 | |
| Abbreviation | WBF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1988 |
| Type | Non-profit institution |
| Purpose | Boxing sanctioning organization |
| Headquarters | Luxembourg |
Region served | Worldwide |
President | Howard Goldberg |
| Website | www |
The World Boxing Federation (WBF) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It was created in 1988. [1]
The World Boxing Federation was originally established in 1988 by Larry Carrier, who was part owner of Bristol Motor Speedway in northeastern Tennessee. [2] [3] [4] [5] It was an expanded version of the American Pro Boxing Association. [6] The original concept for the WBF was written on the back of a napkin as an alternative for boxing as Carrier felt there was a lack of vision in boxing. [6] [7] [8] The WBF wanted to give overlooked fighters a chance and wanted to be a more affordable sanctioning body for aspiring promoters by only charging a $5,000 sanctioning fee. [9] [7] The WBF also sought to promote itself in an honest manner and help the sport. [7] The promotion signed their first title fight in November 1990, when they organized a cruiserweight bout between Rickey Patkey and Joe Louis for December 7, 1990. [10] [8] The WBF's titles were not initially recognized by the British Boxing Board of Control and had to wait until 1995 to achieve recognition. [11] The company had 17 field offices outside of the US by 1995 [12] and the company moved its headquarters to Las Vegas prior to 1998. [13] Larry Carrier sold the WBF to Ron Scalf in June 1998. [14] [15] The organization closed in 2004 after losing a lawsuit [16] and was revived in 2009. [1] [11] [17] In 2022, the promotion announced that they would no longer sanction title fights with boxers with negative records in an effort to raise standards. [18]
The organization has sanctioned matches on 6 of the 7 continents. [19] The organization has three levels of champions including World champions, Intercontinental champions and International champions. The organization also sanctions women's boxing matches. [19] The promotion also monitors its judges closely and feels integrity is its greatest asset. [20]
The promotion also had their own magazine called, "Inside Boxing with the WBF". [4]
As of 22February2025 (men):
| Weight class: | Champion: | Reign began: |
|---|---|---|
| Minimumweight | vacant | |
| Light flyweight | vacant | |
| Flyweight | vacant | |
| Super flyweight | vacant | |
| Bantamweight |  Agustin Perez Balbuena (MEX) (interim) | August 13, 2022 |
| Super bantamweight | vacant | |
| Featherweight | vacant | |
| Super featherweight |  Lunga Stimela (SAF) | July 9, 2022 |
| Lightweight | vacant | |
| Super lightweight | vacant | |
| Welterweight |  Meriton Karaxha (ALB) | November 1, 2019 |
| Super welterweight |  Freddy Kiwitt (LBR) | November 24, 2023 |
| Middleweight |  Angelo Frank (GER) | October 3, 2024 |
| Super middleweight | Alexander Rigas (GER) | June 22, 2024 |
| Light heavyweight | Kambis Rahmani (GER) | April 27, 2024 |
| Cruiserweight | Artur Mann (GER) | November 2, 2024 |
| Bridgerweight | Senad Gashi (GER) | September 14, 2024 |
| Heavyweight |  Arnold Gjergjaj (SUI) | September 2, 2023 |