Boxing's Alphabet Soup of Champions

▪ 2006

 There was a time when virtually every sports fan could name all of the world boxing champions. That was during the first half of the 20th century, however, when there were only eight weight classes, with one champion each. By 2005 professional boxing was plagued by a confusing and counterproductive situation with 17 weight classes, and dozens of so-called champions under the control of a group of self-appointed governing bodies, collectively known as the “alphabet organizations.” The three most prominent governing bodies were the World Boxing Association (WBA; originally formed in 1920), the World Boxing Council (WBC; founded in 1963), and the International Boxing Federation (IBF; formed in 1983), though several less-well-known bodies also endorsed their own champions.

      All of the alphabet organizations were funded by dues and by “sanctioning fees,” money paid to them by promoters to approve bouts in which each organization's titles were on the line. These fees were based on a percentage of the fighters' purses and could be as high as several hundred thousand dollars per fight.

      The alphabet organizations gained little traction until the 1970s, when television networks began to insist that virtually every televised fight be a title bout. Eager to please their paymasters, promoters and managers embraced the various groups, regardless of their titles' authenticity. This proved profitable in the short run, but soon fans and the mainstream media became more and more confused as to who were the legitimate champions.

      It also became clear that the alphabet organizations' rankings of contenders were not based solely on merit. In 1983 promoter Bob Arum told The Ring magazine that he had paid the WBA $500,000 to get American boxer Ray Mancini a shot at the organization's lightweight title.

      In 1999 the U.S. attorney for New Jersey indicted the IBF president, Robert W. Lee, on racketeering charges, alleging that Lee and others had accepted bribes to manipulate ratings. In 2000 Lee was acquitted on 27 counts of bribery and racketeering but was convicted of money laundering, two counts of tax evasion, and three counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Lee was sentenced to 22 months in prison, fined $25,000, and banned permanently from the sport.

      In 2002 German boxer Graciano Rocchigiani won a $30 million judgment against the WBC when a U.S. district court ruled that the organization had cheated Rocchigiani of his claim to the WBC light heavyweight title. Unable to pay the judgment, the WBC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2003, but the organization reached a settlement with Rocchigiani before being forced into liquidation.

      In an effort to impose some order in the ranking of professional boxers, The Ring, a leading boxing magazine, revitalized its championship policy in its April 2002 issue. The Ring had begun awarding championship belts shortly after its debut in 1922. The practice became dormant during much of the 1990s but was revived as part of the new policy. ESPN and HBO, two of the leaders in televised boxing, came to accept the boxers designated by The Ring as the legitimate world champions. Nonetheless, by 2005 much of the boxing industry had become comfortable with the ability to manipulate the alphabet organizations and continued to do business with them, and many fans were left increasingly confused and unhappy with the sport.

Nigel Collins

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