In professional boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all sanctioning organisations recognized major[1][2] by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have only been 18 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously.

History

Prior to the 1960s, most champions were "undisputed",[3] although the term was rarely used (it does not appear in one 1970 Boxing Dictionary).[4] Early boxing champions at various weight divisions were established by acclamation between 1880 and 1920. Once a consensus champion had been awarded the title, the championship could usually be taken only by beating the reigning holder, establishing a lineal championship.

The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) recognized champions from its foundation in 1920.[5] The National Boxing Association (NBA) was founded by other U.S. state bodies in 1921, and began recognising champions in 1927.[5] Until the 1960s, both usually recognised the same lineal champion.[3] However, disputes could arise if the champion retired or moved to a different weight class. Occasionally, the International Boxing Union (renamed the European Boxing Union in 1946) recognised a different champion. The disputes were usually short-lived as a lucrative fight would be organised between the rival champions. The longest split was ten years, of the middleweight title, between Mickey Walker's move up to heavyweight in 1931 and NBA champion Tony Zale's defeat of NYSAC contender Georgie Abrams in 1941.[6] An early use of "undisputed" appears in a New York Times preview of the 1941 fight.[7]

The growing popularity of boxing outside of the U.S. led to creation of various boxing organizations, each strengthening their influence (most notably BBBofC) and having their own champion. This resulted in a growing number of boxers claiming to be legitimate champions. The disruption in boxing was solved after World War II when the World Championship Committee (WCC) was created with NBA as its unanimous authority. The committee, however, was disbanded in 1955 when NBA, along with its new members (which included the Orient, Mexican and South American federations and boxing commissions of the Philippines and Thailand) left WCC citing lack of control over the organisation. The NBA's voting scheme guaranteed one vote for each state commission as well as one vote for each foreign country.[8][9] On August 23, 1962, the NBA officially became the World Boxing Association and moved their headquarters to Panama City, Panama.

A year later NYSAC along with European Boxing Union and BBBofC supported creation of the World Boxing Council. WBC was officially established on February 14, 1963, in Mexico City, Mexico by 11 countries (the U.S., Argentina, U.K., France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil) that were invited by the President of Mexico Adolfo López Mateos to form an international organization to unify all commissions of the world to control the expansion of boxing.[10] The reason for the move were concerns about WBA's alleged lack of desire to support professional boxing outside of the U.S..[11]

In April 1983, members of United States Boxing Association along with Robert W. Lee (a former WBA vice-president) voted to expand the organisation and form the USBA-International. The organization later changed the name to International Boxing Federation.[12] The inaugural IBF heavyweight champion was Larry Holmes, who relinquished the WBC title to accept IBF's recognition, thus helping the newly formed organization to establish its legitimacy.[13] The fragmentation of titles was thus increased. After some negotiations, the heavyweight title was unified in the heavyweight unification series, a series of coordinated bouts in 1986 and 1987, with Mike Tyson emerging as the first undisputed champion (WBA, WBC, and IBF) since Leon Spinks in 1978.[14] The title was split again in 1992 when Riddick Bowe forfeited the WBC title.

Another major sanctioning body, the World Boxing Organization, was established in 1988 in San Juan, Puerto Rico by a group of local businessmen. At the beginnings, when most of the challengers for WBA, WBC, and IBF titles were Americans, WBO had a wider variety of countries, mainly European, represented in title bouts. Before the Klitschko Era, the United Kingdom tied the United States for most wins in WBO heavyweight title fights with eight.[15] In 1997, WBO titlist Naseem Hamed was allowed to unify titles for the first time in WBO history; on February 8, he defeated Tom Johnson to become unified WBO and IBF featherweight champion. By 2001, the WBA was giving the same recognition to WBO champions as to WBA, WBC, and IBF champions.[16] In 2004, the WBC began naming WBO champions on its ranking listings.[17] The IBF did not recognise the WBO in May 2006,[18] but was doing so by February 2007.[19] Conversely, the WBO has been explicitly recognizing the other three sanctioning bodies since at least October 1, 2008.[20]

Until at least 2008, many considered it sufficient to hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles.[21][22][23] Other bodies such as the IBO, IBU, and World Boxing Foundation are disregarded.

Four title undisputed champions

Only 9 men have held all four versions of the belts at the same time, two of which have been the only male boxers to have done so in two divisions.

  1. Bernard Hopkins unified all four middleweight titles in September 2004.[*]
  2. Jermain Taylor won all four middleweight titles from Hopkins in July 2005.[*]
  3. Terence Crawford has unified all four titles in two weight classes—light welterweight in August 2017, and welterweight in July 2023.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk unified all four cruiserweight titles in the inaugural World Boxing Super Series tournament in July 2018.
  5. Josh Taylor unified all four light welterweight titles in May 2021.
  6. Canelo Álvarez unified all four super middleweight titles in November 2021.
  7. Jermell Charlo unified all four light middleweight titles in May 2022.
  8. Devin Haney unified all four lightweight titles in June 2022.
  9. Naoya Inoue unified all four titles in two weight classes—bantamweight in December 2022, and super bantamweight in December 2023.

Only 9 women have held all four versions of the belts at the same time, two have done so in two divisions.

  1. Cecilia Brækhus unified all four welterweight titles in September 2014.
  2. Claressa Shields has unified all four titles in two weight classes—middleweight in April 2019 and light middleweight in May 2021.
  3. Katie Taylor unified all four lightweight titles in June 2019 and won all four light welterweight titles from Chantelle Cameron in November 2023.
  4. Jessica McCaskill won all four welterweight titles from Brækhus in August 2020.
  5. Franchón Crews-Dezurn unified all four super middleweight titles in April 2022
  6. Chantelle Cameron unified all four light welterweight titles in November 2022.
  7. Amanda Serrano unified all four featherweight titles in February 2023
  8. Alycia Baumgardner unified all four super featherweight titles in February 2023
  9. Savannah Marshall won all four super middleweight titles from Crews-Dezurn in July 2023

As of February 2023, there have been 40 fights with all four belts on the line.

Disputed undisputed champions

If a fighter wins all the titles but is stripped by one organization of its title, he may continue to be considered the undisputed champion.

Roy Jones Jr. was called the undisputed light heavyweight champion after unifying the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles in June 1999.[24] He was later awarded The Ring championship title. However, two of those titles (WBA and IBF) had been stripped from Dariusz Michalczewski, who had unified them with his WBO title by beating the lineal champion Virgil Hill in June 1997 and subsequently remained unbeaten, defending his remaining title, until his first loss in October 2003.[25] Speaking of Jones' claim to being undisputed champion, one writer opined that the distinction "could just as easily belong to current WBO titleist Dariusz Michalczewski."[26]

Five months after Lennox Lewis unified the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, a U.S. Federal Judge ruled that Lewis would be stripped by the WBA of their world championship belt for fighting Michael Grant instead of the association's #1 contender, John Ruiz. The fight took place on April 29, 2000. Lewis remained a unified world champion until April 22, 2001, when he was defeated by Hasim Rahman. He regained the WBC and IBF titles following victory over Rahman seven months later in a rematch. His reign as a unified world champion ended in September 2002, when he rejected the chance to fight the IBF's #1 contender, Chris Byrd, and was therefore stripped by the organisation of their belt. He retained his WBC title until his retirement in February 2004.

Jermain Taylor won all four middleweight titles from Bernard Hopkins in July 2005, but was stripped of the IBF title for agreeing to a rematch rather than fighting Sam Soliman.[27] Nevertheless, he was still described as "undisputed champion" by some reports.[28][29]

After Joe Calzaghe's super middleweight victory over Mikkel Kessler in November 2007, he was frequently described as "undisputed champion".[30][31][32][33] Others disputed this, because although he held the WBA, WBC, and WBO titles, he had vacated his IBF title in November 2006 for choosing to face Peter Manfredo Jr. as his next opponent instead of mandatory challenger Robert Stieglitz.[34][35][36]

Teófimo López won the WBC Franchise lightweight title in addition to the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring magazine titles after beating Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020, and was subsequently reported by some media outlets to be the youngest four-belt undisputed champion of all-time at the age of 23 years old;[37] however, the WBC Franchise title is not universally recognized as a major world title.[38][39]

Unified championship

The unified champion is defined as a boxer that holds at least two world championships of major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, IBF or WBO) in their respective division.[40][41][42] Around 2004, the World Boxing Association recognized three different types: the unified champion (two-titles holder in the weight division or category, obliged to defend the title against WBA's No. 1 contender in 18 months periodically), the undisputed champion (three-titles holder, mandatory defense against WBA's challenger in 21 months regularly) and the super champion (four-titles holder, WBA's mandatory defense in 24 months periodically). The rules required only one unified/undisputed/super champion per weight class and the purse in the bid would be distributed in a 65/35 ratio in favor of the unified champion.[43] However, along with the changes to "super" status (besides holding more than one title, the super titles were awarded to champions that were able to defend the WBA title 5 times),[41] the term "undisputed" was dropped completely.

Current unified champions

As of December 26, 2023

Keys:

  Undisputed champion
Weight class Champion Recognition Consec. defenses Reign began
Mini flyweight vacant
Light flyweight Kenshiro Teraji WBA, WBC 2 November 1, 2022
Flyweight Jesse Rodriguez IBF, WBO 0 December 16, 2023
Super flyweight vacant
Bantamweight vacant
Super bantamweight Naoya Inoue WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO 0 December 26, 2023
Featherweight vacant
Super featherweight vacant
Lightweight vacant
Light welterweight vacant
Welterweight Terence Crawford WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO 0 July 29, 2023
Light middleweight Jermell Charlo WBA, WBC, 2 September 26, 2020
Middleweight Janibek Alimkhanuly IBF, WBO 0 October 14, 2023
Super middleweight Canelo Álvarez WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO 6 December 19, 2020
Light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev WBC, IBF, WBO 4 October 18, 2019
Cruiserweight vacant
Heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk WBA, IBF, WBO 2 September 25, 2021

Most wins in unified championship bouts

Keys:

  Active title reign
  Reign has ended
Wladimir Klitschko won the unified championship in 2008 and defended it 14 times
NameTitle recognitionDivisionTitle bout wins
1.Ukraine Wladimir KlitschkoWBA, IBF, WBOHeavyweight15
2.Mexico Cuba José NápolesWBA, WBCWelterweight14
United States Muhammad AliWBA, WBCHeavyweight
4.United States Marvin HaglerWBA, WBC, IBFMiddleweight13
5.Argentina Carlos MonzónWBA, WBCMiddleweight12
United States Roy Jones Jr.WBA, WBC, IBFLight heavyweight
7.United States Evander HolyfieldWBA, WBC, IBFHeavyweight
Cruiserweight		11
8.United States Bob FosterWBA, WBCLight heavyweight10
Puerto Rico Carlos OrtizWBA, WBCLightweight
10.United States Bernard HopkinsWBA, WBC, IBF, WBOLight heavyweight
Middleweight		9
United States Mike TysonWBA, WBC, IBFHeavyweight
12.United States Virgin Islands Emile GriffithWBA, WBCMiddleweight
Welterweight		8
Italy Nino BenvenutiWBA, WBCMiddleweight
Light middleweight
Mexico Vicente SaldivarWBA, WBCFeatherweight
15.United States Pernell WhitakerWBA, WBC, IBFLightweight7
16.United Kingdom Lennox LewisWBA, WBC, IBFHeavyweight6
Mexico Juan Manuel MárquezWBA, IBF, WBOLightweight
Featherweight
Philippines Gabriel ElordeWBA, WBCSuper featherweight
Mexico Rubén OlivaresWBA, WBCBantamweight
20.United States Floyd Mayweather Jr.WBA, WBCLight middleweight
Welterweight		5
Nigeria Dick TigerWBA, WBCLight heavyweight
Middleweight
Russia Sergey KovalevWBA, IBF, WBOLight heavyweight
Kazakhstan Gennady GolovkinWBA, WBC, IBFMiddleweight
Japan Fighting HaradaWBA, WBCBantamweight
Japan Naoya InoueWBA, WBC, IBFBantamweight
United States Joe FrazierWBA, WBCHeavyweight
Australia Kostya TszyuWBA, WBCLight welterweight
Germany Sven OttkeWBA, IBFSuper middleweight
United States Terry NorrisWBC, IBFLight middleweight
30.United States Andre WardWBA, WBC, IBF, WBOLight heavyweight
Super middleweight		4
Mexico Julio César ChávezWBA, WBC, IBFLight welterweight
Lightweight
United States Terence CrawfordWBA, WBC, IBF, WBOLight welterweight
Armenia Vic DarchinyanWBA, WBC, IBFSuper flyweight
United States George ForemanWBA, WBC, IBFHeavyweight
Cuba Guillermo RigondeauxWBA, WBOSuper bantamweight
Mexico Humberto GonzálezWBC, IBFLight flyweight
United Kingdom Naseem HamedWBO, IBFFeatherweight
United Kingdom Anthony JoshuaWBA, IBF, WBOHeavyweight

Most consecutive defenses of unified title

Keys:

  Active title reign
  Reign has ended
Muhammad Ali defended the unified/undisputed heavyweight championship 10 times; the record was unbeaten for 36 years
NameTitle recognitionDivisionConsec. defenses
1.Ukraine Wladimir KlitschkoWBA, IBF, WBOHeavyweight14
2.United States Marvin HaglerWBA, WBC, IBFMiddleweight12
3.United States Muhammad AliWBA, WBCHeavyweight10
United States Roy Jones Jr.WBA, WBC, IBFLight heavyweight
5.Argentina Carlos MonzónWBA, WBCMiddleweight9
6.United States Mike TysonWBA, WBC, IBFHeavyweight8
7.United States Bernard HopkinsWBA, WBC, IBF, WBOMiddleweight7
Mexico Vicente SaldivarWBA, WBCFeatherweight
9.MexicoCuba José NápolesWBA, WBCWelterweight6
United States Pernell WhitakerWBA, WBC, IBFLightweight
11.United States Bob FosterWBA, WBCLight heavyweight5
Kazakhstan Gennady GolovkinWBA, WBC, IBFMiddleweight
Puerto Rico Carlos OrtizWBA, WBCLightweight
Philippines Gabriel ElordeWBA, WBCSuper featherweight
15.Italy Nino BenvenutiWBA, WBCMiddleweight4
Russia Sergey KovalevWBA, IBF, WBOLight heavyweight
Japan Fighting HaradaWBA, WBCBantamweight
United States Joe FrazierWBA, WBCHeavyweight
Australia Kostya TszyuWBA, WBCLight welterweight
Germany Sven OttkeWBA, IBFSuper middleweight
United States Terry NorrisWBC, IBFLight middleweight
22.United States Floyd Mayweather Jr.WBA, WBCWelterweight3
United States Evander HolyfieldWBA, WBC, IBFHeavyweight
United States Terence CrawfordWBA, WBC, IBF, WBOLight welterweight
Mexico Humberto GonzálezWBC, IBFLight flyweight
Mexico Juan Manuel MárquezWBA, IBFFeatherweight
Armenia Vic DarchinyanWBA, WBC, IBFSuper flyweight
United Kingdom Lennox LewisWBC, IBFHeavyweight
Cuba Guillermo RigondeauxWBA, WBOSuper bantamweight
United Kingdom Anthony JoshuaWBA, IBF, WBOHeavyweight

Unification series

Tournaments have been arranged to unify the titles in a weight class.

Notes

1.^ The WBO was not yet recognized as a major title at the time.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Holyfield, Evander; Gruenfeld, Lee (2008). Becoming Holyfield: A Fighter's Journey. Simon & Schuster. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-4165-3486-0.
  2. ↑ "Boxing". Encarta. p. 5 "Professional Boxing". Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14. If one fighter manages to capture the titles of all the major organizations at once, this is known as "unifying" the title and the boxer is the "undisputed" champion.
  3. 1 2 Morrison, Ian (1990). The Guinness World Championship Boxing book. Guinness Publishing. pp. 126–137. ISBN 0-85112-900-5.
  4. ↑ Avis, Frederick Compton (1970). Boxing Dictionary (2nd ed.). p. 141. ISBN 0-211-26839-9.
  5. 1 2 Morrison, pp.14–15
  6. ↑ Fleischer, Nat; Andre, Sam (1998) [1959]. A pictorial history of boxing. rev. Nat Loubet, Gilbert Odd, Peter Arnold, Nigel Collins. Hamlyn. pp. 230–235. ISBN 0-600-59521-8.
  7. ↑ Dawson, James P. (25 November 1941). "Phelan to check on title rivals". New York Times. p. 34. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  8. ↑ Reveille vol. 38, Nov. 4, 1964 (p. 23)
  9. ↑ James B. Roberts, Alexander G. Skutt: The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book (p. 50)
  10. ↑ "History of the WBC". World Boxing Council. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  11. ↑ John Sugden: Boxing and Society: An International Analysis (p. 49)
  12. ↑ "History of IBF/USBA". International Boxing Federation. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  13. ↑ "IBF/USBA History". IBF. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  14. ↑ Berger, Phil (August 2, 1987). "Tyson undisputed and unanimous titlist". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  15. ↑ former champion Michael Bentt holds both British and American citizenship.
  16. ↑ "Super championships guidelines". WBA. Archived from the original on 2001-11-19. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  17. ↑ Compare
    "WBC Bantamweight Ratings (incl. WBO)". WBC. Archived from the original on 2004-08-03. Retrieved 2008-11-15. and
    "WBC Bantamweight Ratings (excl. WBO)". WBC. Archived from the original on 2004-02-04. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  18. ↑ "IBF/USBA Rules Governing Championship Contests" (PDF). pp.10–11. IBF. May 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2008-11-15. For the purpose of unification of titles, the Champions of the World Boxing Association ("WBA") and the World Boxing Council ("WBC") may be designated as "elite contenders" and may be permitted to fight for the unified title. Unification bouts with other organizations will be considered on a case to case basis.
  19. ↑ "IBF Ratings". IBF. February 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  20. ↑ "§7 unification bouts and unification tournaments as mandatory title bouts". Regulations of World Championship Contests (PDF) (Effective October 1, 2008 ed.). WBO. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  21. ↑ Cox, Jesse K. (January 19, 2006). "Waiting for Zab Judah". thesweetscience.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-14. the undisputed welterweight champion of the world – owner of the IBF, WBC and WBA belts
  22. ↑ Daniels, Eddie (February 1, 2008). "Campbell Ready To Put On Show". Tampa Tribune. Retrieved 2008-11-14. Antonio Tarver has made his quest to add to his IBO light heavyweight title a playoff-like system. / "Right now, my goal is three fights, three belts, undisputed by the end of the year," Tarver said. / Round 1 begins April 12 against Clinton Woods at the St. Pete Times Forum. According to Tarver, he'll take Woods' IBF lightweight title, then he's going after Danny Green's WBA light heavyweight belt. After that, he'll take on the winner of the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson fight, which on the undercard of his bout with Woods, for the WBC belt.
  23. ↑ Shields, Ronnie; Jones, Robert. "Interview with Evander Holyfield's Trainer Ronnie Shields". fightnightnews.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14. He wants to be undisputed, so that means he's got three belts out there that he wants. WBA, WBC, and IBF, those are the titles he wants.
  24. ↑ Smith, Timothy W. (6 June 1999). "BOXING; Roy Jones Becomes Undisputed Champion". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "The Lineal Light Heavyweight Champions". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
  26. ↑ Steve Kim (September 26, 2002). "The Disputed Light Heavyweight Champion of the World". Max Boxing. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  27. ↑ "Taylor drops IBF belt for Hopkins". BBC News. 12 October 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  28. ↑ Raphael, Dan (December 9, 2005). "Taylor-Wright might be a summer date". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-11-14. Wright would rather be facing undisputed middleweight champ Jermain Taylor.
  29. ↑ "Taylor retains undisputed title". Sporting Life. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  30. ↑ Johnson, Chuck (2007-11-03). "Calzaghe beats Kessler to unify belts, eyes Hopkins". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  31. ↑ Paul Upham (November 4, 2007). "Calzaghe Outboxes Kessler To Become Undisputed World Champion". SecondsOut.com. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  32. ↑ Staniforth, Mark (4 November 2007). "Battler Calzaghe triumphs against Kessler". The Independent on Sunday. PA Sport. Retrieved 2008-11-10. Joe Calzaghe was crowned undisputed world super-middleweight champion in Cardiff tonight
  33. ↑ "Calzaghe the king in Cardiff Welshman wows his home crowd with points win over great Dane". Sky Sports. 4 November 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  34. ↑ Gonzalez, Frank Jr. (November 3, 2007). "Sharkie's Machine: Joe Calzaghe Too Slick For Mikkel Kessler". eastsideboxing.com. Retrieved 2008-11-10. Joe Calzaghe, who is now the closest to being the undisputed Super Middleweight Champion of the World. (There's still the IBF Title if he's to have all four of the most recognized belts.)
  35. ↑ Kimball, George (November 11, 2007). "Calzaghe's plans quickly Executed". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2008-11-10. Lucien Bute, whose claim to the International Boxing Federation title is all that stands between the Welshman and undisputed world champion status
  36. ↑ Swann, Michael (3 November 2008). "Darchinyan keeps promise, silences critics". 15rounds.com. Retrieved 2008-11-14. Since when has holding the three major belts not been considered worthy of "undisputed?"
  37. ↑ "Lopez upsets Loma; youngest 4-belt champ ever". ESPN.com. 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
  38. ↑ "Has the WBC's franchise champion brought clarity or confusion?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
  39. ↑ "Rafael: WBC's franchise title just doesn't make sense". ESPN.com. 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
  40. ↑ Archived 2018-02-05 at the Wayback MachineInternational Boxing Federation rules: governing championship contests
  41. 1 2 World Boxing Association rules and regulations
  42. ↑ World Boxing Organization: regulation of world championship contests
  43. ↑ World Boxing Association rules and regulations, January 2004
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