 | |
| 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 20November2024 (men):
| Weight class: | Champion: | Reign began: |
|---|---|---|
| Minimumweight | vacant | |
| Flyweight | vacant | |
| Super flyweight |  Gcina Makhoba (SA) | December 3, 2022 |
| Bantamweight | vacant | |
| Super bantamweight | Thato Bonokoane (SA) | October 9, 2022 |
| Featherweight | vacant | |
| Super featherweight | Lunga Stimela (SA) | July 9, 2022 |
| Lightweight | vacant | |
| Super lightweight | vacant | |
| Welterweight |  Meriton Karaxha (ALB) | November 1, 2019 |
| Super welterweight |  Freddy Kiwitt (LBR) | November 24, 2023 |
| Middleweight |  Charles Manyuchi (ZIM) | September 28, 2019 |
| Super middleweight |  Travis Hanshaw (USA) | June 29, 2019 |
| Light heavyweight |  Shefat Isufi (GER) | April 16, 2022 |
| Cruiserweight |  Siril Makiadi (FRA) | December 2, 2022 |
| Heavyweight |  Arnold Gjergjaj (SUI) | September 2, 2023 |
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