A quadruple champion in boxing refers to a boxer who has won world titles in four different categories of weight.
Recognition
Major sanctioning bodies
There is some dispute on which sanctioning body is considered "major" enough to award championships. The "Big 4" sanctioning bodies are always included. They are arranged in order of foundation:
- World Boxing Association (WBA) - founded in 1921
- World Boxing Council (WBC) - founded in 1963
- International Boxing Federation (IBF) - founded in 1976
- World Boxing Organization (WBO) - founded in 1988
The Ring
The Ring, boxing's most respected magazine, has awarded world championships in professional boxing within each weight class from its foundation in 1922 until the 1990s, and again since 2001. The Ring champions were at one point held the linear reign to the throne, the man who beat the man. The lineal champion is also known as the true champion of the division. The Ring stopped giving belts to world champions in the 1990s but began again in 2002.
In 2002, The Ring attempted to clear up the confusion regarding world champions by creating a championship policy. It echoed many critics' arguments that the sanctioning bodies in charge of boxing championships had undermined the sport by pitting undeserving contenders against undeserving "champions", and forcing the boxing public to see mismatches for so-called "world championships". The Ring attempted to clear up the confusion regarding world champions by creating a championship policy that is "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class." The Ring claims to be more authoritative and open than the sanctioning bodies' rankings, with a page devoted to full explanations for ranking changes. A fighter pays no sanctioning fees to defend or fight for the title at stake, contrary to practices of the sanctioning bodies. Furthermore, a fighter cannot be stripped of the title unless he loses, decides to move to a different weight division, or retires.
There are currently only two ways that a boxer can win The Ring's title: defeat the reigning champion; or win a box-off between the magazine's number-one and number-two rated contenders (or, sometimes, number-one and number-three rated). A vacant Ring championship is filled when the number-one contender in a weight-division battles the number-two contender or the number-three contender (in cases where The Ring determines that the number-two and number-three contenders are close in abilities and records).
In May 2012, citing the number of vacancies in various weight classes as primary motivation, The Ring unveiled a new championship policy. Under the new policy, The Ring title can be awarded when the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters face one another or when the Nos. 1 and 2 contenders choose not to fight one another and either of them fights No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5, the winner may be awarded The Ring belt. In addition, there are now six ways for a fighter to lose his title: lose a fight in his championship weight class; move to another weight class; not schedule a fight in any weight class for 18 months; not schedule a fight in his championship weight class for 18 months, even if fighting at another weight class; not scheduling a fight with a top 5 contender in any weight class for two years; or retiring.
Many media outlets and members are extremely critical of the new championship policy and state that if this new policy is followed The Ring title will lose the credibility it once held.
Lineal
The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) hands out the official version of the lineal championship. TBRB awards vacant championships when the two top-ranked fighters in any division meet and currently recognizes legitimate world champions or "true champions" each weight classes. The Board was formed to continue where The Ring "left off" in the aftermath of its purchase by Golden Boy Promotions in 2007 and the following dismissal of Nigel Collins. After the new editors announced a controversial new championship policy in May 2012, three prominent members of the Ring Advisory Panel resigned. This three members (Springs Toledo, Cliff Rold and Tim Starks) became the founding members of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, which was formed over the summer of 2012 with the assistance of Stewart Howe of England.
Since 2012, lineal champions are predetermined by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, which promotes the concept of a singular world champion per weight class. Lineal champions are listed on Cyber Boxing Zone website which list lineal champions of the Queensberry Era to date.
Minor sanctioning bodies
They are: International Boxing Organization (IBO), World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF), International Boxing Association (IBA), International Boxing Council (IBC), International Boxing Board (IBB), International Boxing League (IBL), International Boxing Union (IBU), Global Boxing Association (GBA), Global Boxing Council (GBC), Global Boxing Federation GBF, Global Boxing Organization (GBO), Global Boxing Union (GBU), National Boxing Association (NBA), Transcontinental World Boxing Association (TWBA), Universal Boxing Association (UBA), Universal Boxing Council (UBC), Universal Boxing Federation (UBF), Universal Boxing Organization (UBO), UNIBOX, United States Boxing Council (USBC), World Athletic Association (WAA), World Boxing Board (WBB), World Boxing Championship Committee (WBCC), World Boxing Foundation (WBFo), World Boxing Institute (WBI), World Boxing League (WBL), World Boxing Network (WBN), World Boxing Union (WBU).
Note:
- The International Boxing Association (IBA) is not to be confused with the International Boxing Association (AIBA), a French acronym for Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, which sanctions amateur matches.
- The National Boxing Association (NBA) was established in 1984 and is not to be confused with the original National Boxing Association that was established in 1921 and changed its name to World Boxing Association (WBA) in 1962.
List of men's quadruple champions
This list is credited for boxers who have won championships in boxing from major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO), The Ring.
WBA has four recognized world champions, Super, Undisputed, Unified, and Regular. The highest tier title is considered the primary champion of the division. Only boxers who are in the primary champion lineage are listed.
The ranking of WBA's primary champions are as follows:
- Super/Undisputed
- Unified
- Regular
Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame | |
World Titles from The Ring | |
‡ | WBA Regular Champion as primary title because WBA Super, Undisputed, and Unified is vacant/vacated during his title reign. |
Note
- Dates in bold format signify the date when they won their 4th division title.
- Interim titles are not included unless it gets promoted to the official title.
- Any WBA titles won before the titles are fragmented in the division are not marked as Super, Undisputed, Unified, or Regular.
- In August 2021, the WBA has started recognizing a single champion per division as part of their title reduction plan. World titles won after the plan will not be marked as Regular.
List of women’s quadruple champion
The following is a list of women’s quadruple champions who have held titles from one or more of the "Big Four" organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) and The Ring.
World Titles from The Ring |
No. | Name | Titles | Date | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Amanda Serrano |
IBF Super featherweight | Sep 10, 2011 | Kimberly Connor | TKO 2/10 |
WBO Lightweight | Aug 15, 2014 | Maria Elena Maderna | KO 6/10 | ||
WBO Featherweight | Feb 17, 2016 | Olivia Gerula | TKO 1/10 | ||
WBO Super bantamweight | Oct 18, 2016 | Alexandra Lázár | TKO 5/10 | ||
WBO Featherweight – (2) | Sep 13, 2019 | Heather Hardy | UD 10/10 | ||
WBC Featherweight | Feb 4, 2021 | Interim promoted | |||
IBF Featherweight | Sep 24, 2022 | Sarah Mahfoud | UD 10/10 | ||
The Ring Featherweight | |||||
WBA Featherweight | Feb 4, 2023 | Erika Cruz | UD 10/10 | ||
2 | Naoko Fujioka | WBC Mini flyweight | May 8, 2011 | Anabel Ortiz | RTD 8/10 |
WBA Super flyweight | Nov 13, 2013 | Naoko Yamaguchi | UD 10/10 | ||
WBO Bantamweight | Oct 19, 2015 | Hee Jung Yuh | UD 10/10 | ||
WBA Flyweight | Mar 13, 2017 | Isabel Millan | TKO 10/10 | ||
3 | Hanna Gabriels |
WBO Welterweight | Dec 19, 2009 | Gabriela Marcela Zapata | KO 4/10 |
WBO Light middleweight | May 9, 2010 | Gardy Pena Alvarez | TKO 1/10 | ||
WBO Light middleweight – (2) | Dec 20, 2014 | Paty Ramirez | TKO 2/10 | ||
WBA Light middleweight | Jun 18, 2016 | Katia Alvariño | TKO 3/10 | ||
WBA Light heavyweight | Apr 17, 2021 | Martha Gaytán | TKO 2/10 | ||
WBC Heavyweight | |||||
4 | Claressa Shields |
IBF Super middleweight | Aug 4, 2017 | Nikki Adler | TKO 5/10 |
WBC Super middleweight | |||||
IBF Middleweight | Jun 22, 2018 | Hanna Gabriel | UD 10/10 | ||
WBA Middleweight | |||||
WBC Middleweight | Nov 17, 2018 | Hannah Rankin | UD 10/10 | ||
WBO Middleweight | Apr 13, 2019 | Christina Hammer | UD 10/10 | ||
The Ring Middleweight | |||||
WBC Light middleweight | Jan 10, 2020 | Ivana Habazin | UD 10/10 | ||
WBO Light middleweight | |||||
IBF Light middleweight | Mar 5, 2021 | Marie-Eve Dicaire | UD 10/10 | ||
WBA (Super) Light middleweight | |||||
The Ring Light middleweight | |||||
WBO Middleweight – (2) | Oct 15, 2022 | Savannah Marshall | UD 10/10 | ||
WBO Light heavyweight | Jul 27, 2024 | Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse | TKO 7/10 |
Note
- Dates in bold format signify the date when they won their 4th division title.
- Interim titles are not included unless they get promoted to the official champion.
Only four division champion in the original eight weight classes
In the entire history of boxing, only Manny Pacquiao has successfully conquered four divisions in the original eight weight classes.
Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame | |
World Titles from The Ring |
No. | Name | Titles | Date | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Manny Pacquiao |
WBC Flyweight | Dec 4, 1998 | Chatchai Sasakul | KO 8/12 |
The Ring Featherweight | Nov 15, 2003 | Marco Antonio Barrera | TKO 11/12 | ||
WBC Lightweight | Jun 28, 2008 | David Díaz | TKO 9/12 | ||
WBO Welterweight | Nov 14, 2009 | Miguel Cotto | TKO 12/12 | ||
WBO Welterweight – (2) | Apr 12, 2014 | Timothy Bradley | UD 12/12 | ||
WBO Welterweight – (3) | Nov 5, 2016 | Jessie Vargas | UD 12/12 | ||
WBA (Super) Welterweight | Jul 20, 2019 | Keith Thurman | SD 12/12 |
Note
- Dates in bold format signify the date when they won their 4th division title.
Quadruple champions that won titles in other multiple divisions
Some fighters of this group or club were not satisfied to win just the incredible milestone of championships in four different weight divisions but to reach immortality in five, six and/or seven other different divisions or categories. The multiple champions who won titles in:
- Five divisions are called Quintuple champions (see the List of boxing quintuple champions);
- Six divisions are called Sextuple champions (see the List of boxing sextuple champions);
- Seven divisions are called Septuple champions (see the List of boxing septuple champions); and
- Eight divisions are called Octuple champions
See also
- List of current world boxing champions
- List of boxing triple champions
- List of boxing quintuple champions
- List of boxing sextuple champions
- List of boxing septuple champions
- Octuple champion
- List of WBA world champions
- List of WBC world champions
- List of IBF world champions
- List of WBO world champions
- List of The Ring world champions
References
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- "Thomas Hearns". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
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- "Mikey Garcia". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-13. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
- "Donnie Nietes". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
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- "Leo Santa Cruz". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
- "Saul Alvarez". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
- "Naoya Inoue". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
- "Kosei Tanaka". Boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
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External links
- Boxrec.com – title search at the Wayback Machine (archived April 24, 2006)
- Boxing Records
- Saddoboxing
- Yahoo - Boxing at the Wayback Machine (archived July 14, 2007)
- IBHOF at the Wayback Machine (archived July 6, 2007)
- Cyberboxingzone
- Transnational Boxing Rankings Board
- Manny Pacquiao at the Wayback Machine (archived May 17, 2008)
- "Manny Pacquiao's attempt on a fifth world title in as many divisions". The Telegraph. 2008-06-28. Archived from the original on 2008-07-01.
- Manny Pacquiao at the Wayback Machine (archived December 7, 2008)
- Manny Pacquiao's Five Best Performances
- Pacquiao Aims for Four (and Six): Real History Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
- http://forums.doghouseboxing.com/lofiversion/index.php/t140155.html
World professional boxing champions | |||||
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Champions by sanctioning body |
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Champions by weight class |
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Champions in multiple weight classes | |||||
Miscellaneous | |||||
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