The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO). The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded in the United States in 1921 by 13 state representatives as the NBA, in 1962 it changed its name in recognition of boxing's growing popularity worldwide and began to gain other nations as members.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all major organizations recognized by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have been only 19 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously.
Jorge Luis Linares Palencia is a Venezuelan former professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBC featherweight title from 2007 to 2008; the WBA super featherweight title from 2008 to 2009; and the WBA, WBC and Ring magazine lightweight titles between 2014 and 2018.
Vasiliy Anatolyevich Lomachenko, also spelled Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko, is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes from featherweight to lightweight, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight title since May 2024. Previously he held unified and Ring magazine titles at lightweight.
Boxing in the 2010s includes notable events about boxing which occurred between 2010 and 2019. The decade saw high intensity action in the welterweight division. The match between veterans Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao broke PPV records. The broadcast of the fight in the Philippines was watched by nearly half the country's households. Mayweather retired at a record 50-0-0 while Pacquiao became the first eight division champion. The middleweight division saw immense action in the later years of the decade. After a draw in 2017, Canelo Alvarez ended Gennady Golovkin's long reign in 2018. The heavyweight division was dominated by Klitschko brothers before Wladimir's loss to Tyson Fury in 2015. Other talents that emerged were Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksander Usyk.
Teófimo Andrés López Rivera is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and Ring magazine light welterweight titles since 2023; previously he held the unified World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF), WBO, and Ring lightweight titles between 2019 and 2021. Lopez has also held the lineal championship at lightweight and light welterweight. As an amateur, he represented Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Jason Moloney is an Australian professional boxer, who has held the WBO bantamweight title since May 13, 2023. He also challenged twice for the IBF bantamweight title. At regional level, he has held the WBA Oceania bantamweight title since 2017 and held the Commonwealth bantamweight title in 2018. As an amateur he represented Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
George Kambosos Jr is an Australian professional boxer who held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles from 2021 to 2022, the IBO lightweight title from 2023 to May 2024.
Devin Miles Haney is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at lightweight from 2022 to 2023, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight title from 2023 to 2024.
Devin Haney vs. Jorge Linares was a professional boxing match contested between WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney, and former three-division world champion Jorge Linares. The bout took place at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 29, 2021, with Haney's WBC title on the line. Haney won by unanimous decision with the judges scoring the bout 116-112, 116-112, 115-113 in his favor.
Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr. was a lightweight professional boxing match between unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight champion Teófimo López, and IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. The fight took place on November 27, 2021, at the Hulu Theater, and was broadcast live exclusively on the streaming service DAZN. Kambosos won via split decision with two of the three judges scoring the contest 115–111 and 115–112 in his favor, and the other scoring it 114–113 for López.
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano, billed as For History, was a women's lightweight professional boxing match contested between the undisputed world champion Katie Taylor and seven-division world champion Amanda Serrano. The bout was held on April 30, 2022, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with Taylor's undisputed lightweight titles on the line.
George Kambosos Jr vs Devin Haney, billed as Undisputed, was a lightweight unification professional boxing match contested between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring champion, George Kambosos Jr, and WBC champion, Devin Haney. The bout took place on 5 June 2022, at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Haney defeated Kambosos via unanimous decision to become the first undisputed lightweight champion since Pernell Whitaker in 1990, and the first in the four-belt era.
Boxing in the 2020s is a list of notable fights and events in boxing during the decade from the year 2020 to 2029.
Naoya Inoue vs. Paul Butler, billed as Undisputed, was a bantamweight unification professional boxing match contested between WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and The Ring champion, Naoya Inoue, and WBO champion, Paul Butler. Inoue knocked out Butler and became the undisputed bantamweight champion and the first since Enrique Pinder beat Rafael Herrera in 1972. The bout took place on 13 December 2022, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko, billed as Checkmate, was a professional boxing match contested in the lightweight division between the undisputed champion, Devin Haney, and former three-division world champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko. The bout took place on 20 May 2023 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight ended in a controversial unanimous decision win for Haney.
