Boxing Belts

Perhaps aside from professional wrestling, the sport of boxing has given us the biggest belts ever though these are not the types that we can fashionably wear everyday. Moreover boxing belts are not the ones that can be obtained so easily because they are not sold just in any malls or department stores.

For boxers, particularly the professionals will have to work and train so very hard before they can win any of the boxing belts given by the four prestigious boxing organizations of the world. In other words, they have to earn anyone of them with their sweat and blood both literally and figuratively.

In boxing, the four distinguished authorities in this sport are World Boxing Organization (WBO), World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA), and the International Boxing Federation. Each of these organization awards boxing belts to the champions of the different boxing weight classes. It is the foremost obsession among professional boxers; regardless of which weight class they belong to wear all the four priceless boxing belts around their waist.

In 2006, the WBO has technically awarded 18 boxing belts to different weight classes including that of the famous Oscar de la Hoya. One of the 18 belts is still in question which was awarded to Omar Niño Romero of Mexico in November. Because of the drug-test result, which showed that Romero was taking steroids prior to the actual fight, thus he was stripped off the belt. Right now, WBO belt for the light flyweight division is still to be awarded to whoever wins between the first two contending boxers.

For the WBA’s part it has given away last year a total of eleven championship boxing belts, 8 boxing belts are to be defended while 2 boxing titles are still vacant. These two boxing belts are for the super middleweight and light flyweight divisions. Interestingly WBA has it own list of boxers who are recognized as super boxing belt winners.

Topping the list among the heavyweight champs are Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield for the cruiserweight. Archie Moore and Virgil Hill topped the light heavyweight, while in the super middleweight Sugar Ray Leonard was the lone recipient. For the middleweight boxers Carlos Monzon and Thomas Hearns shared the honor while Sugar Ray Robinson was the only contender for the welterweight.

In other weight classes Antonio Cervantes and Kid Pambele tied for the junior welterweight, in the lightweight Roberto Duran was the lone awardee.  Gabriel “Flash Elorde, Sandy Sadler, and Wilfredo Gomez were awarded championships for the junior lightweight, featherweight and junior featherweight respectively. The remaining holders of the super boxing belts were Kaosay Galaxy for junior bantamweight, Pascual Perez for flyweight, Yoko Gushiken for junior flyweight, and finally Leo Gamez for the lightest weight class of all the minimum weight.

Earning these belts is not really very easy. It can already be understood why boxers don’t just give these belts so easily to their challengers.