Boxing guide: The difference between organizations WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO

The World Boxing Association (WBA)

Photo via Instagram (@wbaboxingofficial)

Now based in Panama, WBA is the oldest of the four organizations and can be traced back to the original National Boxing Association which was organized in the US back in the 1920’s.

The WBA used to recognize up to four world champions in any of their own weight divisions, which needless to say led to a lot of confusion, but in 2021 they started to eliminate interim titles as a way to return to one single champion per weight class.

Like all the big boxing sanctioning organizations, the WBA has been plagued with controversies like charges of corruption, bribes and unfair ranking system.