 | |
| 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 15April2024 (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 | vacant | |
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).
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the three belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
James Nathaniel Toney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1993, the IBF super middleweight title from 1993 to 1994, and the IBF cruiserweight title in 2003. Toney also challenged twice for a world heavyweight title in 2005 and 2006, and was victorious the first time but was later stripped due to a failed drug test. Overall, he competed in fifteen world title fights across four weight classes.
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom.
In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all recognized major organisations by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have only been 19 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously.
Ricky Parkey was an American former professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1986 to 1987.
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.
Chisanda "Kent Green" Mutti was a Zambian professional boxer of the 1970s and 1980s who won the Zambia middleweight title, Zambia light heavyweight title, and Commonwealth cruiserweight title, and was a challenger for the Commonwealth middleweight title against Tony Sibson, Commonwealth light heavyweight title against Lottie Mwale, African Boxing Union light heavyweight title against Lottie Mwale, and International Boxing Federation (IBF) cruiserweight title against Lee Roy Murphy, and Rickey Parkey, his professional fighting weight varied from 160 lb, i.e. middleweight to 192 lb, i.e. heavyweight.
Franco "Thunderbird" Wanyama in Kampala, was a Ugandan amateur middleweight and professional cruiser/heavyweight boxer of the 1980s, '90s and 2000s. He was an amateur representative of Uganda at middleweight in the Boxing at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, losing to eventual bronze medal winner Chris Sande of Kenya, and as a professional won the BeNeLux heavyweight title, BeNeLux cruiserweight title, Commonwealth cruiserweight title, and World Boxing Federation (WBF) cruiserweight title, and was a challenger for the Commonwealth cruiserweight title against Chris Okoh, his professional fighting weight varied from 181 lb, i.e. cruiserweight to 192 lb, i.e. heavyweight. Wanyama defeated notable fighters such as Jimmy Thunder, Carl Thompson and Johnny Nelson and was sparring partner to Vitali Klitschko & Wladimir Klitschko. He lived his last years in Rugby, Warwickshire, England and had 3 children, Shannon Wanyama, Nellie Wanyama and Wanga Wanyama.
Dwight Muhammad Qawi vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as "Pandemonium" was a professional boxing match contested on July 12, 1986 for the WBA Junior Heavyweight championship.
Evander Holyfield vs. Rickey Parkey was a professional boxing match contested on May 15, 1987 for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight title.
Evander Holyfield vs. Ossie Ocasio was a professional boxing match contested on August 15, 1987 for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight title.
Bridgerweight is a weight class in professional boxing used by the World Boxing Council (WBC) since 2020 and the World Boxing Association (WBA) since 2023. The division is for boxers weighing between 200 pounds and 224 pounds. The weight is named after six-year-old American Bridger Walker, who saved his four-year-old sister from a stray dog in July 2020.
Shefat Isufi, is a German professional boxer who held the WBF World light-heavyweight title from 16 April 2022. He previously held the WBO Inter-Continental Title in Super Middle Weight from 8 July 2017 to 18 May 2019.