Whats the difference in Boxing Titles??

Question

I was just checking out some of the top boxers at the moment.

I dont understand the difference between the IBF, WBO, WBA, and WBC titles.

Are they different titles or do some fighters only fight in certain divisions.

To unify the titles do you need all four belts or just three.

I just wonder because in Joe Calzalge's weight division he has only one belt but remains un-defeated in 45 fights.

Answer 1

Some regard wbc as the best one to have and over the years there have been rumors that the sanctioning bodies would favour certain promoters (i.e wbc to Don King) and its strange how you would very rarely find a asia-pacific fighter primely chalenging for a ibf belt.

Personally i think they should change it back to one champ per division.

Also there are several other sanctioning bodies such as ibo, wbu, nba, wbf etc etc.

Answer 2

They are different governing bodies of the sport.

Answer 3

here is a brief history of the sanctioning bodies.

http://www.impactboxing.com/Boxing.htm

Answer 4

Firstly the different organisations are just that, if you think of MMA which Im sure you know about with their in your face Marketing it's like Pride FC, The UFC, WEC etc.. But the organisations are just like that.

Its abit more confusing because Boxing has promoters aswell like Top Rank and GoldenBoy promotions etx..

Generally considered the best two belts are the organisations which started before the others. The WBC and the WBA.

Although the WBC is very biased to Mexican fighters, Recently a fight was stopped within four rounds for a cut caused by a punch on a Mexican fighter ( A cut caused by a punch anytime is a TKO if the fighter can't continue) and too be "fair" the WBC ruled it a NO contest. Also as someone else hinted at in another answer they recently charged Kelly Pavlik 25,000 dollars to remain champion basically as he was not defending the belt in a non title match but they still charged him their fee?!?!?!

But generally the WBC and WBA are considered top level belts with WBO and IBF ranked below them in true fans eyes. (To some extent, Real fans who follow the sport generally take the RING magazine rankings as the real ranking in each division as their is no bias and it includes everyone based on their performances and not who has fought contenders on the list to move up in a single organisation or Councils rankings)

Generally the Boxing councils will give title shots to popular fighters with Big followings ahead of people with huge skill levels.

Secondly all of the organisations have belts for every division some might be named differently e.g. A super featherweight and Junior Lightweight are the same thing.

To unify the titles you need all four belts and it rarely happens, I belive there has only been about 4 people to do so Bernard Hopkins being the most famous thanks to a tournament put together by Don King I believe.

Joe Calzaghe did have 3 belts in his division at Super Middle but recently gave them up to follow the money and go for a big name fight against Hopkins at Light Heavyweight in which he won the one belt. Thats why he only has one.

Basically a fighter can lose a belt without losing it in the ring. For example if I am the unified belt holder, Like you've stated different fighters are ranked in different councils, They WBC will want be to fight their #1 contender as will the WBO. So if I choose to fight the WBC's guy the WBO may strip me of their title for inactivity.

Its sounds corrupt but that is the sad nature of the sport we all know and love!!

If your looking for more accurate rankings check out the Ring Magazine's website and they mash all the different councils together and have generally considered the "Official" rankings in the Boxing world.

Hope I helped!

Answer 5

They are like different councils. They basically sanction fights, create rules, and govern the sport when boxers compete for their title. The WBC, for example would make money by charging fees to the champion for carrying their title. They're just there to make money. In return for paying the sanctioning fees, boxers get respected and recognized as a champion of the sport.

Because there are so many  titles, its hard for people to understand who is the true champ. For this, we have other subjective organizations like Ring Magazine that name their own "champ" which is regarded by boxing experts as a more accurate listing of current boxing champions.