The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Many historically high-profile bouts have been sanctioned by the organization with various notable fighters having been recognised as WBC world champions. All four organizations recognise the legitimacy of each other and each have interwoven histories dating back several decades.
History The WBC was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Tunisia, the Philippines, Panama, USSR, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil. Representatives met in Mexico City on 14 February 1963, upon invitation of Adolfo López Mateos, then President of Mexico, to form an international organization to unify all commissions of the world to control the expansion of boxing.
The groups that historically had recognized several boxers as champions included the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), the National Boxing Association (NBA) of the United States, the European Boxing Union (EBU) and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC); but for the most part, these groups lacked the all-encompassing 'international' status they claimed.
Today, it has 161 member countries. The current WBC President is Mauricio Sulaimán. Former 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 death in 2014.
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Council blocked championship fights involving Russian and Belarusian boxers.
Championship The WBC's green championship belt portrays the flags of all of the 161 member countries of the organization. All WBC world title belts look identical regardless of weight class; however, there are minor variations on the design for secondary and regionally themed titles within the same weight class.
The WBC has nine regional governing bodies affiliated with it, such as the North American Boxing Federation, the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation, the European Boxing Union, and the African Boxing Union.
Although rivals, the WBC's relationship with other sanctioning bodies has improved over time and there have even been talks of unification with the WBA. Unification bouts between WBC and other organizations' champions are becoming more common in recent years. Throughout its history, the WBC has allowed some of its organization's champions to fight unification fights with champions of other organizations, although there were times it stepped in to prevent such fights. For many years, it also prevented its champions from holding the WBO belt. When a WBO-recognized champion wished to fight for a WBC championship, he had to abandon his WBO title first, without any special considerations. This, however, is no longer the case.
In 1983, following the death of Kim Duk-koo from injuries sustained in a 14-round fight against Ray Mancini, the WBC took the unprecedented step of reducing the distance of its world championship bouts, from 15 rounds to 12 — a move other organizations soon followed for boxers' safety.
Among those to have been recognized by the WBC as world champions are the undefeated and undisputed champions Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr., Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roy Jones Jr., Wilfred Benítez, Wilfredo Gómez, Julio César Chávez, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Mike Tyson, Salvador Sánchez, Héctor Camacho, Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzón, Rodrigo Valdez, Roberto Durán, Juan Laporte, Félix Trinidad, Edwin Rosario, Bernard Hopkins, Alexis Argüello, Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, Érik Morales, Miguel Cotto, Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk, Canelo Álvarez, Tony Bellew, Mairis Briedis, and Grigory Drozd.
At its discretion, the WBC may designate and recognize, upon a two-thirds majority vote of its Board of Governors, one or more emeritus world champions in each weight class. Such a recognition is for life and is only bestowed upon present or past WBC world champions. The following boxers have earned the "Emeritus Championship" appellation throughout their careers: Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins (Honorary Champion), Mikkel Kessler, Sergio Martínez, Andre Ward, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Kostya Tszyu, Manny Pacquiao, Danny García, Érik Morales, Toshiaki Nishioka, Vic Darchinyan, Édgar Sosa, Tony Bellew, Jelena Mrdjenovich, and Katie Taylor. This allows the fighters, should they return to competition, to take part in a title bout in the division they have been crowned emeritus champion. During the WBC's 51st Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was named "Supreme Champion", a designation that nobody before him has ever achieved.
The WBC bolstered the legitimacy of women's boxing by recognizing fighters such as Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker as contenders for female world titles in 16 weight divisions. The first WBC World Female Champion (on 30 May 2005) was the super bantamweight Jackie Nava from Mexico. With her former-champion father at ringside, Laila Ali won the super middleweight title on 11 June 2005.
Silver Championship In 2010, the WBC created a "Silver Championship", intended as a replacement for interim titles. Justin Savi was the first boxer to win a Silver title after defeating Cyril Thomas on 16 April 2010. Unlike its interim predecessor, a boxer holding the Silver title cannot automatically inherit a full world title vacated by the champion. The WBC continues to recognize interim and Silver Champions, as well as interim Silver Champions. A year later, the WBC introduced Silver versions to its International titles. As of 2020, there are Silver titles of the female world title, Youth World title, USNBC title, Latino title and also FECARBOX title.
Diamond Championship In September 2009, the WBC created its new "Diamond Championship" belt. This belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile and elite boxers. The inaugural Diamond belt was awarded on 14 November 2009 to Manny Pacquiao, who won his 7th world title (in seven different divisions) via a 12th-round technical knockout (TKO) over Miguel Cotto at welterweight in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Other holders of this title have included Mairis Briedis (cruiserweight), Oleksandr Usyk, Bernard Hopkins (light heavyweight), Callum Smith (super middleweight), Sergio Martínez and Canelo Álvarez (middleweight), Floyd Mayweather Jr. (super welterweight), Errol Spence Jr. (welterweight), Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor (super lightweight), Nonito Donaire (super bantamweight and bantamweight), Naoya Inoue (super bantamweight and bantamweight), Léo Santa Cruz (featherweight), Jean Pascal and Sergey Kovalev (light heavyweight), Mikey Garcia (welterweight and super lightweight), Jorge Linares (lightweight), Alexander Povetkin (heavyweight), and Román González (super flyweight). At the WBC convention in December 2012, Muhammad Ali was awarded an honorary WBC Diamond belt. Female Diamond champions have included Claressa Shields (middleweight), Amanda Serrano (super bantamweight), Ana María Torres (bantamweight), Raja Amasheh (super flyweight), Ava Knight and Jessica Chávez (flyweight). Although this title can be defended, it is not a mandatory requirement. The title can also be vacated in the case of a fighter's long-term absence or retirement from boxing.
Franchise Championship In 2019, the WBC Franchise Championship was introduced as an honorary title awarded to dominant champions that have represented the WBC and is a special designation and status which the WBC may honor to a current WBC World Champion, who is also an elite boxer, and who remains a top performer in the sport. Boxers who has been given the honorary title, must vacate their WBC world title in that division as the honorary title is transferable. Boxers who have been named WBC Franchise Champion include: Canelo Alvarez (middleweight; 2019–2020), Vasiliy Lomachenko (lightweight; 2019–2020), Teófimo López (lightweight; 2020–2021), Juan Francisco Estrada (super flyweight; since 2021), and George Kambosos Jr. (lightweight; 2021–2022).
Eternal Championship The WBC Eternal Championship is an honorary title awarded to retired boxers that have never lost the WBC world title in the ring while having a solid number of successful title defenses. Jiselle Salandy was awarded the Eternal title as she defended the WBC female super welterweight title five times before her death on 4 January 2009. On 12 December 2016, Vitali Klitschko was recognized as "Eternal Champion", as he had 10 successful WBC heavyweight title defenses during his career before his retirement in 2013 and was never knocked down throughout his career either. Former WBC light flyweight and flyweight champion Ibeth Zamora Silva was also named Eternal Champion.
Commemorative World Championship Belts The WBC also awards commemorative world championship belts to certain individuals or groups as trophies for winning historic fights or exhibition matches. 24K Gold — Floyd Mayweather Jr. (September 14, 2013) Emerald — Floyd Mayweather Jr. (May 2, 2015) Onyx — Joe Smith Jr. (December 17, 2016) Huichol I — Canelo Álvarez (May 6, 2017) Money — Floyd Mayweather Jr. (August 26, 2017) Huichol II — Gennady Golovkin (September 16, 2017) Chiapaneco I — Gennady Golovkin (May 5, 2018) Chiapaneco II — Canelo Álvarez (September 15, 2018) Maya I — Canelo Álvarez (May 4, 2019) Maya II — Tyson Fury (September 14, 2019) Mazahua — Heroes of Humanity (May 5, 2020) Otomi — Julio César Chávez and Jorge Arce (September 25, 2020) Frontline Battle — Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. (November 28, 2020) Health Care Hero — Errol Spence Jr. (December 5, 2020) Mestizo — Canelo Álvarez (May 8, 2021) Freedom 2021 — Jermall Charlo (June 19, 2021) Teotihuacan — Canelo Álvarez (November 6, 2021) Union — Tyson Fury (April 23, 2022) Celtic-Boricua — Katie Taylor (April 30, 2022) Ubuntu African Spirit — Ludumo Lamati (May 22, 2022) Guerrero Jaguar Zapoteca — Canelo Álvarez (September 17, 2022) Elizabethan — Claressa Shields (October 15, 2022) Diriyah — Tommy Fury (February 26, 2023) Puebla-Jalisco — Canelo Álvarez (May 6, 2023) Freedom 2023 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. (June 11, 2023) Puebla — Canelo Alvarez (September 30, 2023) Riyadh Champion — Tyson Fury (October 28, 2023) Super Bowl LVIII — Kansas City Chiefs (February 11, 2024) Tamaulipas I — Canelo Álvarez (May 4, 2024) Undisputed I — Oleksandr Usyk (May 18, 2024) Freedom 2024 — Gary Russell Sr. (posthumous) (June 14, 2024) Tamaulipas II — Canelo Álvarez (September 14, 2024) Rumble in the Jungle — Oleksandr Usyk (December 21, 2024) Guerrero Azteca I — Isaac Cruz (February 1, 2025) Super Bowl LIX — Philadelphia Eagles (February 9, 2025) Undisputed II — Dmitry Bivol (February 22, 2025) Homecoming — Tiara Brown (March 22, 2025) Kun Khmer — Government of Cambodia (March 31, 2025) Xicotencatl — Canelo Álvarez (May 3, 2025) Gray in May — Naoya Inoue (May 4, 2025) Freedom 2025 — Franchón Crews-Dezurn (June 6, 2025) Africa — Andrew Tabiti (June 13, 2025) Guerrero Azteca II — Manny Pacquiao and Sebastian Fundora (July 29, 2025) Nahui Huey Altepemeh — Terence Crawford (September 13, 2025) Reynosa Tamaulipas — Miguel Berchelt (October 11, 2025) Brooklyn Brawler — Danny Garcia (October 18, 2025) Dia de Muertos — Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Gabriela Sánchez (November 8, 2025) Super Bowl XX — Chicago Bears (November 8, 2025) Samurai — Takuma Inoue (November 24, 2025) Dėl šlovės — Egidijus Kavaliauskas (November 28, 2025) Mental Health — Noel Mikaelian (December 13, 2025) Tollan Tlatequi — David Benavidez (May 2, 2026)