World Boxing Federation
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| 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]
Information
[edit | edit source]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]
Current WBF World Champions
[edit | edit source]As of 16 April 2026 (men):
Notable Past WBF champions
[edit | edit source]- Evander Holyfield, former Heavyweight champion
- Francois Botha, former Heavyweight champion
- Jimmy Thunder, former Heavyweight champion
- Johnny Nelson, former Heavyweight champion
- Adílson Rodrigues, former Heavyweight champion[21]
- Bert Cooper, former Heavyweight champion
- Mike Bernardo, former Heavyweight champion
- Joe Bugner, former Heavyweight champion
- Roy Jones Jr., former Light Heavyweight champion[22]
- Robin Reid, former Super Middleweight champion
- Carl Daniels, former Middlweight champion
- Juan Lazcano, former Lightweight champion
- Dimitry Salita, former Super Light champion
- Samson Dutch Boy Gym, former Junior Bantamweight champion
- Jesús Chong, former Junior Flyweight champion
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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- ^ Irish Boxing Review, 2012 Edition, publisher: Lulu.com, published: 2012
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- ^ a b A Social History of Sheffield Boxing, Volume II, publisher: Springer International Publishing, url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Social_History_of_Sheffield_Boxing_Vol/9h8SEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22wbf%22, published: 2021
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