| Sport | Boxing |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | BBBofC |
| Founded | 1929 [1] |
| Location | Cardiff |
| Replaced | National Sporting Club |
| Official website | |
| bbbofc | |
 | |
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. [2]
| Sport | Boxing |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | BBBofC |
| Founded | 1929 [1] |
| Location | Cardiff |
| Replaced | National Sporting Club |
| Official website | |
| bbbofc | |
| | |
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. [2]
The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff.
Until 1948, it had a colour bar in effect by means of its Rule 24, which stated that title contestants "must have two white parents". [3] [4]
The British Boxing Board of Control initially refused to grant Jane Couch a professional licence on the sole ground that she was a woman, and argued that PMS made women too unstable to box. [5] [6] Claiming sexual discrimination and supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission, Couch managed to have this decision overturned by a tribunal in March 1998. [7] [8]
The British Boxing Board of Control gives out the British Boxer of the Year award. Natasha Jonas became the first woman to win this award upon winning it for the year of 2022. [9] Later, in 2023, Jonas became the first black woman to receive a manager's license from the British Boxing Board of Control. [10] [11]
The Board divides the country into seven Area Councils: the Scottish Area, the Northern Ireland Area, the Welsh Area, the Northern Area, the Central Area (including the Isle of Man), the Southern Area, and the Midlands Area. [12] There was previously a Western Area, which was merged with the Southern Area.[ citation needed ]
The Board also sanctions bouts for British boxing's most prestigious title: the Lonsdale Belt. The Lonsdale Belt is awarded to the champion of the United Kingdom in each respective weight class and to win the belt outright it must be defended against a British challenger on at least three occasions.
The Board is known for its unique scoring system. Except for title fights (where the bout is scored by three judges, none of whom serve as fight referee), the referee is the sole scorer. After the bout (if the fight goes to points decision), the referee hands his decision to the MC and the winner is announced, the referee then raising the arm of the winner – or, in the event of a draw, both boxers' arms.
| Weight class: | Champion: | Reign began: |
|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | Fabio Wardley | 26 November 2022 |
| Cruiserweight | Cheavon Clarke | 25 May 2024 |
| Light-heavyweight | Lewis Edmondson | 19 October 2024 |
| Super-middleweight | Callum Simpson | 3 August 2024 |
| Middleweight | Denzel Bentley | 7 December 2024 |
| Super-welterweight | Samuel Antwi | 1 September 2023 |
| Welterweight | Harry Scarff | 18 November 2023 |
| Super-lightweight | Dalton Smith | 6 August 2022 |
| Lightweight | Sam Noakes | 10 February 2024 |
| Super-featherweight | Reece Bellotti | 10 February 2024 |
| Featherweight | Nathaniel Collins | 10 March 2023 |
| Super-bantamweight | Dennis McCann | 16 March 2024 |
| Bantamweight | Andrew Cain | 20 July 2024 |
| Super-flyweight | Marcel Braithwaite | 20 October 2023 |
| Flyweight | Jay Harris | 5 May 2023 |
| Weight class: | Champion: | Reign began: |
|---|---|---|
| Welterweight | vacant | |
| Super-bantamweight | Tysie Gallagher | 24 May 2024 |
| Super-flyweight | Emma Dolan | 22 June 2024 |
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and held the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division. Lewis is regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, and one of the greatest British fighters of all time.
Although women have participated in boxing for almost as long as the sport has existed, female fights have been effectively outlawed for most of boxing's history until recently, with athletic commissioners refusing to sanction or issue licenses to women boxers, and most nations officially banning the sport. Reports of women entering the ring go back to the 18th century.
Sir Henry Cooper was a British heavyweight boxer. He was undefeated in British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship contests for twelve years and held the European heavyweight title for three years. In a 1963 fight against a young Cassius Clay, he knocked Clay down in Round 4, before the fight was stopped in Round 5 because of a cut to Cooper's eye.
Daniel Peter Williams is a British professional boxer. He has challenged once for the WBC and the Ring magazine heavyweight titles in 2004. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Commonwealth title twice between 1999 and 2006; the British title twice between 2000 and 2010; and challenged once for the European title in 2003. As an amateur, he won bronze medals at the 1993 European Championships and 1994 Commonwealth Games. Williams is best known for scoring an upset knockout victory against Mike Tyson in 2004.
Michelle Sutcliffe is an English female boxer who competed in the Light Flyweight division.
Audley Hugh Harrison, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur, he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and becoming the first ever British boxer to win Olympic gold in that division. Harrison turned professional the following year after signing a contract with BBC Sport, and went on to have seventeen fights on the network before their cancellation of all boxing broadcasts.
Joseph Patrick Bamford, better known by his ring name Jock McAvoy, was a British boxer who fought from 1927 to 1945. He held the British Empire Middleweight Championship from 1933 to 1939, and took the British Empire Light Heavyweight Title in April 1937 by knocking out Eddie Phillips.
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory authority to guarantee the fighters' safety. Most high-profile bouts obtain the endorsement of a sanctioning body, which awards championship belts, establishes rules, and assigns its own judges and referees.
The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. The 5th Earl of Lonsdale introduced the prize on behalf of the National Sporting Club (NSC), intending it to be awarded to British boxing champions. Arthur Frederick Bettinson, manager of the NSC, introduced terms and conditions regarding the holding of the belt, which ensured its lasting prestige. Freddie Welsh earned the first Lonsdale Belt in 1909 after winning the NSC British Lightweight title. Heavyweight Henry Cooper was the first and only boxer to win three Lonsdale Belts. In 1929 the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) assumed responsibility for awarding the belt, which continues to be bestowed on British champions.
David "Bomber" Pearce was a Welsh heavyweight boxing champion.
Derek Chisora is a Zimbabwean-British professional boxer. He has challenged twice for the WBC heavyweight title in 2012 and 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2010 to 2011, and the European title from 2013 to 2014. As an amateur, he won the ABA super-heavyweight title in 2006. He holds a notable win over world heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev.
Johnny Summers was an English boxer who competed from 1901 to 1920. He was a British and British Empire (Commonwealth) welterweight champion.
Jane Couch, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2007. She became the first licensed female boxer in the United Kingdom in 1998.
Sam Sexton is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2018. At regional level, he held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Commonwealth title from 2009 to 2010; the British title from 2017 to 2018; and won the Prizefighter series in 2008.
Boxing is a popular sport in Wales, and since the early 20th century Wales has produced a notable number of professional boxers including several World Champions. The most notable boxers include Wales' first World Champion Percy Jones; Jimmy Wilde, who is seen as pound-for-pound one of the World's finest boxers and Joe Calzaghe, who ended his career an undefeated World Champion.
Natasha Jonas is a British professional boxer is a two weight world champion who has held the unified WBC,and WBO female light-middleweight titles since 2022. As an amateur, she won a bronze medal in the light-welterweight division at the 2011 European Championships; bronze in the lightweight division at the 2012 AIBA World Championships; and silver in the light-welterweight division at the 2014 European Championships.
Pat O'Keeffe, was a professional English boxer who became the British champion in both the welterweight and middleweight weight classes. His professional career spanned the years between 1902 and 1918. In 1914 he made an unsuccessful bid for the European heavyweight belt, losing to Georges Carpentier. Between 1907 and 1910 he left Britain and continued his boxing career in the United States, and then Australia. On the outbreak of World War I he joined the British Army to work as a Physical Training Instructor (PTI) and Recruiting Sergeant for the 1st Surrey Rifles. He won the Lonsdale Belt outright when he defeated Bandsman Blake at the National Sporting Club (N.S.C) on 28 January 1918, becoming British Middleweight Champion.
Boxing in Liverpool, the United Kingdom is centered on approximately 22 amateur boxing clubs which have produced notable boxers such as John Conteh, Andy Holligan, Tony Bellew, David Price, and Callum Smith.
Al "The Aldgate Tiger" Phillips was a Jewish English professional featherweight/lightweight boxer of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, who won the European Boxing Union (EBU) featherweight title, and British Empire featherweight title. Phillips took both the British Empire and sanctioned British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) British featherweight Title against the powerful black feather British Guianan Cliff Anderson in fifteen rounds at Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, England in 1947.
Arthur Frederick "Peggy" Bettinson was a skilled pugilist, becoming English Amateur Boxing Association Lightweight Champion in 1882. In 1891 Bettinson co-founded the National Sporting Club (NSC). As its manager, he implemented a strict code of conduct, rules and etiquette that was adhered to by both boxers and spectators, ushering in a culture change that brought respect and legitimacy to what had been a barely regulated, lawless and chaotic sport. He was one of boxing's most prominent and powerful advocates in England's courtrooms in an era when boxing's legal status was uncertain.
| British pioneers |  | |
|---|---|---|
| List of British boxing champions |
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| Inaugural winners of the NSC Challenge Belt | ||
| Inaugural winners of BBBofC Lonsdale Belt | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
