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Boxing Belts
Perhaps aside from professional wrestling, the sport of boxing has given us
the biggest belts ever though these are not the types that we can
fashionably wear everyday. Moreover boxing belts are not the ones that can
be obtained so easily because they are not sold just in any malls or
department stores.
For boxers, particularly the professionals will have to work and train so
very hard before they can win any of the boxing belts given by the four
prestigious boxing organizations of the world. In other words, they have to
earn anyone of them with their sweat and blood both literally and
figuratively.
In boxing, the four distinguished authorities in this sport are World Boxing
Organization (WBO), World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA),
and the International Boxing Federation. Each of these organization awards
boxing belts to the champions of the different boxing weight classes. It is
the foremost obsession among professional boxers; regardless of which weight
class they belong to wear all the four priceless boxing belts around their
waist.
In 2006, the WBO has technically awarded 18 boxing belts to different weight
classes including that of the famous Oscar de la Hoya. One of the 18 belts
is still in question which was awarded to Omar Niño Romero of Mexico in
November. Because of the drug-test result, which showed that Romero was
taking steroids prior to the actual fight, thus he was stripped off the
belt. Right now, WBO belt for the light flyweight division is still to be
awarded to whoever wins between the first two contending boxers.
For the WBA’s part it has given away last year a total of eleven
championship boxing belts, 8 boxing belts are to be defended while 2 boxing
titles are still vacant. These two boxing belts are for the super
middleweight and light flyweight divisions. Interestingly WBA has it own
list of boxers who are recognized as super boxing belt winners.
Topping the list among the heavyweight champs are Joe Louis and Muhammad
Ali, Evander Holyfield for the cruiserweight. Archie Moore and Virgil Hill
topped the light heavyweight, while in the super middleweight Sugar Ray
Leonard was the lone recipient. For the middleweight boxers Carlos Monzon
and Thomas Hearns shared the honor while Sugar Ray Robinson was the only
contender for the welterweight.
In other weight classes Antonio Cervantes and Kid Pambele tied for the
junior welterweight, in the lightweight Roberto Duran was the lone awardee.
Gabriel “Flash Elorde, Sandy Sadler, and Wilfredo Gomez were awarded
championships for the junior lightweight, featherweight and junior
featherweight respectively. The remaining holders of the super boxing belts
were Kaosay Galaxy for junior bantamweight, Pascual Perez for flyweight,
Yoko Gushiken for junior flyweight, and finally Leo Gamez for the lightest
weight class of all the minimum weight.
Earning these belts is not really very easy. It can already be understood
why boxers don’t just give these belts so easily to their challengers.
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