as ABC…
DID you know Danny Williams won a world heavyweight championship in 2018? Or that later the same year he was beaten by the only man to win world titles from lightweight to heavyweight?
Did you know it’s not Joe Louis who holds the record for most consecutive world title defences, but rather a Thai who retained a super-flyweight belt 38 times? And that Louis’ 11 years atop the heavyweight division is not the sport’s longest reign, but rather it is that of a Nigerian with a 20-year cruiserweight claim?
Did you know a man two months shy of 61 once contested a WBC world title? For that matter, did you know there are two WBCs? And three WBFs?
Welcome to a parallel universe of shifting sands and altered perceptions. Hold your nose, watch your step and suspend your disbelief as you step into the weird world of boxing’s minor sanctioning bodies.
A WBU… OR TWO
For a few weeks in mid-2018, boxing regularly made back-page news in Aberdeen. After all, the city was gearing up to host a world heavyweight title match, and the local press was going big on it. Lee McAllister vs Danny Williams, the posters said. Wait a minute… McAllister was Aberdeen’s leading pro, but wasn’t he a lightweight? And Williams? He hadn’t been licensed by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) in nearly a decade. What was going on?
The world title in question was the WBU. McAllister had bulked up to heavyweight specifically for this challenge, while Williams – aged 45 and some 14 years past a prime that saw him beat Mike Tyson and challenge Vitali Klitschko – was entering the contest as a world champ in his own right, having four months earlier knocked out the mighty Martin Stensky (record 3-42) in Hungary for GBF honours.
The latter belt was not on the line, but McAllister would beat Williams for the vacant WBU strap, making him not only Scotland’s first world heavyweight champion, but also the first former world lightweight ruler to win a heavyweight crown (he had been WBU 135lb champion in 2007). These achievements, and the ‘gimmick match’ nature of the contest, generated plenty of publicity. And yet, the fight was not on TV and the result does not appear on BoxRec. This is because it was contested under the jurisdiction of the British and Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA), a licensing body set up in 2016 endorsed by neither BoxRec nor the BBBofC (or Boxing News).
The BBBofC no longer recognises the WBU – nor, in fact, any sanctioning body other than the ‘big four’ and the IBO; an attempt at quality control which supporters will say is justified by contests such as McAllister-Williams. But the championship’s own claims to legitimacy are not helped by the presence of another WBU – using the very same full World Boxing Union name – operating concurrently.
Both versions emerged after the WBU’s first incarnation closed in 2009, having gradually fallen dormant in the years since the death of its British founder, Jon Robinson, in 2004. Unhelpfully, one of the WBUs insists it is simply the same body legally resurrected – though now based in Germany – while the other, based in Atlanta, USA, brandishes the original WBU logo and belt design.
Torsten Knille, president of the German-based WBU (or WBUv, for distinction’s sake) explains: “The company was dissolved and it was free to buy. I bought the limited company, World Boxing Union, exactly the same company as it was before. So, the original WBU is the new WBU. But the old WBU run by Mr Robinson had some trouble with tax in different countries. It was not our fault, but because of the old trouble we decided not to buy the logo. We made a new logo and a new belt, the white belt, to show the world it’s the old WBU run by a new person.”
Meanwhile, the new-new WBU swooped in and bought the old-old branding that the new-old WBU had eschewed. The US version is legally distinct but on its website pledges to “continue the philosophy” of Robinson’s original. “The World Boxing Union Corporation is a registered company in USA and has nothing to do with the old WBU,” says Knille. “[Its president] Don ‘Moose’ Lewis was running the WBB, the WAA, the IBU and some women’s federation, so he’s just a federation collector to make money. But he had no success with these, so he tried to make some money with the WBU. He founded his Union a little later than our WBU, but in the USA. It’s only that he bought the logo. He thought if he has the logo and the belt, he can make some money.”
Boxing News attempted several times to speak with Lewis, but he was unavailable for comment.
WHAT THE F?
Nigerian cruiserweight Bash Ali has, legally at least, reigned as champion of the world since September 2000 – and says nobody may ever succeed him unless they beat him in the ring. Never mind the fact he hasn’t boxed since 2004, when he stopped Hull’s Tony Booth in Lagos, ostensibly in defence of the WBF belt he’d won four years earlier. That 16 other cruiserweights have held a belt with WBF branding during the course of Ali’s own WBF 200lb reign is not something easily unravelled.
The World Boxing Federation was set up by Larry Carrier in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1988, around the same time as the WBO and IBO. Its first title-holder was Rickey Parkey, a reasonably big name as a former IBF cruiser champion but one who was well past his best.
Parkey aside, the WBF in its early years failed to match the WBO in attracting major players to contest its belts, while in the medium term it was overtaken by the IBO which was the first championship body to use computerised rankings.
Still, for a few years in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, the WBF did have a reasonable TV presence and could be considered part of the ‘second tier’ of world championships outside the big four, alongside the IBO and original WBU.
This was all undone in a 2002 court battle with Bash Ali, leading to the company’s dissolution two years later. Ali had won his belt from American Terry Ray in September 2000 but was later stripped when he refused to rematch Ray. He said this was done illegally, and the California Supreme Court agreed.
The title was returned to Ali and, as he tells the Alternative Africa website, the court issued a permanent injunction which “stipulated that I can never again be stripped of my title unless I lose it inside the boxing ring.”
Ali was also awarded US$2.1m in loss of earnings and $5m in damages, but after the WBF’s then-president Ron Scalf declared himself bankrupt, the company was wrapped up.
The Federation brand would be resurrected in Belgium in 2009 by Howard Goldberg, but by that time another company – the World Boxing Foundation – had cuckooed the WBF initials.
The Foundation was launched in Australia by former Federation man Mick Croucher, who had run the original WBF’s Asia-Pacific division. He says he bought the Federation from Scalf and travelled to Tennessee to complete the legalities, oblivious to the Ali case which had closed the company.
“I get to the US, tell them I’m here for the deal, and they tell me, ‘Mick, the company’s closed’,” says Croucher. “This Bash Ali, he’d won the WBF title but they took it off him and gave it to someone else, so he sued them.
“I’d put up my own money and travelled all that way and nobody told me! So, they tell me I can’t have the Federation name; I said fine, we’ll call it Foundation, put it in my name, I’ll pay the fees, let’s just get on with it.”
The Foundation recognised the Federation’s title lineage and took on any champion that had been reigning at the time of the company’s closure. For example, Richel Hersisia won the Federation heavyweight title in 2003 but was the defending Foundation champion by the time Audley Harrison dethroned him in London a year later.
This new brand bearing the same initials and recognising previous Federation champs brought the litigious Ali circling. “Ali had some crook of a lawyer in his ear telling him he could sue me,” says Croucher. “I had nothing to do with Scalf taking the belt off him. Ali wanted to sue me for $50m… who makes $50m off a WBF belt?”
Certainly not Ralph Rojas, president of a third WBF, founded in 2012. For just $2,000 all in – sanction fees and belt – you can stage a world title fight under the umbrella of the World Boxing Forum, almost half as much as it costs to secure Federation branding.
Based in Miami Beach, this is an offshoot of the WKL – World Kickboxing League. Rojas explains the rationale: “We couldn’t register the World Boxing League (WBL) in 2012 so we decided to register the World Boxing Forum instead. We are the only WBF trademarked in the US, and the only boxing body to use ‘Forum’ in our name. So, I don’t see any confusion.”
Suffice to say its prestige is limited – heavyweight champion Zaur Aylarov is ranked no. 491 by BoxRec – but its presence only serves to further muddy the WBF waters. When Goldberg relaunched the Federation name in 2009, it was after a five-year interregnum period had passed, meaning the wording could be used again, though as a business entity it was legally distinct, going by the acronym WBFed.
This means Ali has no legal claim against Goldberg or the WBFed either, but it also means he remains champion of the original WBF, having been legally reinstated by the court. It’s a status Ali continues to embrace to this day: champion of an organisation that no longer exists.
If you take this seriously – and he does – it takes his reign to 20 years since he dethroned Ray. Not that Ali wishes to settle down as “champion for life”. No, he intends to fight again, and to defend his dormant title – at the age of 64.
“It will put me in the Guinness World Record Book,” he tells Alternative Africa. “I am still the WBF cruiserweight boxing champion. Once I step in that ring… win, lose or draw, I would have made history as the oldest boxer to fight [for a] world title.”
THE OLD MAN AND THE WBC
For now, that record belongs to Steve Ward of Mansfield, who is recognised by Guinness as the oldest boxer to have fought professionally, as well as the oldest challenger for a world title, at 60 years and 10 months. What kind of outfit would sanction such a title fight, you may ask. How about the WBC?
No, not that WBC, not the World Boxing Council. This WBC is the World Boxing Confederation, based in Switzerland and launched in 2014 by former pro Gene Pukall.
Pukall, himself a stalwart of the minor championship scene, having won or contested WBB, WAA, IBU, GBU and WBUv titles, says the choice of initials was not an attempt to mislead anyone; rather, it is a tribute.
“I had been thinking for a long time [what initials to use],” he says. “It was clear the first letter needed to be W and the second B, so then what sounded best to me was the C, because I am a big fan of the World Boxing Council.
“We have a different name, logo and belt, so there’s no confusion.”
Ward found the Confederation a willing partner when he sought to add world title billing to his record-breaking contest, 40 years after making his pro debut. Ward had originally retired in 1987 but launched a comeback on the unlicensed scene in 2010. “I had a serious accident in work; a quarter-tonne of concrete fell on my foot,” he says. “I flew to China to get it fixed. I’d said if I got my mobility back, I’d get back in the ring. Well, I couldn’t go back on my word!
“I knew I wouldn’t get a Board licence so I spoke to John Ashton, who ran the EBF [an unlicensed promotion]. I said I wanna come back. He said, ‘You’re joking, you’re 50-odd, you can’t!’ So I did some sparring and knocked them all around the ring and he said, ‘OK, we’ll get you a fight.’”
Ward had a few bouts with the EBF and then set his sights on becoming officially recognised as the world’s oldest boxer. But for this to be ratified by Guinness, it would have to be a licensed contest. Enter BIBA.
“I got in touch with [BIBA-licensed promoter] Lee Murtagh and said I want to fight for a world title; it’s my life’s ambition,” says Ward. “I came across Andreas Sidon, a big German, 6ft 7ins, won about 13 titles and knocked out Danny Williams. He said he’d fight me so I got in touch with the WBC and they said they’d put it on for the ‘veteran championship of the world’. I got in contact with BIBA and [CEO Gianluca Di Caro] said, ‘Yes, we can sort this out.’”
And so, on home turf in Mansfield in July 2017, Ward earned his world record, if not the world title. Sidon, 54, won by seventh-round stoppage when Ward was ahead on points – but the prospect of revenge might yet lure Ward, now 64, back out to break his own record.
“I was clearly in front. It’s hard to live with,” he says. “I still talk with Andreas and we’re trying to get it together for a return match in May on a cruise ship in the Bahamas. BIBA will sanction it and the PBC [no, not Al Haymon’s promotion…] will put a belt up.”
BOXERS LOVE BELTS
Pukall’s WBC branding may or may not have been cynical in its intent, but is it any wonder that some acronyms end up being repeated? Every variation of WB-this or IB-other has already been taken, including an unintentionally amusing IBS (International Boxing Sanctioner). There’s even multiple permutations of ‘Universal’ and ‘Global’ bodies – UBC, UBF, UBO, GBC, GBF, GBO, GBU. Are there any appropriate initials left?
Step forward, RBO – the Royal Boxing Organization, established in 2017, whose most prestigious prize is not a world title but a ‘King Championship’. Credit, I suppose, for at least trying something different, but the RBO, like a great many other minor sanctioning bodies, is not recognised by BoxRec, nor allowed into the UK by the BBBofC.
Board chairman Robert Smith explains why: “We stopped working with the WBF when they split. You can’t have two organisations with the same initials. It’s just not credible.
“We were being inundated with requests to put on title fights. Two WBFs, two WBUs, the IBA… where does it stop? I didn’t even know who some of these people were. It just waters down what it means to be a champion.
“We discussed several times what to do about them and we decided [in 2011] to just have the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO. We know everybody who works with them, how they work, and the reasons for them. We’re happy with what we’ve got.”
Supporters of the smaller bodies might point out that the big four are not averse to slapping spurious championship designations on fights, either. A BBBofC-licensed show in 2018 had an Irish champion meet a Welsh challenger in Scotland for the WBA’s Oceania crown. The WBC once had a 38-year-old contest a Youth title – at the same time as its Baltic belt (he was from Argentina, naturally). And then there are all the global, gold, silver, super, regular, diamond, franchise, emeritus, recess and other permutations, not to mention the interminable interims.
Arguably, the WBA having multiple world champions is more damaging than having Lee McAllister parade around Aberdeen as one. Knowledgeable fans understand the difference between a WBC and a WBU, and if a more casual observer doesn’t, does it really matter?
Clearly, minor governing bodies will never go away, and after all, boxers love belts. McAllister has picked up another couple of world titles since beating Williams, as he worked his way back down the weight divisions after his heavyweight experiment.
“I am in it for the belts,” McAllister told his local Evening Express newspaper last year ahead of a PBC title challenge. “I’m like a magpie; I love shiny things.
“The belts mean more to me than money.”
BRITAIN’S CURRENT MINOR WORLD CHAMPIONS
Anthony Joshua (IBO heavyweight)
Lee Jones (WBForum cruiserweight, WBL cruiserweight)
Chris Eubank Jnr (IBO super-middleweight)
Lee McAllister (PBC super-welterweight, WBUv super-welterweight)
Terri Harper (IBO female super-featherweight)
Prince Patel (UBO bantamweight, WBFed bantamweight)
Tasif Khan (GBU super-flyweight, WBConfed bantamweight, WBUv super-flyweight)
THE DEAD, DORMANT AND UNDESIRABLE
TRADITIONALISTS who pine for the days of a single champion may despair of the minor sanctioning body scene, and feel it is something of a boxing hydra – cut the head off one WBU or WBF, and two or three will grow back in its place. But some have actually closed – for good – while others have merged, and a number sit dormant.
The International Boxing Council (IBC), which crowned Lennox Lewis after he beat Tommy Morrison in 1995, closed in 2012. The World Boxing Board (WBB) folded in 2006. It most notably sanctioned Iran Barkley’s 1997 win over Gerrie Coetzee for its heavyweight belt. This, by the way, means Roy Jones Jnr was [ital] not [ital] the first former middleweight champ to win a world heavyweight title. The brand was resurrected for Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga in 2011 but then merged with the US WBU.
The Legends of Boxing Championship (LBC) was a kind of seniors’ tour giving ageing ex-champs a new title to fight for. To be eligible, a boxer must have been at least 36 and a former holder of a WBC, WBA or IBF belt. A 49-year-old Larry Holmes won the inaugural heavyweight championship in 1999 and defended it the following year, while ex-WBC super-lightweight titlist Billy Costello, 44, lifted the middleweight strap. But the concept fizzled out and the company closed soon after.
The similarly titled Legends Boxing Federation – with no age or, in fact, legendary status criteria – was launched by former IBF president Marian Muhammad in 2016 but merged with the International Boxing Union (IBU) the following year. Not to be confused with the respected IBU which was the precursor of the latter-day European Boxing Union, this IBU has absorbed several minor bodies, but has not staged any title fights since 2015. Others bought up by the IBU include the International Boxing Board (IBB) and World Athletic Association (WAA).
The World Boxing Syndicate (WBS) staged one world title fight – 45-year-old Mitch Green vs the 94-times-beaten Danny Wofford in 2002 – before merging with the World Boxing Empire (WBE) in 2004, which in turn was incorporated into the currently active World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) in 2007.
And some bodies are launched but fail to sanction a single match. This perhaps speaks to the importance of branding. In early 2019 a new federation formed, touting itself as the first and only one to not charge fees. Even so, to this day, the International Boxing Sanctioner has had no takers for its belts… proudly emblazoned with the initials IBS.
WACKY WORLD TITLE RECORDS
Longest reign
20 years: Bash Ali, WBF cruiserweight champion (September 11, 2000-present)
Most defences
38: Samson Dutchboygym, WBF super-flyweight champion (September 17, 1994-April 19, 2002)
Most titles defended in one bout
7: Roy Jones Jnr retained WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, WBF, IBA and NBA light-heavyweight titles three times in 2001-2002
Oldest title contestant
Steve Ward: 60 years, 10 months when he fought for the WBConfed Veterans World championship on July 14, 2017
Britain’s most decorated boxer
Lee McAllister: Six world titles in five weight divisions – WBU lightweight, WBU super-lightweight, WBF welterweight, WBUv super-welterweight, PBC super-welterweight, WBUv heavyweight
EVERY ACTIVE MINOR BODY
Global Boxing Council (GBC)
Founded: 1999 Headquarters: Berlin, Germany President: Mario Pokowietz World title fees: $900 sanctioning + $1,000 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, Youth Notable current world champions: Rene Hubner, Les Sherrington Notable past world champions: Giuseppe Lauri, Ashley Theophane
Global Boxing Federation (GBF)
Founded: 2000 Headquarters: Lleida, Spain President: Emilio Bertran World title fees: Not publicly disclosed Titles: World, Intercontinental, Europe, American Continental, Asia, Africa, Oceania, IberoAmerican Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Danny Williams, Reggie Strickland
Global Boxing Organization (GBO)
Founded: 2016 Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA President: Rey Rodis World title fees: $750-1,500, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Continental, Asia-Pacific, Youth, State Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: None
Global Boxing Union (GBU)
Founded: 1994 Headquarters: Triesen, Germany President: Ulrich Bittner World title fees: €2,000 sanctioning + €600 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, Continental, Americas Notable current world champions: Firat Arslan, Vincent Feigenbutz, Layla McCarter Notable past world champions: Tyron Zeuge, Giovanni De Carolis, Michel Trabant
International Boxing Association (IBA)
Founded: 1991 Headquarters: Ventnor City, NJ President: Jean-Christophe Courreges World title fees: $2,250 sanctioning + $750 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, Americas, Latino, South Pacific, Caribbean, European, African, Asian Notable current world champions: Mairis Briedis, Eleider Alvarez, Lolenga Mock, Curtis Stevens, Daud Yordan Notable past world champions: George Foreman, Antonio Tarver, James Toney, Roy Jones Jnr, Bernard Hopkins, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather Jnr, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Orlando Canizalez, Michael Carbajal, Jake Matlala, Laila Ali
International Boxing Organization (IBO)
Founded: 1988 Headquarters: Coral Gables, FL President: Ed Levine World title fees: $15,200-$20,000 sanctioning + $1,250 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Continental, North America, Mediterranean, Oceania, Asia/Pacific, All Africa, USBO, IberoAmerican, Youth Notable current world champions: Anthony Joshua, Gennady Golovkin, Jeison Rosario, Nkosanthi Joyi, Jessica McCaskill, Terri Harper Notable past world champions: Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury, James Toney, Thomas Hearns, Roy Jones Jnr, Antonio Tarver, Bernard Hopkins, Canelo Alvarez, Sergio Martinez, Roger Mayweather, Ricky Hatton, Floyd Mayweather Jnr, Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera, Nonito Donaire, Lucia Rijker
National Boxing Association (NBA)
Founded: 1984 Headquarters: Tampa, FL President: Damon Gonzalez World title fees: $1,500-2,000 sanctioning + $600 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, Continental, Junior Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Roy Jones Jnr, Roberto Duran, Hector Camacho Snr, Edner Cherry
Professional Boxing Council (PBC)
Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Aberdeen President: Russell Jaques World title fees: £1,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Commonwealth, British, Irish, Celtic, English, Scottish, Welsh – plus ‘Silver’ versions of all the above Notable current world champions: Lee McAllister Notable past world champions: None
Pro Boxing Federation (PBF)
Founded: 2019 Headquarters: Miami Beach, FL President: Ralph Rojas World title fees: $2,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, Continental, National Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: None
Royal Boxing Organization (RBO)
Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg President: Sebastien Pitois Sanctioning fees: Not publicly disclosed Titles: World, King, Intercontinental, International, America, Europa, Africa, Pacific Notable current world champions: Patricia Berghult Notable past world champions: None
Universal Boxing Council (UBC)
Founded: 2006 Headquarters: Evergreen, AL President: Victor Calhoun World title fees: $2,500 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Inter-Continental, International, Continental, North American, Latin American, South American, European, Asian, Euro-Asian, African, African International, West African, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Baltic, Balkan, AngloSaxon, Young World Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Erin McGowan, Samson Tor Buamas, Ji-Hyun Park
Universal Boxing Federation (UBF)
Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Chicago, IL President: Richard Spilotro World title fees: $3,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Inter-Continental, International, All-Americas, All-Africa, Asia-Pacific, European, Latino, US East, US Midwest, US South, US West, Youth Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Tommy Browne, Cosme Rivera, Hank Lundy, Amanda Serrano, Cindy Serrano
Universal Boxing Organization (UBO)
Founded: 2004 Headquarters: Loehne, Germany President: Joerg Herzog World title fees: $3,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Inter-Continental, International, All-America, South America, Latino, Caribbean, European, Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Oceania, All-Africa, Central Africa, Baltic, Mediterranean, Youth Notable current world champions: Alexander Frank Notable past world champions: Bronco McKart, Ali Raymi
World Boxing Confederation (WBConfed)
Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Mumliswil, Switzerland President: Gene Pukall World title fees: Not publicly disclosed Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Continental, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Veteran Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: None
World Boxing Federation (WBFed)
Founded: 2009 Headquarters: Beernem, Belgium President: Howard Goldberg World title fees: $5,000 sanctioning + $700 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Evander Holyfield, Michael Grant, Carlos Takam, Ilunga Makabu, Nadjib Mohammedi, Marco Antonio Rubio, Jan Zaveck, Humberto Soto, Malcolm Klassen
World Boxing Forum (WBForum)
Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Miami Beach, FL President: Ralph Rojas World title fees: $2,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Continental, Masters, Semipro, Youth Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: None
World Boxing Foundation (WBF)
Founded: 2004 Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia President: Mick Croucher World title fees: $3,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Asia-Pacific, Australasian Notable current world champions: Sam Soliman, Tommy Browne Notable past world champions: Audley Harrison, Frans Botha, Lucas Browne, James Toney, Antonio Tarver, Roy Jones Jnr, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, Lovemore Ndou, Gerry Penalosa, Zolani Tete
World Boxing League (WBL)
Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Miami Beach, FL President: Ralph Rojas World title fees: $2,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Continental, Masters, Semipro, Youth Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: None
World Boxing Union (German version) (WBUv)
Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Coppenbrugge, Germany President: Torsten Knille World title fees: $2,000 sanctioning, including belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Continental, European, Youth World, Youth Intercontinental Notable current world champions: Lee McAllister Notable past world champions: Roy Jones Jnr, DeMarcus Corley, Michael Katsidis
World Boxing Union (US version) (WBU)
Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Atlanta, GA President: Don Lewis Sanctioning fees: Not publicly disclosed Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Americas, CAM, US Western, US Pacific Northwest, Youth Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Jeremy Williams, Michael Stewart, Tyson Cave
World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF)
Founded: 1998 Headquarters: New York City, NY President: David Young World title fees: $3,000 sanctioning + $750 belt Titles: World, Intercontinental, International, Americas, Asia-Pacific, Africa, USBC, Youth Notable current world champions: None Notable past world champions: Albert Mensah, Mike Arnaoutis, Michael Farenas