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10 Random Boxing Things: Sanctioning Bodies and Championship Belts
1. Before 1962 there were eight weight classifications and eight World Champions; The Ring Magazine added the Junior Welterweight and the Junior Lightweight classifications to its rankings in 1962; today there are five major sanctioning bodies,(WBC; WBA; WBO; IBF; IBO) each with 17 weight classes resulting in a possible 85 ‘World Champions.’
2. The WBC (claims it) chose to change the term Junior-welterweight to super-lightweight because Jose Sulaiman believed that referring to a champion as ‘junior’ was demeaning.
3. The WBO was formed in 1988 as a splinter group from the WBA after an internal power struggle during an annual convention.
4. The WBO is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rica; the WBA in Panama City, Panama; the WBC in Mexico City, Mexico, the IBO in Coral Gables, Florida, the IBF in Springfield Township, New Jersey.
5. The IBO uses the independent ratings of Boxrec for establishing its rankings, thus claiming to be the only non-bias sanctioning body.
6. The WBA is the oldest sanctioning body still in existence, was founded in the United States in 1921 as the NBA (National Boxing Association); it was created as a challenge to the New York State Athletic Commission’s (NYSAC) unchecked control over the fight game. It changed its name to the WBA in 1962 and eventually fled to Venezuela. Can you say tax shelter?
7. The first championship belt was awarded to Tom Cribb by King George III in 1810.
8. In 1887 the people of Boston presented a world championship belt to John L. Sullivan. The belt had a base of flat gold fifty inches long, twelve inches wide, with a center panel spelling out Sullivan’s name in diamonds; it was incrusted with an additional 397 diamonds, its estimated worth $10,000. (that’s 1887 dollars)
9. I entered a Fort Lauderdale bar a short time after Michael Dokes won the WBA title; he was hitting on the babes wearing his championship belt. The ladies were snickering at him; I spent the night denying I was a fight fan.
10. Boxing is the only major sport, (which ironically occurs in a ‘ring’) that does not issue championship rings to its champions. Wouldn’t it make sense for a boxing champion to have a championship ring on his FIST?
The 54th WBC Annual Convention will be held at the Diplomat Hotel, Hollywood, Florida on December 11th through the 17th. Be there – hide your wallet! (For me, it’s only an hour away; I might stop in for a laugh.)