SPORTS SHORTS 250: WBA, WBC, IBF AND WBO PRESIDENTS UNITE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 30 Oct 2021
Presidents Maurcio Sulaiman of the World Boxing Council (WBC), Gilberto Jesus Mendoza of the World Boxing Association (WBA), Daryl Peoples of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) met Thursday at the WBO headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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They discussed several concerns and the role each organization can contribute to improve the sport boxing. Among the subjects being brought up were greater understanding in title unification bouts, better rankings to bolster the might of mandatory challengers and a uniform procedure among the four bodies.
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“We have identified several areas where we agree and others where we will diligently continue to work on,” offered the four presidents in a joint statement as told to BoxingScene. "Our unified goal is a safer, stronger, healthier, [fairer] and more just sport of boxing.”
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For a long time now, multiple titlists in each weight division were a source of confusion, and a diluted selection from a pool of challengers who have the chance to fight for these titles. The WBA has generated the greatest disarray of these multifarious titles with the squander of “interim”, “World” and “Super” titles.
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These led to the perplexity of three WBA title holders at one instant. Steps have been initiated to reduce the number of sanctioned titlists, as the WBA ordered a series of title merger bouts and mandatory title fights which are highly esteemed.
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The WBC caused bewilderment in the creation of the “Franchise” title in their lightweight division. It formed the 224-pound limit Bridgerweight division, which awarded its first champion Oscar Rivas on October 22. It is the only sanctioning organization to recognize this new weight division.
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The IBF is known for incompetent mandatory challengers, often permitting the same contenders to surge up to the top of the rankings for a title shot. Most of the time it resulted to inferior championship fights.
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The WBO for sometime had a unsavory relation with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). But the WBO has been appreciated in 2021 in the matches it has sanctioned. Lately, Terence Crawford of Top Rank and former two-time champion Shawn Porter of PBC have agreed to come up with this highly awaited fight.
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“Today’s meeting was very productive, especially in discussing a possible future agreement in search of a standardized title unification process,” said the respective boxing heads.
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“As independent sanctioning bodies, we will always have our autonomy, but we are working in unison to grow and strengthen the positive image of boxing all around the world."
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The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest of the four organizations. It was founded in the United States in 1921 by 13 state representatives as the NBA. In 1962 it changed its name due to boxing's increasing popularity worldwide and admitted other countries.
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Gilberto Mendoza was the President of the WBA from 1982 until his demise in 2016, and Gilberto Mendoza Jr. assumed the position as president. In the 1990s, the WBA moved its central offices from Panama City, Panama, to Caracas, Venezuela. But in January 2007, the WBA returned its offices to Panama.
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The World Boxing Council (WBC) was originally established by 11 countries, the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil.
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They met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of Adolfo López Mateos, then President of Mexico, to organize all boxing commissions of the world to regulate the growing sport of boxing.
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The WBC now has 161 member countries. The current WBC President is Mauricio Sulaimán. Its past Presidents include Luis Spota and Ramon G. Velázquez of Mexico, Justiniano N. Montano Jr. of the Philippines and José Sulaimán of Mexico from 1975 until his passing in 2014.
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The International Boxing Federation (IBF) was formed out of the United States Boxing Association (USBA). In 1983, at the WBA annual convention in Puerto Rico, Robert "Bobby" Lee, Sr., president of the USBA, lost in his candidacy for the WBA presidency against Gilberto Mendoza.
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Lee and several others withdrew from the convention after the election, and established a third, worldwide organization, named as USBA-International. It was later renamed the International Boxing Federation, based in New Jersey, where its main offices are situated.
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The World Boxing Organization (WBO) was born after a group of Puerto Rican and Dominican businessmen which broke out of the WBA's 1988 annual convention in Isla Margarita, Venezuela over disputes regarding what rules should be applied. The first president was Ramon Pina Acevedo of the Dominican Republic.
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The WBO next elected former world light heavyweight champion Jose Torres, as its president. Torres quit in 1996, making Puerto Rican lawyer Francisco Valcarcel as president. Valcarcel held the top position up to the present.
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Naoya Inoue, the three-division and current WBA/IBF bantamweight champion, will fight in his native Japan for the first time since November 2019. The match will be on December 14 against Thailand's Aran Dipaen (12-2, 11KOs) at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
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Inoue (21-0, 18KOs) has back-to-back knockout wins in Las Vegas, including a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas last June 19 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. This was after a dominating seventh-round knockout of top bantamweight contender Jason Moloney on October 31, 2020.
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Ja Morant, the 22-year-old Memphis Grizzlies point guard is leading the NBA with 30.4 points per game, with 7.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds and raising the Grizzlies to a 3-2 start.
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On Thursday, Morant had a 30-point, seven-rebound, five assist performance and dealt Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors a 104-101 overtime loss, their first defeat of the season.
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Talk n Text Tropang Giga won a 94-79 Game 5 on Friday to end a six-year title drought and take the PBA Philippine Cup championship at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga.
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They were victorious in a 4-1 series and won the four games by an average of 15.5 points. Rookie Mikey Williams was awarded Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) after averaging 27.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in five games.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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