez 47-3-1 (35 KO) |
 Malcolm Klassen19-3-2 (10 KO) |
 Joan Guzman27-0 (17 KO) |
vacant |
[edit] Featherweight (126 lb, 57.2 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Chris John39-0-1 (20 KO) |
 In Jin Chi31-3-1 (10 KO) |
Robert Guerrero 20-2-1 (13 KO) |
vacant | vacant |
[edit] Super bantamweight (122 lb, 55.3 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
 Celestino Caballero26-2 (19 KO) |
Rafael Márquez 37-3 (33 KO) |
 Steve Molitor23-0 (9 KO) |
Daniel Ponce de León 31-1 (28 KO) |
Rafael Márquez 37-3 (33 KO) |
[edit] Bantamweight (118 lb, 53.5 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Wladimir Sidorenko 19-0-2 (6 KO) |
 Hozumi Hasegawa21-2 (7 KO) |
vacant | Jhonny Gonzalez 33-5 (28 KO) |
vacant |
[edit] Super flyweight (115 lb, 52.2 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Nobuo Nashiro 9-0 (5 KO) |
Cristian Mijares 30-3-2 (12 KO) |
vacant | Fernando Montiel 33-2-1 (24 KO) |
vacant |
[edit] Flyweight (112 lb, 50.8 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Takefumi Sakata 30-4-1 (15 KO) |
 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam64-2 (32 KO) |
 Vic Darchinyan28-0 (22 KO) |
 Omar Andrés Narváez24-0-2 (15 KO) |
vacant |
| Roberto Vásquez[17] 24-1 (17 KO) |
[edit] Light flyweight (108 lb, 49 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| vacant | vacant | Ulises Solis 23-1-2 (17 KO) |
Hugo Cázares 24-3-1 (18 KO) |
Hugo Cázares 24-3-1 (18 KO) |
[edit] Strawweight (105 lb, 47.6 kg)
| WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring |
| Yutaka Niida 20-1-3 (8 KO) |
Eagle Kyowa 17-1 (6 KO) |
Muhammad Rachman 61-5-5 (31 KO) |
Ivan Calderón[18] 27-0 (6 KO) |
vacant |
| Katsunari Takayama[17] 18-2 (7 KO) |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ The official rules and regulations of the WBA, IBF, and WBO all mention by name the other three major sanctioning bodies in their title unification rules. The WBC does not mention by name any other sanctioning body in its rules, but it does list the other three major sanctioning bodies' champions on its ratings page. Thus, all four organizations consider only themselves and the other three organizations to be major sanctioning bodies. They do not consider organizations such as the IBO and IBA to be major sanctioning bodies.
- ^ Bastidas, Angel M. World Boxing Association History. World Boxing Association. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ WBA officials. World Boxing Association World Championships Regulations. World Boxing Association. PDF accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ WBC officials. World Boxing Council: History & Founding Fathers. World Boxing Council. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ WBC officials. Rules that have changed the History of Boxing. World Boxing Council. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ a b WBC officials. Permanent Medical Research Program. World Boxing Council. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ a b c IBF-USBA officials. History of the IBF. 4 December 2000. IBF-USBA. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ WBO officials. WBO logo. World Boxing Organization. JPEG accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ The Sports Network editors. Current Boxing Champions. 5 July 2006. SI.com. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ Yahoo! editors. Current Boxing Champions. 5 July 2006. Yahoo! URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ Eisele, Andrew. Boxing Champions. 2 July 2006. About.com. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ BBC Sport editors. List of Champions. 3 July 2006. BBC Sport. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ The Ring editors. About The Ring. 26 June 2006. The Ring. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ a b Kellerman, Max. "Gatti vs. the unknown." 22 January 2004. ESPN.com. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
- ^ a b The WBO junior heavyweight (a.k.a. cruiserweight) limit is 190 lb (86.2 kg). WBO heavyweights are 190+ lb (86.2+ kg).
- ^ a b Unified Champion.
- ^ a b c d e Interim Champion.
- ^ a b c WBO Super Champion.
[edit] References
- BoxRec.com editors. BoxRec title search. BoxRec.com. URL accessed 24 June 2006.
- IBF-USBA officials. IBF-USBA Boxing - Rankings. 14 July 2006. International Boxing Federation. URL accessed 25 July 2006.
- Mendoza, Gilberto. WBA official ratings as of July 2006. 17 August 2006. World Boxing Association. URL accessed 21 August 2006.
- The Ring editors. The Ring Ratings. 31 July 2006. The Ring. URL accessed 1 August 2006.
- WBC officials. World Boxing Council - All Ratings. 30 July 2006. World Boxing Council. URL accessed 1 August 2006.
- WBO officials. WBO Champs. December 2006. World Boxing Organization. URL accessed 24 December 2006.
[edit] External link
- ESPN.com's list of reigning champions - excludes The Ring
| World boxing champions | |
|---|---|
| Champions by weight class: | Heavyweight | Cruiserweight | Light heavyweight | Super middleweight | Middleweight | Super welterweight | Welterweight | Super lightweight | Lightweight | Super featherweight | Featherweight | Super bantamweight | Bantamweight | Super flyweight | Flyweight | Light flyweight | Strawweight |
| Champions by organization: | WBA | WBC | IBF | WBO | The Ring | Undisputed |
| Terms: | Interim championship | Undisputed championship |
