This is Rummy’s Corner.
The International Boxing Federation was created in 1983.
Originally known as the United States Boxing Association International, and better known
today as the IBF, the sanctioning organization became well established in relatively quick
order, in large part because of Larry Holmes, “The Easton Assassin”.
The IBF recognized Holmes as their champion, and he accepted.
At that time Holmes had been the long reigning WBC and lineal heavyweight world champion,
and he relinquished the WBC belt and now held the IBF.
This provided the organization with instant credibility.
The World Boxing Organization was created 5 years later in 1988.
But unlike the situation with the IBF, it ultimately took many years before the WBO
became recognized as a major world title.
This begs the question - when exactly did the WBO become a major world title?
I mentioned that Larry was the one who helped the IBF gain instant credibility, and that
is largely true.
But more than 6 months prior to that, Marvelous Marvin Hagler squared off against Wilford
Scypion for the inaugural IBF middleweight title.
At that time Hagler was already the undisputed WBA/WBC middleweight world champion.
Scypion was the #1 ranked middleweight according to the WBC, and he was the #2 ranked middleweight
according to the WBA.
But strangely enough, neither of THOSE alphabet bodies actually sanctioned the bout.
The WBA and WBC both still recognized Hagler as their respective champion, but if Hagler
were to lose, both alphabet bodies declared their versions of the middleweight title would
become vacant.
But Hagler wouldn’t be losing on that night, and the Marvelous One knocked him out in round
4, adding the new IBF belt to his existing undisputed collection.
The reason I’m mentioning this is because it’s a good example of the absurdity of
boxing politics.
The fact that the WBA and WBC were almost rebelling against the emergence of the IBF
is personified by the alphabet politics surrounding Hagler’s bout with Scypion.
By the time the WBO came into existence, Mike Tyson had already become the undisputed heavyweight
world champion, and he did it the hard way winning 4 separate fights to obtain that distinction
- he beat Trevor Berbick for the WBC title, then he beat James “Bonecrusher” Smith
for the WBA belt, and he also defeated Tony Tucker for the IBF.
Tyson additionally earned a valid claim to the heavyweight lineal title when he beat
Michael Spinks.
Iron Mike Tyson was the baddest man on the planet, the undisputed king of the heavyweight
division.
In May 1989 Francesco Damiani became the first WBO heavyweight titlist.
But at the time the WBO was not a major world title.
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY at that time was demanding a bout between Tyson and Damiani.
The WBO was just a minor trinket.
In the heavyweight landscape, this remained true throughout the 1990s.
It was NOT a major world title.
Now that isn’t to say that some talented heavyweights didn’t hold claim to the WBO
heavyweight belt in the 1990s.
You had guys like “Mericless: Ray Mercer, Michael Moorer, Tommy “The Duke” Morrison,
and you also had “Doctor Ironfist”, Vitali Klitschko.
But the most notable WBO heavyweight titlist was probably Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe,
who defeated Herbie Hide to win the WBO belt in March 1995.
But nobody at that time considered Bowe a 2x heavyweight world champion, even if Bowe
was ironically viewed as the world’s top heavyweight at that time.
Even at the start of the broadcast, HBO correctly noted that Damiani was not a major world champion,
that he was merely a contender.
And then HBO’s Jim Lampley made a point to say this in the opening seconds of the
fight:
The title to which Michael Buffer referred in his prefight introductions is granted by
an organization which is not recognized by HBO, so for our purposes this is not a world
championship bout.
So throughout ALL of the 1990s, the WBO still was not viewed a major world championship.
But during that time it started gaining more credibility outside of the United States.
If guys like Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Larry Holmes were the pioneers that brought instant
credibility to the IBF in short order, then the pioneers for the WBO would, in my mind
at least, it probably starts with Dariusz Michalczewski.
Michalczewski held the minor WBO trinket when he challenged the unified WBA/IBF/lineal light
heavyweight world champion Virgil Hill.
The Tiger defeated Hill by 12 round unanimous decision to win the unified WBA/IBF crown,
and he also earned a valid claim to the lineage.
But then boxing politics reared its ugly head.
The WBA stripped Michalczewski a couple of weeks later for the sin of holding that blasphemous
WBO trinket alongside their precious WBA strap.
All for the sin of holding that WBO belt, which wasn’t even viewed as a major world
championship then to begin with.
And the IBF was forcing a mandatory on him 4 weeks after he won the belt, so he vacated.
Does this not remind you of the situation between Hagler and Scypion?
Scypion was the #1 ranked middleweight according to the WBC, and he was the #2 ranked middleweight
according to the WBA - but neither of them sanctioned the bout!
Whatever their reasons were for NOT sanctioning that bout, the two big dogs didn’t want
to share their block with a third dog.
And the situation with Michallczewski was the same exact type of thing.
But Michalczewski was, in my humble opinion, one of the early pioneers in the WBO making
the transition from minor to major.
Michalczewski continued making defenses of the WBO trinket, but at the same time - he
was the lineal light heavyweight world champion.
Meanwhile Roy Jones Junior had done something in the 90s very similar to what Mike Tyson
did in the 80s.Jones won the WBC light heavyweight belt in his rematch against Montell Griffin,
and then he won the WBA against Lou Del Valle, and then he won the IBF against Reggie Johnson.
So Roy did what Mike did - he unified all 3 major belts in his day.
The only difference was Mike went on to defeat the lineal heavyweight world champion Michael
Spinks.
Roy never did that at 175.
For whatever reason, the ultimate showdown between Jones and Michalczewski never came
together.
It reminds me a lot of the situation we’d see 10-15 years later with the whole drawn
out saga between Mayweather and Pacquiao - but those 2 did finally fight, whereas the ultimate
megadbout showdown at 175 never happened around the late 90s.
The point here is Michalczewski was popular in Germany, where the WBO was held in far
higher regard than it was in the US, but he won the lineal crown.
So when the IBF and WBA stripped Tiger in an unceremonious and shady way, they actually
helped the WBO gain credibility, which is kind of ironic.
Then you have the interesting case of someone like Joe Calzaghe.
His WBO reign began after he beat Chris Eubank a few months after Michalczewski defeated
Hill.
At the beginning of Calzaghe’s reign, the WBO was not considered a major world title,
and that was true for most of Calzaghe’s earlier defenses.
By the time Calzaghe unified against Jeff Lacy in March 2006, by then, the WBO was certainly
viewed as a major world title.
Calzaghe was another boxer who ultimately proved his greatness over the long haul, and
like Michalczewski, I think Joe is clearly one of the other early pioneers that helped
the WBO make the transition.
Then you have the Klitschko brothers, and they were making big waves in the late 90s
into the next decade, and I also think that - especially in the case of Wladimir when
he was a featured boxer on HBO - Wlad’s first WBO reign makes him another key pioneer
in the WBO making the transition.
But even as late as 2003, former Wlad conqueror Corrie Sanders vacated the WBO so he could
get a crack at the then more prestigious vacant WBC belt, when Doctor Ironfist avenged his
brother’s defeat to win the WBC belt.
Circling back to Calzaghe-Lacey, which happened in 2006 - there was another fight that happened
that year.
And that was the cruiserweight championship bout between O’Neil Bell and Jean-Marc Mormeck.
That title involved the Big 3 from the 80s and 90s - the WBA, WBC, and IBF were all on
the line, as well as the cruiserweight lineage.
But technically speaking, that fight was NOT for the undisputed cruiserweight crown, because
by that point in time the WBO was already recognized as a major world title, the same
year Calzaghe unified his WBO with Left Hook Lacy’s IBF.
I mention this because after Usyk recently beat AJ for the unified heavyweight crown
- I noted that he was the only undisputed cruiserweight champion in history not named
Evander Holyfield.
I stand by that.
Usyk and Holyfield were the only 2 undisputed cruiserweight champions, and that is not meant
as a criticism of Bell.
That’s just a reality.
So when exactly did the WBO become a major world title?
I believe the exact tangible point in time happened on September 18, 2004.
That was the night that Bernard Hopkins defended his undisputed IBF/WBC/WBA/lineal middleweight
crown against WBO champion Oscar De La Hoya.
That’s the answer!
It was the first time all 4 titles were ever on the line in the same championship contest,
and there were no alphabet shenanigans after the fact.
Bernard Hopkins became the first undisputed world champion in any weight class during
the 4 belt era.
For better or worse, it was at that point that the WBO’s credibility, and I use that
word loosely, but that was the tangible point in time when the WBO’s credibility truly
matched the other three alphabet bodies in professional boxing.
September 18, 2004.
The official arrival of the WBO.
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night!
This is Rummy’s Corner.