The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos, to form an international boxing organization that would achieve the unity of all commissions of the world to control the expansion of boxing.
The groups that historically had recognized several boxers as champions included the New York State Athletic Commission, the National Boxing Association, the European Boxing Union and the British Boxing Board of Control, but these groups lacked, for the most part, the all-encompassing "international" status they boasted of.
The WBC is one of four major organizations recognized by International Boxing Hall of Fame which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the IBF, WBA and WBO.
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The WBC's green championship belt portrays the flags of all of the 161 countries of the organization;. All WBC world title belts look identical regardless of weight class; however, there are minor variations on the design for secondary and regionally-themed titles within the same weight class.
The WBC has nine regional governing bodies affiliated with it, such as the North American Boxing Federation (NABF), the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF), the European Boxing Union (EBU) and the African Boxing Council (ABC).
Although rivals, the WBC's relationship with other sanctioning bodies has improved over time and there have even been talks of unification with the WBA. Unification bouts between WBC and other organizations' champions are becoming more common in recent years. Throughout its history, the WBC has allowed some its organization's champions to fight unification fights with champions of other organizations, although there were times it stepped in to prevent such fights. For many years, it also prevented its champions from holding the WBO belt. When a WBO-recognized champion wished to fight for a WBC championship, he had to abandon his WBO title first, without any special considerations. This, however, is no longer the case.
In 1983, the WBC took the unprecedented step of reducing the distance of its world championship bouts, from 15 rounds to 12—a move other organizations soon followed (for boxers' safety).
Among those to have been recognized by the WBC as world champions were Wilfred Benítez, Wilfredo Gómez, Julio César Chávez, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Salvador Sánchez, Héctor Camacho, Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzón, Roberto Durán, Juan Laporte, Félix Trinidad, Edwin Rosario, Alexis Argüello, Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The WBC bolstered the legitimacy of women's boxing by recognizing fighters such as Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker as contenders for World Female titles in 16 weight divisions. The first WBC World Female Champion (on May 30, 2005) was super-bantamweight Mexican, Jackie Nava. With her former-champion father at ringside, Laila Ali won the super-middleweight title on June 11, 2005.
In September 2009, the WBC created its new "Diamond Championship" belt. This belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile boxers.[1] The inaugural Diamond Belt was awarded on November 14, 2009 to Manny Pacquiao who won his seventh world title (in seven different divisions) via 12th round technical knockout over Miguel Ángel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
The WBC has also created a "Silver" world title recently, with Justin Savi to be the first one to win it on April 16, 2010, against Cyril Thomas in France.
Former WBC presidents include Luis Spota and Ramon G. Velázquez of Mexico, Onslow Fane of Great Britain and Justiniano N. Montano, Jr. of the Philippines. The organization's current president is José Sulaimán.
Many in the boxing community have accused the WBC of bending its rules to suit powerful promoter Don King. As journalist Jack Newfield says, "...[WBC President Jose Sulaiman]became more King's junior partner than his independent regulator."[2] Another journalist, Peter Heller, echoes that comment: "Sulaiman...became little more than an errand boy for Don King." Heller also quotes British promoter Mickey Duff as saying, "My complaint is that José Sulaimán is not happy his friend Don King is the biggest promoter in boxing. Sulaiman will only be happy when Don King is the only promoter in boxing."[3]
The actions of the WBC give some credence to this charge. A partial list:
In early 1998, Roy Jones, Jr. announced that he was relinquishing his WBC light heavyweight title. In response, the organization ordered a bout between German contender Graciano Rocchigiani and former champion Michael Nunn to fill the vacancy, sanctioning it as a world championship match.
On March 21, 1998 Rocchigiani won the fight and a WBC belt; in the subsequent WBC rankings, he was listed as "Light-Heavyweight World Champion." Jones, however, had a change of heart and asked if the WBC would reinstate him as the champion. In a move that violated nearly a dozen of its own regulations, the WBC granted the reinstatement. Rocchigiani received a letter from the WBC advising that the publishing of his name as champion was a typographical error, and he had never really been the official titleholder.
Rocchigiani immediately filed a lawsuit against the WBC in a U.S. federal court, claiming that the organization's actions both were contrary to their own rules and injurious to his earning potential (due to diminished professional stature). On May 7, 2003, the judge ruled in Rocchigiani's favor, awarding him $30 million (U.S.) in damages and reinstating him as a former WBC champion (Rocchigiani had lost a bout since his WBC title match).
The following day, the WBC sought protection by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (i.e., corporate debt restructuring) in Puerto Rico. The organization then spent the next 13 months attempting to negotiate a six-figure settlement with Rocchigiani, but Rocchigiani did not at first accept.
On June 11, 2004, the WBC announced it would enter Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation (i.e., business closing and total asset sell-off) proceedings, effectively ending its existence. This action prompted some in the boxing community to plead with Rocchigiani to settle the dispute, which he did in mid-July 2004.
| Weight class: | Champion: | Reign began: |
|---|---|---|
| Strawweight | Kazuto Ioka | February 11, 2011 |
| Light flyweight | Kompayak Porpramook | December 23, 2011 |
| Flyweight | Pongsaklek Wonjongkam | March 27, 2010 |
| Super flyweight | Suriyan Sor Rungvisai | August 19, 2011 |
| Bantamweight | Shinsuke Yamanaka | November 6, 2011 |
| Super bantamweight | Toshiaki Nishioka | December 18, 2008 |
| Featherweight | Jhonny Gonzalez | April 8, 2011 |
| Super featherweight | Takahiro Aoh | November 26, 2010 |
| Lightweight | Antonio DeMarco | October 15, 2011 |
| Super lightweight | Erik Morales | September 17, 2011 |
| Welterweight | Floyd Mayweather, Jr. | September 17, 2011 |
| Light middleweight | Saul Alvarez | March 5, 2011 |
| Middleweight | Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. | June 4, 2011 |
| Super middleweight | Andre Ward | December 17, 2011 |
| Light heavyweight | Bernard Hopkins | May 21, 2011 |
| Cruiserweight | Krzysztof Włodarczyk | May 16, 2010 |
| Heavyweight | Vitali Klitschko | October 11, 2008 |
| Weight class: | Champion: | Date won: |
|---|---|---|
| Atomweight | Momo Koseki | 2009-05-02 |
| Strawweight | Anabel Ortiz | 2009-10-31 |
| Light flyweight | Naomi Togashi | 2009-05-02 |
| Flyweight | Simona Galassi | 2008-03-29 |
| Super flyweight | Ana María Torres | 2009-02-28 |
| Bantamweight | Usanakornu Kokietgym | 2009-10-07[6] |
| Super bantamweight | Marcela Acuña | 2008-12-04 |
| Featherweight | Ina Menzer | 2008-03-08 |
| Super featherweight | Frida Wallberg | 2010-11-27 |
| Lightweight | Ann Saccurato | 2007-09-27 |
| Super lightweight | Monica Silvina Acosta | 2009-06-19 |
| Welterweight | Cecilia Brækhus | 2009-03-14 |
| Super welterweight | Christy Martin | 2009-09-02 |
| Middleweight | Wang Ya Nan | 2008-01-26 |
| Super middleweight | Natascha Ragosina | 2007-02-17 |
| Light heavyweight | vacant | |
| Cruiserweight | vacant | |
| Heavyweight | vacant |
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