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This is a list of current world boxing champions. Since at least John L. Sullivan, in the late 19th century, there have been world champions in professional boxing. The first of today's organizations to award a world title was the World Boxing Association (WBA), known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), when it sanctioned its first title fight in 1921 between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier for the world heavyweight championship.

There are now four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing. The official rules and regulations of the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO) all recognize each other in their rankings and title unification rules. Each of these organizations sanction and regulate championship bouts and award world titles. American boxing magazine The Ring began awarding world titles in 1922.

There are seventeen weight divisions. To compete in a division, a boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Manny Pacquiao has won world championships in eight different weight divisions, more than any other boxer. The Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, held all four major titles in the heavyweight division from 2011 to 2013; they were the first brothers to hold versions of the heavyweight championship at the same time.

Championships

When a champion, for reasons beyond his control such as an illness or injury, is unable to defend his title within the normal mandatory time, the sanctioning bodies may order an interim title bout and award the winner an interim championship. The WBA and WBC may change the status of their inactive champions to "Champion in Recess".

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association (WBA) was founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA), a national regulating body of the United States. On August 23, 1962, the NBA became the WBA, which today has its head office in Panama. According to WBA championship rules, when a champion also holds a title of one of the other three major sanctioning bodies in an equivalent weight division, that boxer is granted a special recognition of "Unified Champion", and is given more time between mandatory title defences. The WBA Championships Committee and President may also designate a champion as a "Super Champion" or "Undisputed Champion" in exceptional circumstances; the standard WBA title is then vacated and contested between WBA-ranked contenders. When a WBA "Regular Champion" makes between five and ten successful defences, he may be granted the WBA "Super" title upon discretion of a vote of the WBA's board of governors.

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council (WBC) was founded in Mexico City, Mexico on February 14, 1963 in order to establish an international regulating body. The WBC established many of today's safety measures in boxing, such as the standing eight count, a limit of 12 rounds instead of 15, and additional weight divisions. More information about the WBC's titles including Silver, Diamond, Emeritus, Honorary and Supreme Champion can be read at the WBC article.

International Boxing Federation

The International Boxing Federation (IBF) originated in September 1976 as the United States Boxing Association (USBA) when American members of the WBA withdrew in order to legitimize boxing in the United States with "unbiased" ratings. In April 1983, the organization established an international division that was known as the United States Boxing Association-International (USBA-I). In May 1984, the New Jersey-based USBA-I was renamed and became the IBF.

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) was founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico (which is a self-governing commonwealth of the United States) in 1988. In its early years the WBO's titles were not widely recognized. By 2012 when the Japan Boxing Commission officially recognized the governing body, it had gained similar status to the other three major sanctioning bodies. Its motto is "dignity, democracy, honesty." When a WBO champion has reached "preeminent status", the WBO's Executive Committee may designate him as a "Super Champion". However, this is only an honorary title and not the same as the WBA's policy of having separate "Super" and "Regular" champions. A WBO "Super Champion" cannot win or lose that recognition in the ring; it is merely awarded by the WBO.

The Ring

The boxing magazine The Ring maintains its own version of the lineal championship. The original sequence began from the magazine's first publication in the 1920s until the lineal championships were placed on hiatus in 1989, continuing as late as 1992 in some divisions. When The Ring started awarding titles again in 2001, it did not calculate retrospective lineages to fill in the gap years, instead nominating a new champion. CBZ commented in 2004, "The Ring has forfeited its credibility by pulling names out of its ass to name fighters as champions". In 2007, The Ring was acquired by the owners of fight promoter Golden Boy Promotions, which has publicized The Ring's world championships when they are at stake in fights it promotes (such as Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr. in 2008). Since 2012, to reduce the number of vacant titles, The Ring allows fights between a No. 1 or No. 2 contender and a No. 3, No. 4, or No. 5 contender to fill a vacant title. This has prompted further doubts about its credibility.

Some boxing journalists have been 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 most complete version of the lineal championship and is universally recognized as the most authoritative boxing rankings in the world today. TBRB was formed in October 2012 as a volunteer initiative to provide boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identify the singular world champion of every division by strict reasoning and common sense, and to insist on the sport's reform. Board membership includes fifty respected boxing journalists and record keepers from around the world who are uncompromised by sanctioning bodies and promoters.

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 the editorial board headed by Nigel Collins. After the new editors announced a controversial new championship policy in May 2012, three prominent members of the Ring Advisory Panel resigned. These 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. The board only awards vacant championships when the two top-ranked fighters in any division meet, and currently recognizes legitimate world champions or "true champions" in each weight class.

Current champions

The current champions in each weight division are listed below. Each champion's professional boxing record is shown in the following format: wins–losses–draws–no contests (knockout wins).

Heavyweight (200+ lb, 90.7+ kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Anthony Joshua Super champion  United Kingdom 19–0–0–0 (19) April 29, 2017	Deontay Wilder  United States 38–0–0–0 (37) January 17, 2015	Anthony Joshua  United Kingdom 19–0–0–0 (19) April 9, 2016	Joseph Parker  New Zealand 23–0–0–0 (18) December 10, 2016	Tyson Fury  United Kingdom 25–0–0–0 (18) November 28, 2015	vacant

Cruiserweight (200 lb, 90.7 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Denis Lebedev Super champion  Russia 29–2–0–1 (22) May 20, 2016	Mairis Briedis  Latvia 22–0–0–0 (18) April 1, 2017	Murat Gassiev  Russia 24–0–0–1 (17) December 3, 2016	Oleksandr Usyk  Ukraine 12–0–0–0 (10) September 17, 2016	vacant	vacant
Yunier Dorticos Regular champion  Cuba 21–0–0–0 (20) May 20, 2016

Light heavyweight (175 lb, 79.4 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Andre Ward Undisputed champion  United States 32–0–0–0 (16) November 19, 2016	Adonis Stevenson  Canada 29–1–0–0 (24) June 8, 2013	Andre Ward  United States 32–0–0–0 (16) November 19, 2016	Andre Ward  United States 32–0–0–0 (16) November 19, 2016	Andre Ward  United States 32–0–0–0 (16) June 17, 2017	Adonis Stevenson  Canada 29–1–0–0 (24) June 8, 2013
Badou Jack Regular champion  Sweden 22–1–2–0 (13) August 26, 2017
Dmitry Bivol Interim champion  Russia 11–0–0–0 (9) May 21, 2016

Super middleweight (168 lb, 76.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
George Groves Super champion  United Kingdom 26–3–0–0 (19) May 27, 2017	vacant	James DeGale  United Kingdom 23–1–1–0 (14) May 23, 2015	Gilberto Ramírez  Mexico 35–0–0–0 (24) April 9, 2016	vacant	vacant
Tyron Zeuge Regular champion  Germany 21–0–1–0 (11) November 5, 2016		Andre Dirrell Interim champion  United States 26–2–0–0 (16) May 20, 2017

Middleweight (160 lb, 72.6 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Gennady Golovkin Super champion  Kazakhstan 37–0–0–0 (33) June 3, 2014	Gennady Golovkin  Kazakhstan 37–0–0–0 (33) May 18, 2016	Gennady Golovkin  Kazakhstan 37–0–0–0 (33) October 17, 2015	Billy Joe Saunders  United Kingdom 24–0–0–0 (12) December 19, 2015	Saúl Álvarez  Mexico 49–1–1–0 (34) November 21, 2015	vacant
Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam Regular champion  France 36–2–0–0 (21) May 20, 2017

Light middleweight (154 lb, 69.9 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Erislandy Lara Super champion  United States 24–2–2–0 (14) June 8, 2016	Jermell Charlo  United States 29–0–0–0 (14) May 21, 2016	Jarrett Hurd  United States 20–0–0–0 (14) February 25, 2017	Miguel Cotto  Puerto Rico 41–5–0–0 (33) August 26, 2017	vacant	vacant
Demetrius Andrade Regular champion  United States 24–0–0–0 (16) March 11, 2017
Brian Carlos Castaño Interim champion  Argentina 14–0–0–0 (10) November 26, 2016

Welterweight (147 lb, 66.7 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Keith Thurman Super champion  United States 28–0–0–1 (22) January 16, 2015	Keith Thurman  United States 28–0–0–1 (22) March 4, 2017	Errol Spence  United States 22–0–0–0 (19) May 27, 2017	Jeff Horn  Australia 18–0–1–0 (11) July 2, 2017	vacant	vacant
Lamont Peterson Regular champion  United States 35–3–1–0 (17) February 18, 2017

Light welterweight (140 lb, 63.5 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Terence Crawford  United States 32–0–0–0 (23) August 19, 2017	Terence Crawford  United States 32–0–0–0 (23) July 23, 2016	vacant	Terence Crawford  United States 32–0–0–0 (23) April 18, 2015	Terence Crawford  United States 32–0–0–0 (23) July 23, 2016	Terence Crawford  United States 32–0–0–0 (23) July 23, 2016

Lightweight (135 lb, 61.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Jorge Linares  Venezuela 42–3–0–0 (27) September 24, 2016	Mikey Garcia  United States 37–0–0–0 (30) January 28, 2017	Robert Easter Jr.  United States 20–0–0–0 (14) September 9, 2016	Terry Flanagan  United Kingdom 33–0–0–0 (13) July 11, 2015	Jorge Linares  Venezuela 42–3–0–0 (27) September 24, 2016	vacant

Super featherweight (130 lb, 59 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Jezreel Corrales  Panama 22–1–0–1 (8) April 27, 2016	Miguel Berchelt  Mexico 32–1–0–0 (28) January 28, 2017	vacant	Vasyl Lomachenko  Ukraine 9–1–0–0 (7) June 11, 2016	vacant	vacant

Featherweight (126 lb, 57.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Léo Santa Cruz Super champion  Mexico 33–1–1–0 (18) January 28, 2017	Gary Russell Jr.  United States 28–1–0–0 (17) March 28, 2015	Lee Selby  United Kingdom 25–1–0–0 (9) May 30, 2015	Óscar Valdez  Mexico 22–0–0–0 (19) July 23, 2016	vacant	vacant
Abner Mares Regular champion  Mexico 30–2–1–0 (15) December 11, 2016
Claudio Marrero Interim champion  Dominican Republic 22–1–0–0 (16) April 29, 2017

Super bantamweight (122 lb, 55.3 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Guillermo Rigondeaux Super champion  Cuba 17–0–0–1 (11) May 6, 2016	Rey Vargas  Mexico 30–0–0–0 (22) February 25, 2017	Yukinori Oguni  Japan 19–1–1–0 (7) December 31, 2016	Jessie Magdaleno  United States 25–0–0–0 (18) November 5, 2016	vacant	Guillermo Rigondeaux  Cuba 17–0–0–1 (11) April 13, 2013
Daniel Roman Regular champion  United States 23–2–1–0 (8) September 3, 2017
Moises Flores Interim champion  Mexico 25–0–0–1 (17) April 18, 2015

Bantamweight (118 lb, 53.5 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Zhanat Zhakiyanov Undisputed champion  Kazakhstan 27–1–0 (18) February 10, 2017	Luis Nery  Mexico 24–0–0–0 (18) August 15, 2017	Ryan Burnett  United Kingdom 17–0–0–0 (9) June 10, 2017	Zolani Tete  South Africa 25–3–0–0 (20) April 22, 2017	Luis Nery  Mexico 24–0–0–0 (18) August 15, 2017	vacant
Jamie McDonnell Regular champion  United Kingdom 29–2–1–0 (13) May 31, 2014

Super flyweight (115 lb, 52.2 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Khalid Yafai  United Kingdom 22–0–0–0 (14) December 10, 2016	Srisaket Sor Rungvisai  Thailand 43–4–1–0 (39) March 18, 2017	Jerwin Ancajas  Philippines 27–1–1–0 (18) September 3, 2016	Naoya Inoue  Japan 13–0–0–0 (11) December 30, 2014	vacant	vacant

Flyweight (112 lb, 50.8 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Kazuto Ioka  Japan 22–1–0–0 (13) April 22, 2015	Daigo Higa  Japan 13–0–0–0 (13) May 20, 2017	Donnie Nietes  Philippines 40–1–4–0 (22) April 29, 2017	Sho Kimura  Japan 15–1–2–0 (8) July 28, 2017	vacant	vacant

Light flyweight (108 lb, 49 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Ryoichi Taguchi  Japan 25–2–2–0 (11) December 31, 2014	Ken Shiro  Japan 10–0–0–0 (5) May 20, 2017	Milan Melindo  Philippines 36–2–0–0 (13) November 26, 2016	Kosei Tanaka  Japan 9–0–0–0 (5) November 26, 2016	vacant	vacant

Minimumweight (105 lb, 47.6 kg)

WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring
Thammanoon Niyomtrong  Thailand 16–0–0–0 (7) June 29, 2016	Chayaphon Moonsri  Thailand 47–0–0–0 (17) November 6, 2014	Hiroto Kyoguchi  Japan 8–0–0–0 (6) July 23, 2017	Ryuya Yamanaka  Japan 15–2–0–0 (4) August 27, 2017	vacant	vacant

See also

• 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
• List of lineal boxing world champions
• List of current female world boxing champions
• List of undefeated boxing world champions (retired only)
• List of undisputed boxing champions
• List of current boxing rankings

References

1. ^ "Rules of World Boxing Association" (PDF). World Boxing Association. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
2. "World Boxing Council Rules and Regulations" (PDF). World Boxing Council. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
3. "IBF/USBA Rules Governing Championship Contests" (PDF). International Boxing Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
4. "World Boxing Organization Regulations of World Championship Contests". World Boxing Organization. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
5. Lewis, Ron (October 13, 2008). "Vitali Klitschko impressive in comeback victory". The Times. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
6. "World Boxing Association History". World Boxing Association. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
7. "World Boxing Council". World Boxing Council. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
8. "Rules that have changed the History of Boxing". World Boxing Council. Archived from the original on September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
9. ^ "History of the IBF". International Boxing Federation. December 4, 2000. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved June 6, 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
10. "WBO logo". World Boxing Organization. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
11. "WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests" (PDF). World Boxing Organization. Section 14.
12. Boxing News : The Disputed Light Heavyweight Champion of the World
13. DeLisa, Mike (August 2004). "What the CBZ Means When it Refers to "Lineal Championships"". The CBZ Journal. cyberboxingzone. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
14. "Golden Boy Enterprises' Subsidiary, Sports and Entertainment Publications, LLC, Acquires The Ring Magazine, KO, World Boxing and Pro Wrestling Illustrated". Golden Boy Promotions. September 12, 2007. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
15. Kimball, George (April 27, 2008). "Calzaghe claim far from undisputed". Boston Herald. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
16. Chat: Chat with Dan Rafael - SportsNation - ESPN
17. The Horrible New Ring Magazine Championship Policy - Queensberry Rules Archived May 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
18. Ring Magazine's pretend rankings upgrade 'championship' policy – theboxingtribune.com
19. "Chat: Chat with Dan Rafael - SportsNation - ESPN". ESPN.com.
20. Archived May 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
21. "Ring Magazine's pretend rankings upgrade 'championship' policy". theboxingtribune.com.
22. The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board: More Support is Needed - Boxing247
23. Raskin, Eric (April 2, 2013). "TBRB: A viable alphabet alternative?". ESPN.
24. Tim Starks (September 9, 2011). "The Ring Magazine Shakes Up Its Leadership, Threatens Its Credibility". The Queensberry Rules. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
25. The Ring Updates Championship Policy - The Ring Archived January 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
26. Boxing loses credibility with every new champion. Can the sport be saved? - The Guardian
27. "What if boxing had one champion for every weight division?". The guardian. October 15, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2016.

External links

• Official list of current WBA champions
• Official list of current WBC champions
• Official list of current IBF champions
• Official list of current WBO champions
• Official list of current Ring magazine champions
• List of current and past lineal champions at Cyber Boxing Zone
• Boxing titles search function at BoxRec

• Lists of boxing champions
• World boxing champions