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Since at least John Liam Sullivan, in the late 19th century, there have been world boxing champions. The first of today's organizations to award a world title was the World Boxing Association, known as the National Boxing Association when it sanctioned its first title fight in 1921 between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier for the heavyweight championship.

There are now four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing. The official rules and regulations of the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization all recognize the other three major sanctioning bodies in their rankings and title unification rules. Each of these organizations sanction and regulate championship bouts and award championships. American boxing magazine The Ring began awarding world championship belts in 1922.

There are seventeen weight divisions. To compete in a weight division, a boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Manny Pacquiao has won world championships in eight different weight divisions, more than any other boxer. The Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, held all four major titles in the heavyweight division from 2011 to 2013; they were the first brothers to hold versions of the heavyweight championship at the same time.

Championships

When a champion, for reasons beyond his control such as an illness or injury, is unable to defend his title within the normal mandatory time, the sanctioning bodies may order an interim title bout and award the winner an interim championship. The WBA and WBC may change the status of their inactive champions to Champion in Recess.

World Boxing Association

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, which today has its head office in Panama. According to WBA championship rules, when a champion also holds a title of one of the other three major sanctioning bodies in an equivalent weight division, that boxer is granted a special recognition of "Unified Champion", and is given more time between mandatory title defences. The WBA Championships Committee and President may also designate a champion as a "Super Champion" or "Undisputed Champion" in exceptional circumstances; the standard WBA title is then vacated and contested between WBA-ranked contenders. When a WBA "Regular Champion" makes between five and ten successful defences, he may be granted the WBA "Super" title upon discretion of a vote of the WBA's board of governors.

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council (WBC) was founded in Mexico City, Mexico on February 14, 1963 in order to establish an international regulating body. The WBC established many of today's safety measures in boxing, such as the standing eight count, a limit of 12 rounds instead of 15, and additional weight divisions. More information about the WBC's titles including Silver, Diamond, Emeritus, Honorary and Supreme Champion can be read at the WBC article.

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) was founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico (which is a self-governing commonwealth of the United States) in 1988. In its early years the WBO's titles were not widely recognized. By 2012 when the Japan Boxing Commission officially recognized the governing body, it had gained similar status to the other three major sanctioning bodies. Its motto is "dignity, democracy, honesty." When a WBO champion has reached "preeminent status", the WBO's Executive Committee may designate him as a "Super Champion". However, this is only an honorary title and not the same as the WBA's policy of having separate "Super" and "Regular" champions. A WBO "Super Champion" cannot win or lose that recognition in the ring; it is merely awarded by the WBO.

The Ring

The boxing magazine The Ring maintains its own version of the lineal championship. The original sequence began from the magazine's first publication in the 1920s until the lineal championships were placed on hiatus in 1989, continuing as late as 1992 in some divisions. When The Ring started awarding titles again in 2001, it did not calculate retrospective lineages to fill in the gap years, instead nominating a new champion. CBZ commented in 2004, "The Ring has forfeited its credibility by pulling names out of its ass to name fighters as champions". In 2007, The Ring was acquired by the owners of fight promoter Golden Boy Promotions, which has publicized The Ring's world championships when they are at stake in fights it promotes (such as Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr. in 2008). Since 2012, to reduce the number of vacant titles, The Ring allows fights between a #1 or #2 contender and a #3, #4, or #5 contender to fill a vacant title. This has prompted further doubts about its credibility.

Some boxing journalists have been extremely critical of the new championship policy and state that if this new policy is followed, the Ring title will lose the credibility it once held.

Lineal

The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) hands out the most complete version of the lineal championship and is universally recognized as the most authoritative boxing rankings in the world today. TBRB was formed in October 2012 as a volunteer initiative to provide boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identify the singular world champion of every division by strict reasoning and common sense, and to insist on the sport's reform. Board membership includes fifty respected boxing journalists and record keepers from around the world who are uncompromised by sanctioning bodies and promoters.

The board was formed to continue where The Ring "left off" in the aftermath of its purchase by Golden Boy Promotions in 2007 and the following dismissal of the editorial board headed by Nigel Collins. After the new editors announced a controversial new championship policy in May 2012, three prominent members of the Ring Advisory Panel resigned. These three members (Springs Toledo, Cliff Rold and Tim Starks) became the founding members of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, which was formed over the summer of 2012 with the assistance of Stewart Howe of England. The board only awards vacant championships when the two top-ranked fighters in any division meet, and currently recognizes legitimate world champions or "true champions" in each weight class.

Current champions

The current champions in each weight division are listed below. Each champion's professional boxing record is shown in the following format: wins–losses–draws–no contests (knockout wins).

Heavyweight (200+ lb, 90.7+ kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
vacant	Deontay Wilder  United States 37–0–0–0 (36) January 17, 2015	Anthony Joshua  United Kingdom 17–0–0–0 (17) April 9, 2016	vacant	Tyson Fury  United Kingdom 25–0–0–0 (18) November 28, 2015	Tyson Fury  United Kingdom 25–0–0–0 (18) November 28, 2015
Luis Ortiz Interim champion  Cuba 25–0–0–2 (22) October 17, 2015

Cruiserweight (200 lb, 90.7 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Denis Lebedev Super champion  Russia 29–2–0–0 (22) May 20, 2016	Tony Bellew  United Kingdom 28–2–1–0 (18) May 29, 2016	Denis Lebedev  Russia 29–2–0–0 (22) May 21, 2016	Oleksandr Usyk  Ukraine 10–0–0–0 (9) September 17, 2016	vacant	vacant
Beibut Shumenov  Kazakhstan 17–2–0–0 (11) May 21, 2016
Yunier Dorticos Interim champion  Cuba 21–0–0–0 (20) May 20, 2016	Grigory Drozd In recess  Russia 40–1–0–0 (28) March 16, 2016

Light heavyweight (175 lb, 79.4 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Sergey Kovalev Undisputed champion  Russia 30–0–1–0 (26) November 8, 2014	Adonis Stevenson  Canada 28–1–0–0 (23) June 8, 2013	Sergey Kovalev  Russia 30–0–1–0 (26) November 8, 2014	Sergey Kovalev Super champion  Russia 30–0–1–0 (26) January 16, 2015	vacant	Adonis Stevenson  Canada 28–1–0–0 (23) June 8, 2013
Nathan Cleverly  United Kingdom 30–3–0–0 (16) October 1, 2016
Dmitry Bivol Interim champion  Russia 7–0–0–0 (6) May 21, 2016

Super middleweight (168 lb, 76.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Giovanni De Carolis  Italy 24–6–1–0 (12) January 9, 2016	Badou Jack  Sweden 20–1–2–0 (12) April 24, 2015	James DeGale  United Kingdom 23–1–0–0 (14) May 23, 2015	Gilberto Ramírez  Mexico 34–0–0–0 (24) April 9, 2016	vacant	vacant

Middleweight (160 lb, 72.6 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Gennady Golovkin Super champion  Kazakhstan 36–0–0–0 (33) June 3, 2014	Gennady Golovkin  Kazakhstan 36–0–0–0 (33) May 18, 2016	Gennady Golovkin  Kazakhstan 36–0–0–0 (33) October 17, 2015	Billy Joe Saunders  United Kingdom 23–0–0–0 (12) December 19, 2015	Saúl Álvarez  Mexico 48–1–1–0 (34) November 21, 2015	Saúl Álvarez  Mexico 48–1–1–0 (34) November 21, 2015
Daniel Jacobs  United States 32–1–0–0 (29) August 9, 2014
Alfonso Blanco Interim champion  Venezuela 12–0–0–0 (5) October 25, 2015

Light middleweight (154 lb, 69.9 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Erislandy Lara Super champion  Cuba 23–2–2–0 (13) June 8, 2016	Jermell Charlo  United States 28–0–0–0 (13) May 21, 2016	Jermall Charlo  United States 24–0–0–0 (18) September 12, 2015	Saúl Álvarez  Mexico 48–1–1–0 (34) September 17, 2016	vacant	vacant
Jack Culcay  Germany 22–1–0–0 (11) June 8, 2016

Welterweight (147 lb, 66.7 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Keith Thurman  United States 27–0–0–1 (22) January 16, 2015	Danny García  United States 32–0–0–0 (18) January 23, 2016	Kell Brook  United Kingdom 36–1–0–0 (25) August 16, 2014	Jessie Vargas  United States 27–1–0–0 (10) March 5, 2016	vacant	Manny Pacquiao  Philippines 58–6–2–0 (38) April 9, 2016
David Avanesyan Interim champion  Russia 22–1–1–0 (11) November 7, 2015

Light welterweight (140 lb, 63.5 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Ricky Burns  United Kingdom 41–5–1–0 (14) May 28, 2016	Terence Crawford  United States 29–0–0–0 (20) July 23, 2016	Eduard Troyanovsky  Russia 25–0–0–0 (22) November 4, 2015	Terence Crawford  United States 29–0–0–0 (20) April 18, 2015	Terence Crawford  United States 29–0–0–0 (20) July 23, 2016	Terence Crawford  United States 29–0–0–0 (20) July 23, 2016

Lightweight (135 lb, 61.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Jorge Linares  Venezuela 41–3–0–0 (27) September 24, 2016	Dejan Zlaticanin  Montenegro 22–0–0–0 (15) June 11, 2016	Robert Easter Jr.  United States 18–0–0–0 (14) September 9, 2016	Terry Flanagan  United Kingdom 31–0–0–0 (12) July 11, 2015	Jorge Linares  Venezuela 41–3–0–0 (27) September 24, 2016	vacant

Super featherweight (130 lb, 59 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Jezreel Corrales Super champion  Panama 20–1–0–1 (8) April 27, 2016	Francisco Vargas  Mexico 23–0–2–0 (17) November 21, 2015	José Pedraza  Puerto Rico 22–0–0–0 (12) June 13, 2015	Vasyl Lomachenko  Ukraine 6–1–0–0 (4) June 11, 2016	vacant	vacant
Jason Sosa  United States 19–1–4–0 (15) June 24, 2016			Miguel Berchelt Interim champion  Mexico 30–1–0–0 (27) March 12, 2016

Featherweight (126 lb, 57.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Carl Frampton Super champion  Ireland 23–0–0–0 (14) July 30, 2016	Gary Russell Jr.  United States 27–1–0–0 (16) March 28, 2015	Lee Selby  United Kingdom 23–1–0–0 (8) May 30, 2015	Óscar Valdez  Mexico 20–0–0–0 (18) July 23, 2016	vacant	vacant
Jesús Cuellar  Argentina 28–1–0–0 (21) February 21, 2015
Carlos Zambrano Interim champion  Peru 26–0–0–0 (11) March 28, 2015	Óscar Escandón Interim champion  Colombia 25–2–0–0 (17) March 5, 2016

Super bantamweight (122 lb, 55.3 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Guillermo Rigondeaux Super champion  Cuba 17–0–0–0 (11) May 6, 2016	Hozumi Hasegawa  Japan 36–5–0–0 (16) September 16, 2016	Jonathan Guzmán  Dominican Republic 22–0–0–1 (22) July 20, 2016	Nonito Donaire  Philippines 37–3–0–0 (24) December 11, 2015	vacant	Guillermo Rigondeaux  Cuba 17–0–0–0 (11) April 13, 2013
Nehomar Cermeño  Venezuela 25–5–1–1 (15) June 24, 2016
Moises Flores Interim champion  Mexico 25–0–0–1 (17) April 18, 2015

Bantamweight (118 lb, 53.5 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Rau'shee Warren Undisputed champion  United States 14–1–0–1 (4) June 18, 2016	Shinsuke Yamanaka  Japan 26–0–2–0 (18) November 6, 2011	Lee Haskins  United Kingdom 34–3–0–0 (14) November 20, 2015	Marlon Tapales  Philippines 29–2–0–0 (12) July 27, 2016	Shinsuke Yamanaka  Japan 26–0–2–0 (18) September 16, 2016	vacant
Jamie McDonnell  United Kingdom 28–2–1–0 (13) May 31, 2014
Zhanat Zhakiyanov Interim champion  Kazakhstan 26–1–0–0 (18) November 7, 2015

Super flyweight (115 lb, 52.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Luis Concepción  Panama 35–4–0–0 (24) August 31, 2016	Román González  Nicaragua 46–0–0–0 (38) September 10, 2016	Jerwin Ancajas  Philippines 25–1–1–0 (16) September 3, 2016	Naoya Inoue  Japan 11–0–0–0 (9) December 30, 2014	vacant	vacant

Flyweight (112 lb, 50.8 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Kazuto Ioka  Japan 20–1–0–0 (12) April 22, 2015	vacant	John Riel Casimero  Philippines 23–3–0–0 (15) May 25, 2016	vacant	vacant	vacant
Yutthana Kaensa Interim champion  Thailand 15–0–0–0 (6) July 29, 2015

Light flyweight (108 lb, 49 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Ryoichi Taguchi  Japan 25–2–1–0 (11) December 31, 2014	Ganigan López  Mexico 28–6–0–0 (17) March 4, 2016	Akira Yaegashi  Japan 24–5–0–0 (12) December 29, 2015	vacant	vacant	vacant

Minimumweight (105 lb, 47.6 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Thammanoon Niyomtrong  Thailand 13–0–0–0 (6) June 29, 2016	Chayaphon Moonsri  Thailand 43–0–0–0 (17) November 6, 2014	José Argumedo  Mexico 18–3–1–0 (10) December 31, 2015	Katsunari Takayama  Japan 31–8–0–1 (12) August 20, 2016	vacant	vacant

See also

• List of WBA world champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of IBF world champions
• List of WBO world champions
• List of The Ring world champions
• List of lineal boxing world champions
• List of current female world boxing champions
• List of undefeated boxing world champions (retired only)
• List of undisputed boxing champions

References

Specific

1. ^ "Rules of World Boxing Association" (PDF). World Boxing Association. Retrieved June 22, 2016. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
2. "World Boxing Council Rules and Regulations" (PDF). World Boxing Council. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
3. "IBF/USBA Rules Governing Championship Contests" (PDF). International Boxing Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
4. "World Boxing Organization Regulations of World Championship Contests". World Boxing Organization. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
5. Lewis, Ron (October 13, 2008). "Vitali Klitschko impressive in comeback victory". The Times. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
6. "World Boxing Association History". World Boxing Association. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
7. "World Boxing Council". World Boxing Council. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
8. "Rules that have changed the History of Boxing". World Boxing Council. Archived from the original on September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
9. "WBO logo". World Boxing Organization. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
10. "WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests" (PDF). World Boxing Organization. Section 14.
11. Boxing News : The Disputed Light Heavyweight Champion of the World
12. DeLisa, Mike (August 2004). "What the CBZ Means When it Refers to "Lineal Championships"". The CBZ Journal. cyberboxingzone. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
13. "Golden Boy Enterprises' Subsidiary, Sports and Entertainment Publications, LLC, Acquires The Ring Magazine, KO, World Boxing and Pro Wrestling Illustrated". Golden Boy Promotions. September 12, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
14. Kimball, George (April 27, 2008). "Calzaghe claim far from undisputed". Boston Herald. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
15. Chat: Chat with Dan Rafael - SportsNation - ESPN
16. The Horrible New Ring Magazine Championship Policy - Queensberry Rules
17. Ring Magazine's pretend rankings upgrade 'championship' policy – theboxingtribune.com
18. "Chat: Chat with Dan Rafael - SportsNation - ESPN". ESPN.com.
19. Archived 2012-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
20. "Ring Magazine's pretend rankings upgrade 'championship' policy". theboxingtribune.com.
21. The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board: More Support is Needed - Boxing247
22. Raskin, Eric (April 2, 2013). "TBRB: A viable alphabet alternative?". ESPN.
23. Tim Starks (September 9, 2011). "The Ring Magazine Shakes Up Its Leadership, Threatens Its Credibility". The Queensberry Rules. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
24. The Ring Updates Championship Policy - The Ring
25. Boxing loses credibility with every new champion. Can the sport be saved? - The Guardian
26. "What if boxing had one champion for every weight division?". The guardian. October 15, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2016.

General

• "BoxRec title search". BoxRec.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2006. Retrieved May 7, 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• "IBF-USBA official ratings". International Boxing Federation. April 25, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2007.
• "WBA official ratings". World Boxing Association. June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |deadurl= (help)
• "The Ring Ratings". The Ring. February 9, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
• "WBC official ratings". World Boxing Council. September 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• "Rankings – World Boxing Organization". World Boxing Organization. October 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
• "Champions – Current Boxing News". Current Boxing News. December 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.

• Lists of boxers
• World boxing champions