Championship belt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Juan Manuel López with the WBO Latino Super Bantamweight championship belt
Juan Manuel López with the WBO Latino Super Bantamweight championship belt

A championship belt is used primarily in combat sports such as boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling to signify the champions of the promotion or company, much like the Vince Lombardi Trophy or The Stanley Cup. In all of these sports there are instances of championship unifications, where the holders of two or more of the championship belts will compete for the championships. Unifications are treated differently based on the organization, sometimes the lesser title's history is absorbed in to the main title's one, on other occasions if both championships are considered to have the same importance they will be defended individually.

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[edit] Boxing

In boxing, the individual organizations such as the World Boxing Council, The World Boxing Association, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization each have their own unique championship belt that are awarded to the champions of each weight class. Boxers, especially the World Champions, strive to win the belt of all 4 organizations to unify their weight divisions.

Champions maintain permanent possession of these belts even upon losing their title, with a new belt made when a new champion is crowned.

[edit] Weight divisions

There are numerous Boxing weight classes within the sport, with there being minor discrepancies amongst the different governing bodies. The weight classes are.

Weight WBA WBC IBF WBO BoxRec
Over 200 lb Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight
200 lb (90.7 kg) Cruiserweight Cruiserweight Cruiserweight Junior heavyweight Cruiserweight
175 lb (79.4 kg) Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight
168 lb (76.2 kg) Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight
160 lb (72.6 kg) Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight
154 lb (69.9 kg) Super welterweight Super welterweight Junior middleweight Junior middleweight Light middleweight
147 lb (66.7 kg) Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight
140 lb (63.5 kg) Super lightweight Super lightweight Junior welterweight Junior welterweight Light welterweight
135 lb (61.2 kg) Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight
130 lb (59.0 kg) Super featherweight Super featherweight Junior lightweight Junior lightweight Super featherweight
126 lb (57.2 kg) Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight
122 lb (55.3 kg) Super bantamweight Super bantamweight Junior featherweight Junior featherweight Super bantamweight
118 lb (53.5 kg) Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight
115 lb (52.2 kg) Super flyweight Super flyweight Junior bantamweight Junior bantamweight Super flyweight
112 lb (50.8 kg) Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight
108 lb (49.0 kg) Light flyweight Light flyweight Junior flyweight Junior flyweight Light flyweight
105 lb (47.6 kg) Minimumweight Strawweight Mini flyweight Mini flyweight Minimumweight

[edit] Professional wrestling

Main article: Championship (professional wrestling)
The WWE Championship belt (April 11, 2005 – August 20, 2006; September 18, 2006 – present)
The WWE Championship belt (April 11, 2005 – August 20, 2006; September 18, 2006 – present)

Unlike Professional Boxing, Professional Wrestling has numerous World Champions and even more regionalized and specialized Championship Belts. The generally recognized World Championship Belts are those of World Wrestling Entertainment and The National Wrestling Alliance. The National Wrestling Alliance recognizes numerous regional Championship Belts such as The NWA North American Championship and The NWA British Commonwealth Championship. World Wrestling Entertainment currently has 3 Main Champions. The WWE Championship is the main championship belt of its RAW brand, the World Heavyweight Championship is the main championship belt of the SmackDown! brand,and the ECW Championship is the main championship of the ECW brand. The RAW and Smackdown! brands also have their own separate tag team Championship Belts and various lesser belts, but the ECW brand has one title.

[edit] Mixed martial arts

The Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship belt.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship belt.

At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, the sport of mixed martial arts was unsanctioned in the United States, and as such weight classes did not exist; instead of the traditional championship model, tournaments were held with the winner receiving a permanent appellation.[1] In response to criticism from Senator John McCain which saw the loss of their television deal and the banning of the sport in thirty-six states, the UFC increased its cooperation with state athletic commissions and introduced weight classes in 1997.[2]

The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions—heavyweight; which grouped competitors above 200 lb (91 kg), and lightweight; which encompassed all other competitors. The UFC would later rename their lightweight division to middleweight, and add lightweight (170 lb, 77 kg) and bantamweight (155 lb, 70 kg) divisions. In 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board completely took over regulation in its home state, and their rules and weight classes became the de facto rule set for mixed martial arts today.[3] The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with the new regulations in 2001.[4]

[edit] Specialized championship belts

Professional Wrestling also has numerous specialty championship belts. The most well known ones are the now defunct WWE Hardcore Championship, the NWA World Television Championship and the ROH Pure Championship. TNA Wrestling dropped the cruiserweight title and went with the TNA X Division Championship, considering it an open weight title. These belts would be contested under different rules and stipulations to make the championship more distinctive.

The usual stipulations were Television Title Belts that were only defended for the first 10-15 minutes of the match, since television matches usually only had a 10 Minute Time Limit. The Smoky Mountain Beat The Champ TV Title was actually vacated if the Champion won 6 consecutive Title Defenses. Hardcore Championships are usually defended in some gimmick match. Many years ago, several promotions had "Brass Knuckles Championships" which were the Hardcore Championship's predecessors.[citation needed]

[edit] Designs

Generally, boxing has many fewer uniquely designed belts than wrestling. The 4 major boxing governing bodies generally use the same belt design for all their champions, whereas wrestling companies use different styles for each Championship. The most notable exception is Japan's Pro Wrestling NOAH, whose belts follow one specific design. WWE became the first company to trademark the designs of their belt so they would have unique belts that could not be made for other promotions. Other designs, such as John Cena's "Spinner Belt" and Steve Austin's "Smoking Skull Belt" are substituted for the conventional belt to enhance that character. Where as WWE has had 11 different belts to represent their World Title, The National Wrestling Alliance has stayed with the same design for over 30 years, except for the period between 1986-1993 when the "Big Gold" belt was the NWA World Heavyweight Title Belt.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Plotz, David (1999-11-07). Fight Clubbed. Slate. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  2. ^ Gentry III, Clyde (2003). No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution, Paperback Edition, Milo Books, 106, 123. ISBN ISBN 0-903854-90-X. 
  3. ^ Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Conduct. New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (2000). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  4. ^ Trembow, Ivan (2000). New Jersey Commission Corrects Mainstream UFC Stories (Reprint). MMA Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.

[edit] External links

Championship belt makers
Belt Discussion Forums
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