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.
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and International Boxing Federation (IBF). The WBO's headquarters are located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The European Boxing Union (EBU), formerly known as the International Boxing Union (IBU), is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the most-prestigious continental title in Europe, the EBU European Championship, in addition to their EBU EU Championship for competitors from within the European Union and the EBU EE Championship for those outside the European Union. It is a federation affiliated with the World Boxing Council (WBC).
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.
Chess boxing, or chessboxing, is a hybrid sport that combines two traditional disciplines: chess and boxing. Two combatants play alternating rounds of blitz chess and boxing until one wins by checkmate or knockout. It is also possible to win by time penalty as in normal chess, and by boxing decision if there is a draw in the chess round.
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.
Brian Sidney Harper, better known by the ring name Brian London, was an English professional boxer who competed from 1955 to 1970. He held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title from 1958 to 1959, and twice challenged for the world heavyweight title, losing to Floyd Patterson in 1959 and Muhammad Ali in 1966, both times via knockout. He was one of a quartet of British boxers, with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine, and Dick Richardson, who dominated the British boxing scene throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
Alexander "Sasha" Ustinov is a Russian professional boxer, former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In boxing, he has challenged once for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title in 2017.
The Syndicate was a superclub and music venue in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It was the largest nightclub in North West England, and claimed to be the largest nightclub in the United Kingdom. The club opened in December 2002 and had at the time of closing, three levels of floor space, three segmented rooms, and a VIP floor. It had a capacity of 5,000 if including the club 'status', which was part of the building but was advertised as a second nightclub in the earlier years. Otherwise, the capacity was 4,500, with a 2,200 capacity in the downstairs section, and a 2,300 capacity in the higher levels. The higher floors were tiered, with the VIP section being at the top of the tier overlooking a balcony section below which itself overlooked the dancefloor. The dance floor area had a revolving dance floor in the middle of it. This whole upper section of floors was a single open space and was named the 'Dance Arena'.
In combat sports where champions are determined by challenge, the lineal championship in a weight class represents an intangible world title first held by the victor of a bout between top contenders in the division. Some argue that vacancies in divisional championships can only be filled by an undisputed champion. A fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a match within the same weight class becomes the next lineal champion. In professional boxing, the lineal champion is informally known as "the man who beat the man."
In boxing, a weight class is a measurement weight range for boxers. The lower limit of a weight class is equal to the upper weight limit of the class below it. The top class, with no upper limit, is called heavyweight in professional boxing and super heavyweight in amateur boxing. A boxing match is usually scheduled for a fixed weight class, and each boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Although professional boxers may fight above their weight class, an amateur boxer's weight must not fall below the lower limit. A nonstandard weight limit is called a catchweight.
Christopher Gerald Bacon is a retired professional British cruiserweight boxer and judoka born in Tasmania, Australia and residing in Manchester. During his professional boxing career he was trained by Bob Shannon, a long-time Manchester boxing coach. He is a former WBF European Super Cruiserweight Champion, former National Judo Champion, and Bronze medal winner at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Bacon is former MMA fighter and also participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Umar Isaevich Salamov is a Russian professional boxer who held the IBO light-heavyweight title in 2016.
Anissa Haddaoui is a Dutch-Moroccan boxer, kickboxer, muay thai fighter and BJJ practitioner, who has been professionally competing since 2008.
