It was partly a reflection of the bewildering number of boxing belts available when the oldest major sanctioning organisation in the world, the World Boxing Association, announced plans in late 2021 to reduce the number of titles it offers.
Then there are the World Boxing Organization, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Council, all bestowing recognised world titles across divisions ranging from 115lb strawweights to heavyweight man-mountains.
A unified champion carries at least one of those belts and an undisputed boxer carries all four. The Ring, meanwhile, attempts to make matters linear by rewarding ‘the man who beat the man’.
From Devin Haney to Oleksandr Usyk, The Sporting News keeps you updated with who owns each title.
MORE: What is The Ring belt?
Who is world heavyweight champion?
WBC: Tyson Fury
WBA: Oleksandr Usyk
WBO: Oleksandr Usyk
IBF: Oleksandr Usyk
The Ring: Oleksandr Usyk
Ukrainian icon Oleksandr Usyk — who had previously cleaned up in the cruiserweight division — became unified heavyweight champion with an upset victory over Anthony Joshua in September 2021.
He then retained the belts in Jeddah 11 months later, since speaking of his desire to take some time off to spend with his family amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
That means an undisputed clash with Tyson Fury is on ice for now, with the Brit holding the WBC title. He defeated Deontay Wilder in 2019 to take that strap, defending it against the American in 2021 and Dillian Whyte in 2022.
Fury recently retired (giving up his Ring title in the process) and un-retired, and is now waiting on his next opponent with reports of a fight with Anthony Joshua in December gathering pace.
Bridgerweight
WBC: Oscar Rivas
Colombian-Canadian Rivas, who unsuccessfully challenged Dillian Whyte for the then-vacant WBC interim heavyweight title in London in July 2019, won the inaugural WBC bridgerweight belt by unanimous decision against Ryan Rozicki in Montreal in October 2021.
As of September 2022, the WBC is the sole member of the four major boxing organisations to recognise the bridgerweight division.
Rivas, 35, had been set to fulfil a dream with a first defence in Colombia against Lukasz Rozanski in August 2022, only for his debut in his birth country to be postponed.
Cruiserweight
WBC: Ilunga Makabu
WBA: Arsen Goulamirian
WBO: Lawrence Okolie
IBF: Jai Opetaia
The Ring: Jai Opetaia
Usyk’s imprint remains heavy on the cruiserweight division, the former Olympic champion having held all of the belts until he vacated to make that successful move up to heavyweight in 2019.
Beibut Shumenov was briefly the WBA champion before Armenian-born Frenchman Goulamirian took over later that year because a fight between the two fell through when his would-be opponent failed to meet the terms of a purse bid.
Congolese-South African Makabu has been WBC king since January 2020, and former British champion Lawrence Okolie has defended the WBO title twice since winning it in March 2021.
Undefeated Australian Opetaia won the IBF and Ring straps with a win in July 2022 over three-time cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis, who had defended the belt once.
Light heavyweight
WBC: Artur Beterbiev
WBA: Dmitry Bivol
WBO: Artur Beterbiev
IBF: Artur Beterbiev
The Ring: Vacant
Despite his flawless 19-win previous record, Bivol had been a huge underdog to pull off the seismic win he recorded when the Russian successfully defended his WBA title for the ninth time by beating Canelo Alvarez on points in May 2022.
Unbeaten Russian-Canadian Beterbiev won the IBF title in November 2017, the WBC belt in October 2019 and the WBO strap in the most recent of his 18 professional fights, ending Joe Smith Jr’s run in the second round of their bout in New York in June 2022.
Super middleweight
WBC: Canelo Alvarez
WBA: Canelo Alvarez
WBO: Canelo Alvarez
IBF: Canelo Alvarez
The Ring: Canelo Alvarez
He may have missed out in his attempt to become light heavyweight champion but American pay-per-view ticket-spinner Canelo has bossed the super-middleweight division since stepping up in weight in December 2018.
Canelo saw off three previously unbeaten fighters on his way to all the belts – Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant – and successfully defend them against boxing legend Gennady Golovkin in September 2022 in a trilogy fight.
The pair drew in September 2017 and Canelo edged a decision victory over the man known as ‘GGG’ when they met again a year later. That same outcome followed in their third meeting.
Middleweight
WBC: Jermall Charlo
WBA: Gennady Golovkin
WBO: Janibek Alimkhanuly
IBF: Gennady Golovkin
The Ring: Vacant
Canelo vacated the Ring title in January 2021 to stay at super middleweight and was stripped after failing to negotiate terms for a bout against mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the IBF belt, which Golovkin won for a second time and has defended twice since.
Golovkin knocked out Ryota Murata to win the WBA title in Japan in April 2022, and unbeaten Jermall Charlo has defended the WBC belt four times since being promoted from interim champion in 2019, when Canelo was designated franchise champion, an agreement which gives him dispensation outside of the usual defence requirements.
Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly is awaiting his first bout as champion. Unbeaten in his 12 professional fights, the 29-year-old was promoted by the WBO after Demetrius Andrade, who had defended the belt five times, moved up to super middleweight.
Super welterweight
WBC: Jermall Charlo
WBA: Jermall Charlo
WBO: Jermall Charlo
IBF: Jermall Charlo
The Ring: Jermall Charlo
Undisputed champion Charlo has held the WBA, IBF and The Ring titles since beating Jeison Rosario in Connecticut in September 2020.
The only defeat of the 32-year-old American’s 37-fight career so far came when he lost the WBC title against Tony Harrison in December 2018, swiftly recovering the belt when he knocked out the same opponent almost exactly a year later.
Welterweight
WBC: Errol Spence Jr.
WBA: Errol Spence Jr.
WBO: Terence Crawford
IBF: Errol Spence Jr.
The Ring: Vacant
Former Olympian and US national champion Spence won the first of his world titles when he beat Kell Brook in Sheffield in May 2017 to become the IBF man to aim at, and the fighter known as ‘The Truth’ is thought to be close to agreeing a unification fight with fellow unbeaten American Terence Crawford, who has retained his WBO belt five times.
There has been no Ring champion since all-time great Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired from professional fights in 2015, vacating a title he had twice won.
Super lightweight
WBC: Vacant
WBA: Alberto Puello
WBO: Josh Taylor
IBF: Vacant
The Ring: Josh Taylor
Scotsman Josh Taylor became the first Briton to unify the super-lightweight straps by knocking out Jose Ramirez in 2021, vacating the IBF and WBC titles one fight later.
Taylor was also stripped of the WBA title after failing to sign the contract to face mandatory challenger Puello, who won the vacant championship with a split-decision win over Batyr Akhmedov in Florida in August 2022.
Lightweight
WBC: Devin Haney
WBA: Devin Haney
WBO: Devin Haney
IBF: Devin Haney
The Ring: Devin Haney
You may notice a pattern in the lightweight division. At 23, American Haney became undisputed champion with a points win over George Kambosos Jr. in June 2022, although the boxer with the nickname of ‘The Dream’ will meet Kambosos in the challenger’s native Australia again in October 2022.
Feared Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko was designated the WBC franchise champion shortly before Haney succeeded him to collect the first of the world titles he now owns.
MORE: Do we really want a Devin Haney vs. George Kambosos rematch?
Super featherweight
WBC: Shakur Stevenson
WBA: Hector Garcia
WBO: Shakur Stevenson
IBF: Joe Cordina
The Ring: Shakur Stevenson
Former featherweight champion Stevenson won the WBO belt by beating Joel Gonzalez in 2019 and defeated Oscar Valdez to add the WBC and The Ring titles, which he will defend against Robson Conceicao in September 2022.
Another 2016 Olympic Games star, Hector Garcia, beat Roger Gutierrez to become WBA champion the previous month, and ex-European amateur champion Cordina knocked out Kenichi Ogawa on home turf in Cardiff to claim the IBF crown in June 2022.
Featherweight
WBC: Rey Vargas
WBA: Leo Santa Cruz
WBO: Emanuel Navarrete
IBF: Josh Warrington
The Ring: Vacant
Englishman Warrington vacated the IBF belt in 2021 but won it again in March 2022, while former WBC super-bantamweight champion Vargas earned a split decision victory against Mark Magsayo three months later to claim their title at the heavier weight.
Mexican Santa Cruz has been WBA champion since 2017 despite losing to Gervonta Davis in October 2020, and Emanuel Navarrete has defended the WBO title three times since October 2020. There has not been a Ring champion in the division since Mikey Garcia moved to lightweight in 2013.
Super bantamweight
WBC: Stephen Fulton
WBA: Murodjon Akhmadaliev
WBO: Stephen Fulton
IBF: Murodjon Akhmadaliev
The Ring: Vacant
Akhmadaliev beat former unified champion Daniel Roman in January 2020 to win his titles, while Fulton picked up the WBO belt in January 2020 and added the WBC crown that November.
Fulton’s first defence came when he beat Roman in his most recent fight, winning by decision in June 2022. The Ring version has been vacant since Guillermo Rigondeaux was stripped in 2016 for failing to meet the requirement of fighting a top-five contender within 18 months.
Bantamweight
WBC: Naoya Inoue
WBA: Naoya Inoue
WBO: Paul Butler
IBF: Naoya Inoue
The Ring: Naoya Inoue
A tantalising unification bout in the bantamweight division is set to take place in December 2022 in Japan, when Butler will fight outside of the UK for the first time to meet Inoue and defend the WBO title he won against Jonas Sultan in Liverpool in April 2022.
Three-division champion Inoue won his titles while triumphing in the World Boxing Super Series in 2018 and 2019, beating Juan Carlos Payano, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Nonito Donaire.
Super flyweight
WBC: Jesse Rodríguez
WBA: Joshua Franco
WBO: Kazuto Ioka
IBF: Fernando Martínez
The Ring: Juan Francisco Estrada
Estrada – the WBC franchise champion after reigning for almost two years – was stripped of the WBA title after refusing to fight mandatory challenger Franco in August 2022, with Rodriguez successfully defending the WBC title once so far.
Martinez has a rematch in October 2022 when the Argentine will defend the IBF title he won from Jerwin Ancajas eight months earlier, while Ioka has defended the WBO belt five times since earning it at the second attempt in 2019.
Flyweight
WBC: Julio Cesar Martinez
WBA: Artem Dalakian
WBO: Junto Nakatani
IBF: Sunny Edwards
The Ring: Vacant
All four flyweight champions have defended their title at least twice, with Edwards reigning since September 2021, Nakatani winning his first fight outside of his native Japan since taking his title and Martinez keeping the strap he has held since 2019 despite losing to Roman Gonzalez in March 2022.
Ukrainian Dalakian has carried out five defences since 2018 to extend his perfect professional record to 21 wins with 15 knockouts. The Ring title has been vacant since Dalakian moved up in weight in 2016.
Light flyweight
WBC: Kenshiro Teraji
WBA: Hiroto Kyoguchi
WBO: Jonathan Gonzalez
IBF: Sivenathi Nontshinga
The Ring: Hiroto Kyoguchi
Kyoguchi and Ken Shiro will face each other for three titles in Japan in November 2022, and 23-year-old South African Nontshinga won the IBF belt by beating Hector Flores on a split decision in Mexico in September 2022.
Unbeaten Kyoguchi has carried out four defences since becoming Ring king in 2018, and diminutive former amateur champion Gonzalez beat Elwin Soto in California in October 2021 to claim the WBO crown he has defended once.
Strawweight
WBC: Panya Pradabsri
WBA: Knockout CP Freshmart
WBO: Masataka Taniguchi
IBF: Daniel Valladares
The Ring: Vacant
Former Muay Thai fighter Knockout CP Freshmart was pronounced the inaugural WBA Super strawweight champion in February 2020 after carrying out seven of his 11 defences so far in the three-and-a-half years before then.
Mexican Valladares is the most recent champion, beating Rene Mark Cuarto on a split decision in his homeland in July 2022. Pradabsri has spent four of his 40 professional fights as the WBC champ, and former Japanese champion Taniguchi won the WBO strap at the second attempt by defeating Wilfredo Mendez in Tokyo in December 2021.
The Ring is yet to launch a championship in the strawweight division.
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