International Boxing Association - AIBA

Year 3 000 B.C.

The first proof of pugilism was found in Egypt and dates back to year 3000 BC. The fighters were naked and part of the King's festivities. For years and years, boxing continuously evolved and was first accepted as an Olympic sport in 688 BC at the 23rd Olympiad in Olympia. Onomastos of Smyrna became the first Olympic champion. More that 2,600 years later, boxing remains on the Olympic Games programme. The first boxing competition at the Olympic Games of modern times was the 1904 edition in St-Louis (USA) with bouts in seven weight divisions.

From FIBA to AIBA

Several years later, representatives of the national associations of England, France, Belgium, Brazil and the Netherlands met in a preparatory conference for the foundation of an international boxing federation: The Fédération Internationale de Boxe Amateur (FIBA). The official foundation of FIBA was celebrated on August 24th 1920 during the Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. International competition grew rapidly allowing amateurs to compete in prestigious tournaments.

In November 1946, a new start was given to boxing's governing body in order to regain some of the loss of credibility caused by the behaviour of some leading officials during World War II. FIBA was dissolved and the English Amateur Boxing Association, in partnership with the French Boxing Federation, decided to create AIBA; the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur.

Now, 60 years later, AIBA continues to govern Olympic Games boxing while AIBA's new president Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu takes boxing into a new era.

The word "amateur" is no longer used, while the shape of boxing throughout the world is changing its image through a new logo and revolutionary competition guidelines.

WSB (World Series of Boxing)

A Franchise professional boxing league owned by the ‘International Boxing Association’ AIBA. It is the only professional boxing organization were the participants may retain their Olympic status.

HBO World Championship Boxing is a sports television series, premiering in January 1973 that has shown a number of significant boxing events in the last three decades.

HBO World Championship Boxing premiered live on HBO Canada on January 24, 2024 at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT.

WBC The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos, to form an international boxing organization that would achieve the unity of all commissions of the world to control the expansion of boxing.

The WBC is one of four major organizations recognized by International Boxing Hall of Fame which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the IBF, WBA and WBO.

IBF The International Boxing Federation, is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.

The IBF is preceded by the United States Boxing Association (USBA), a regional championships organization like the NABF, NABC and NABA. In 1983, at the WBA's annual convention, held in Puerto Rico that year, Bob Lee, president of the USBA, lost in his bid to become WBA president against Gilberto Mendoza. Lee and others withdrew from the convention after the election, and decided to organize a new world-level organization. At first, the new group was named the USBA-International. They decided to base the new organization in New Jersey, where its main offices are still located.

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. Its offices are located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The WBO started after a group of Puerto Rican and Dominican businessmen broke out of the World Boxing Association's 1988 annual convention in Isla Margarita, Venezuela over disputes regarding what rules should be applied.

The WBO was made popular by boxers such as Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Ronald "Winky" Wright, Naseem Hamed, Verno Phillips, Michael Carbajal, Johnny Tapia, Harry Simon, Jermain Taylor, Nigel Benn, Paul "Silky" Jones, Gerald McClellan, Joe Calzaghe, Steve Collins, Daniel Santos, Michael Moorer, Dariusz Michalczewski, Chris Eubank, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko and Chris Byrd.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) (Spanish: Asociacion Mundial de Boxeo) is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962. It is the oldest of the major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Organization.

The original sanctioning body of professional boxing, the World Boxing Association can be traced back to the original National Boxing Association, organized in 1921; the first bout recognized by the organization being the Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpentier Heavyweight Championship bout in New Jersey, USA.

World Professional Boxing Federation WPBF : Founded in 2001, the history of World Professional Boxing Federation can be traced back to its predecessors, the World Boxing Syndicate (WBS) and the World Boxing Empire (WBE). On October 20, 2005, the United States Boxing Council (USBC) became affiliated with the WPBF. The WBE was renamed The World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) on July 6, 2006. Its inaugural super heavyweight title fight took place in Annandale, Virginia, USA on March 9, 2002, between Mitch Green and Danny Wofford. On December 19, 2007, the WBE officially signed an agreement that incorporated it with the World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF).

The International Boxing Union (IBU) was created June 1911 in Paris, France. It was an attempt to create a unified international governing body for professional boxing. Signators of the Protocol for the IBU were: Paul Rousseau (President of Fédération Française de Boxe et de Lutte) for France; Fred Tilbury (an Englishman, Master of Boxing, and President of Fédération Belge de Boxe) for Belgium; and Victor Breyer (President of Société Française de Propagation de la Boxe Anglaise), having an official mandate by the New York State Athletic Commission, and consequently acting on behalf of some American boxing authorities. Switzerland joined the IBU in November 1913.

The International Boxing Council (IBC)

International Female Boxers Association

The IFBA has adopted the Rules of the Association of Boxing Commissions:

All championship bouts will be for 10 rounds.

All bouts will be 2 minutes in duration with a 1 minute rest period between rounds.

There is a 10-point must system.

There is a mandatory 8 count after knockdowns.

There is no standing 8 count.

There is no 3 knockdown rule.

A boxer who has been knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any round.

The referee is the sole arbiter and the only one authorized to stop a contest.