Talk:List of undisputed world boxing champions

The WBO era
First, let me say that this page definitely needs a stated criteria at the top. With that said, here are my thoughts on how the WBO fits into the "undisputed" puzzle. The WBO may have formed in the 80s, but unlike the IBF which gained instant recognition because of Larry Holmes, the WBO really did not gain recognition until the last year or two. I'd say the two major turning points for the WBO were Bernard Hopkins unifying all four titles and Joe Calzaghe reaching 20 defenses of his WBO crown. Hopkins adding De La Hoya's WBO title to his undisputed championship allowed the WBO for the very first time to have their belt held by someone who had universal recognition as champion. As long as the top champions didn't hold the WBO title, it was very easy to dismiss it as a fringe belt. As for Calzaghe, the media wanted to cover his 20th defense as being historically significant, but how do you do that when you don't recognize his belt? It finally put ESPN & HBO over the edge and forced them to start acknowleding the WBO title.

The whole holding 3 of the 4 titles = undisputed really only starts when Taylor gets all 4, gives up 1, and then still bills the Hopkins rematch as being for the undisputed championship. Other than that, every undisputed championship bout has been for the "big 3" (or the big 2 pre-IBF). It will be interesting to see if fights in the future are billed as being for the undisputed title when the WBO + 2 of the big 3 are at stake. Until then, I don't really know if the criteria should be listed as anything other than WBA+WBC+IBF = undisputed. This is supposed to be an encyclopedia, not a crystal ball. Until the promoters & networks show otherwise, the criteria clearly seems to be WBA+WBC+IBF = undisputed champion. The only justification for listing the WBO on this page is perhaps the WBA rules clearly stating 3 belts = undisputed and 4 = super. 24.175.203.91 19:27, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

If you noticed there arent any undisputed champions with three belts with WBO combination. If that were the case, then Dariusz Michalczewski would be on the list. The fourth line is mearly recognition, doesn't necessarily mean that any 3 belt  w/ WBO combination makes them the undisputed champion. Also remember that this page is editable..... Maya Levy 04:52, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Beginnings
Maya.

What are the criteria for being listed on this page? Is the following what you have in mind?


 * No one before the creation of the WBC (1963) as the WBA's rival.
 * 1963–1983, a boxer who held both the WBA and WBC titles simultaneously.
 * 1983–1988, a boxer who held the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles simultaneously.
 * 1988–Present, a boxer who simultaneously held at least 3 of the 4 titles from the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO.

Whatever it is, it should be explained at the top of the article.

Love, ArcTheLad 21:30, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I didn't have the time I thought I did when I created it due to Passover and college assignments. It was a tad hurried. Maya Levy 17:28, 15 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Why isn't Dariuz Michalczweski considered a undisputed light heavyweight champion? He held the WBA, WBO and IBF belt after his victory over Virgil Hill. If RJJ is considered undisputed, who only picked up DM's vacated belts, he should be in that list. Jones was never the lineal light heavyweight champion. --Asdf01 12:00, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

The list of champions doesn't seem to be in any kind of order. I think they should be in chronological order.

By the way, I think from 1983 to the present, the "undisputed" title should go to a boxer who simultaneously held the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. I know that the WBO was created in 1988 and various other sanctioning bodies were created in the 90s, but from what I know about boxing, these don't receive as much respect as the "big three." And if you didn't do that, then Mike Tyson wouldn't be considered to have been an "undisputed" champion for a good part of his glory days in the late 80s.


 * I would ignore the WBO title. Its boxing biggest joke.

Lets not categorize which organizations are jokes. The WBA has three simultaneous champions in the Cruiserweight division at the current moment.Maya Levy 05:47, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed was NEVER the undisputed champion of the featherweight division. He only held IBF and WBO titles simultaneously, and later WBC and WBO simultaneously. He vacated the IBF belt in 1997 and later won the WBC belt in 1999 and then vacated both of his WBO and WBC belts in 2000. Do a title search in boxrec.com Maya Levy 04:09, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Nassem Hamed
While what that person said is true consider this, Hamed did beat the WBO champ Robinson, the IBF champ Johnson, the WBC champ Soto, and Vazquez who was the WBA champion and was stripped for taking the Hamed bout. It is important to note that Vazquez never lost his title in the ring. After Hamed won the WBO title he beat all of the other major beltholders in a 2 year span. The belts don't make the fighter, the fighter makes the belts. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Connman21 (talk • contribs) 03:28, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

Hamed with no question had a distinguished career but whether you considered him the true champion, lineal champion, or recognized champion is open to discussion however, he had to hold atleast three belts simultaneously at that time to be the undisputed champion of the world.

Sugar Ray Leonard was the lineal welterweight champion (shown below), but until he defeated Thomas Hearns he was considered the undisputed welteweight champion of the world.

Undisputed Champ @ 1975 was Napoles, who then gave up the WBA so the WBC champs represented the lineal champ which went in order: Napoles > Stracey  > Palomino > Benitez > Leonard > Duran > Leonard. Maya Levy 00:45, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Unknown Poster
While it is open to interpretation over whether Hamed was truly the undisputed champion at Featherweight under the simultaneously holding all the belts "clause." I am growing frustrated that you, the unknown poster, have continually edited the page incorrectly. Do not place Hamed between Saldivar and his write-up. If you want to put Hamed's name on the list do so underneath the two undisputed champions. Thank you.

Taylor
I have noticed the write up for middleweight champion Jermain Taylor says that he lost his "undisputed" status for refusing to fight Abraham, but shouldn't a fight that holds "three belts simultaneously" still be considered undisputed? Taylor still holds the WBC, WBO, and is the WBA super champion.

Actually he was stripped of his WBA championship status, it was my fault I didn't consider the WBO recognition I'll correct it.Maya Levy 14:51, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

David Haye
Isn't he theundisputed cruiserweight champion as well? If Joe Calzaghe has the WBA/WBC/WBO belts, the same as Haye, and he's the undisputed super middleweight, then why isn't Haye the undisputed cruiserweight champion?--69.131.125.234 (talk) 19:56, 24 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I believe Haye was considered undisputed since he beat the last undisputed champion Jean Marc Mormeck. Maya Levy talk 23:10, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Haye was never undisputed, he did not hold the prestigious IBF World title and never fought Tomasz Adamek.ClaudioProductions (talk) 10:33, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

Undisputed Heavyweight 2008?
Surely under the current rules Wladimir Klitschko shouldn't be listed here? He only holds 2 of the 4 major belts. The IBO version doesn't count. Snooty30 (talk) 21:39, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't know who added that but i have removed it.--Greatestrowerever (talk) 20:01, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Władymir Klitscho has 3 belts now IBF WBA and WBO and he is undisputed champion for sure.

Middleweight
Is there a reason there are no middleweights listed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by RonSigPi (talk • contribs) 22:01, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Light heavyweight
Having the IBF, WBA and WBC makes you the unidsputed LH champion. You dont need a Lineal title. The linal title does not really exist anymore and look at Mike Tyson, he became unidsputed after he beat Tony Tucker. Even though Spinks was the lineal. Does that mean that Tyson was not undisputed until he beat Spinks? NO!David-golota (talk) 15:03, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Not necessarily. Dariusz Michalczewski was the true world light heavyweight champion, so how on earth could Jones have been the undisputed champion? DM was the Lineal, WBO, and true WBA/IBF champion. Jones wasn't even WBC title holder after Rochigianni beat Nunn.

Even if some didn't recognize DM as the world light heavyweight champion, he had a far greater claim than Jones, so there's no way Jones could be recognized as "undisputed champion".

Jones had the most bogus claim to be undisputed champion in history. He's never beaten a Lineal or unified champion in his whole career.

"Does that mean that Tyson was not undisputed until he beat Spinks? NO!"

Erm, yes it does. Tyson wasn't regarded as the world heavyweight champion until he beat Spinks. The Lineal champion was *the* world champion, regardless of any ABC titles. Learn something about the history of the sport kid, then we can talk.31.111.100.129 (talk) 23:23, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Yeah the lineal title is just so important. Look at Shannon Briggs getting a robbery win against Foreman. The Lineal title is not anything. People can agree and disagree who is the best. But the thing is that being Undisputed is nothing compared to be Lineal. YES DM was the Lineal and the best, but he did not have the "papper" titles.

Being Undisputed does not mean you are the best in the divison. But having all the titles mean you are Undisputed. Thank You. David-golota (talk) 23:54, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

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Women's Boxing undisputed title history
For those who are familiar with the early history of women's boxing. How do we classify their undisputed champions? For example, was Holly Holm at one point undisputed welterweight champion because she held all the belts at the time when she fought (WBA, WBC)? How about Laila Ali, when she won the WIBF, WIBA, IBA titles, which was pre WBA-WBC women's title? I think the best way to sum this up is what were the major titles pre WBA-WBC, and/or a detailed era/year of women's equivalent to the men's two-belt, three-belt, and four-belt era. I'm sure men's and women's four belt era didn't start together (2007 for men's) because IBF and WBO didn't award belts for women's boxing in 2007. Thanks. If we could figure this out, then we could also separate men's and women's pages so that it wouldn't be too overwhelming. BlizzyBlizz (talk) 12:39, 20 June 2022 (UTC)

List of undisputed (Women) world boxing champions
Hi, the current article is amazing but can I recommend the creation of one exclusively for women boxing champs? IoWiki2023 (talk) 23:43, 26 February 2023 (UTC)