Reflections: The WBA – would anyone miss them?

Reflections: Would anyone miss the World Boxing Association?

GBN's Scottish scribe, Donald C Stewart, questions whether anyone would miss the world's oldest governing body in boxing

It can trace itself right back to 1921.

The very first bout it recognised was Jack Dempsey vs George Carpentier, a heavyweight championship fight in New Jersey. Formed by 13 American states and representatives therein, it then morphed in 1962 from being the National Boxing Association to being the World Boxing Association (WBA).

For over a century the WBA is one of the major belts quoted but it has consistently been criticised for lacking the authority that you would expect of a world sanctioning body.

Now, as the Muhammad Ali Act is close to appeal, it feels like the time to take a minute. Time to look at why there are people with a financial interest in boxing, but who lack the heart to put the sport’s interests first. Do they have a legitimate reason for doubting the sport and its authorities’ authority?

The core ideal of the Ali Act was that there should be no monopoly within boxing. People who don't like the alphabet bodies, the WBA, the IBO, the IBF, the WBC, the WBO and the IBO would like to see a return to a single champion with one belt. They want the best to fight the best. They want Khan to have fought Brook, Pacquiao to have faced Mayweather, Fury take on Joshua or Golovkin share a ring with Canelo in their heyday.

Of course, we would all love to see that.

In that perfect world what about FIFA organising a football tournament without any politics?

A single body in charge of everything does not necessarily make harmony?

The WBA, however, have gone a lot further than most in sowing its own disharmony. The number of world champions they have at every level adds to the criticism levelled at boxing.

Why was his? Why have the WBA got the irregular option of a regular and super champion in each weight category? Money.

After the pandemic, the WBA struggled financially and required to get some pennies in through the door. By having more than one world champion – a regular and a super – they could charge more than one world championship sanctioning fee.

It made sense to somebody – probably an accountant.

What it did not make sense to is to the rest of us.

They vowed at one point to get rid of two and, like The Spice Girls, ensure they become one. They haven't. This has led to organizations like BoxRec refusing to recognize them.

Boxing News also, at one point, decided not to recognize any of the awarding or sanctioning bodies and to follow the Transnational Boxing rankings. The editor at the time, Matt Christie, was a Transnational Boxing board member. To be fair to Christie, I thought it bold and innovative and at least laid their ethos on the table rather than whispered in their corridors.

When Oleksandr Usyk gave up his belts, it has allowed several really decent contests to emerge. Are we really trying to push Filip Hrgovic and Moses Itauma back into the bottle? Who does not want to see Dubois/Wardley 2 after the first fight? And Agit Kabyel, Murat Gassiev have options – like Fury, Joshua, Parker, Teremoana, Okolie, Riakporhe, Sanchez… maybe, Wilder, Bakole, Allen, t’other Fury, Chisora…? Even anyone NOT signed to Queensberry…

The scattering of these belts has opened up the heavyweight division and people are more excited by what they hope to get out of the next fight because there is a possibility that there is a world title of some description on the line.

And to be fair to Gassiev, he is a decent fighter who holds the WBA regular title, elevated thanks to Usyk to the super title. He holds a world title legitimately and should be recognised as such.

But the good old WBA seems to like to take a gun, remove their shoes and socks and take aim at what is underneath on a regular basis.

Recently that included mistakenly issuing statements identifying Jarrell Miller as the official mandatory challenger, instead of Moses Itauma, for their heavyweight title. They were forced into issuing a public apology.

There have been a few strange decisions including champion Rene Santiago taking legal action. He was stripped of his title and designated champion in recess because of an elbow injury. Asking why an immediate interim bout wasn't arranged instead, where he would be able to fight the winner, he was left out in the cold, complained and began litigation.

Some contests have also put the bizarre into the ring surrounded by the weird. I think, particularly of Australian Lucas Browne who went to Chechnya to win the regular title then lost it in the drug testing afterwards – strangely being caught with an appetite suppressant. Odd thing to take if you are a bleeding big heavyweight.

I don't have a particular love for the WBC, WBO or the IBF but I do know that the IBO runs a system significantly less open to politics. Their current IBO title is lying vacant.

They have a pretty fine background and if you just pick on the IBO heavyweight champions, they're all there. Usyk, Joshua, Ruiz Jr., Fury, Klitschko, Lewis, Rahman and there are significant British names appear in other weight categories like Jack Massey, Ola Afolabi, Lyndon Arthur, Robin Reid, Brian McGee, Chris Eubank Jr, Leronne Richards, Sam Eggington, Mark Chamberlain, Adam Azim, Maxie Hughes, Anthony Cacace, Jazza Dickens, Shabazz Masood, Prince Patel…

As the Ali Act is getting closer and closer to being repealed and the possibility that those who have got the money behind them will get to do things they want to do, obliterate this era, then the ball as we say in Scotland is on the slates. Usyk’s decision opened up the opportunities to other fighters, the repeal of the Ali Act shuts all that down. Zuffa’s alleged determination is to get rid of sanctioning bodies and be the only one.

They have a point.

No matter how weak I may feel it is, that point is consistently given to them by … boxing. It may be too late to clean up their act, but the WBA needs to get serious about not repeating scenes like when Daniel Dubois went over to the Swimming Pool/Motel to win their heavyweight title in a Don King promotion.

To be fair, it kind of summed up the WBA at the time – bloated, living in the past and, given the flooding, all at sea. Boxing needs serious players to beat off these grifters. It’s time for change. It is, however, unlikely to get too radical in that change… but maybe once the Saudi money runs out, there shall be no place to hide any more.