The World Boxing Union (WBU) is a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative Jon W Robinson. It sanctioned boxing with various promoters worldwide
The WBU had a 'golden' period between 1996-2006 when its title contests were often shown live on satellite and terrestrial television. The WBU title during this time could be compared with the early days of the WBO.
WBU titles have been held by the likes of Ricky Hatton, George Foreman, Thomas Hearns, Baby Jake Matlala, James Tony, Johnny Nelson and Micky Ward (in reality he was "The Fighter").
In 2011, after several failed attempts to purchase the assets of the UK based WBU, the WBU [1]was reformed in the United States of America under the new stewardship of Don “Moose” Lewis - President of men’s professional boxing sanctioning body the IBU-International Boxing Union, Inc., the WAA-World Athletic Association, Inc. and the WIBC-Women’s International Boxing Council, Inc. The current WBU Executive Committee has acknowledged that the post Jon W. Robinson WBU has lacked leadership and direction and has begun the task of re-establishing the WBU as a world-wide sanctioning body while embracing the legacy of the late Mr. Robinson.
The World Boxing Union, under the stewardship of Mr Lewis, is recognised by the Association Of Boxing Commissioners [2]
The WBU had it first recognized World title under reorganization on 10 September 2011 when former “The Contender” television show participant Jimmy Lange defeated Raul Munoz by TKO in round 6 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. This was to catapault the WBU to a banner year in 2012 with new champions crowned and a world title even changing hands.
In 2013 Mr Lewis joined forces with Gianluca Di Caro -the founding Vice President of the Malta Boxing Commission [3] and former Marketing Director of the WBF - to create WBU Europe [4][5]
In October 2013 it was announced that Mark Prince and Marianne Marston would be the first to compete for WBU Europe titles [6]
Further World Boxing Union bouts were announced [7] including Roy Jones Jr. versus Bobby Gunn for the WBU Cruiserweight World title [8]
In November 2013 it was announced that former WBU Light Middleweight Champion Wayne Alexander joined the board of the WBU Europe [9]
List of WBU Heavyweight Champions[]
WBU heavyweight champions have included:[10]
| Name | Duration of reign | Defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 George Foreman
|
March 29, 1995 – 1997 | 2 | Foreman was recognized as champion after he was stripped of the IBF title |
| File:Flag of South Africa.svg Corrie Sanders | November 15, 1997 – May 20, 2000 | 3 | Defeated Ross Purity |
| Hasim Rahman
|
May 20, 2000 – April 21, 2001 | 0 | Relinquished the title in order to fight Lennox Lewis for the IBF, IBO and WBC titles |
| File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Nelson | November 24, 2001 – December 4, 2001 | 0 | Defeated Alexander Vasiliev. Relinquished the title in order to concentrate on defending his WBO Cruiserweight title |
| File:Flag of Georgia.svg Georgi Kandelaki | December 21, 2002 – January 2004 | 0 | Defeated Alexander Vasiliev. Kandelaki either relinquished or was stripped of the title |
| File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Matt Skelton | February 25, 2005 – January 26, 2009 | 0 | Skelton relinquished the title |
Other past WBU champions have include James Toney, Thomas Hearns, Micky Ward, Enzo Maccarinelli, Ricky Hatton, Angel Manfredy and Hamid Rahimi.
See also[]
Other world organizations[]
- International Boxing Association
- International Boxing Council
- International Boxing Federation
- International Boxing Organization
- International Boxing Union
- World Boxing Association
- World Boxing Council
- World Professional Boxing Federation
- World Boxing Organization
- European Boxing Federation
- World Boxing Federation
References[]
- ↑ http://wbuboxing.org
- ↑ http://www.abcboxing.com/
- ↑ http://maltaboxingcommission.com/
- ↑ http://wbueurope.eu
- ↑ http://boxscorenews.com/world-boxing-union-launch-wbu-europe-inaugural-titles-headline-nov-th-lo-p66520-69.htm
- ↑ http://philboxing.com/news/story-88787.html
- ↑ http://firstclassboxing.com/harry-joe-yorgey-is-ready-for-wbu-title-clash-with-lee-murtagh/
- ↑ http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/roy-jones-and-bobby-gunn-to-face-off-in-philly-229965
- ↑ http://fightnetwork.com/news/42766:former-wbu-champ-wayne-alexander-joins-wbu-europe-board/
- ↑ "Steve Dimitry's Heavyweight Boxing History". Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20071208094555/http://www.geocities.com/sdimitry/boxing3.html. Retrieved 3 November 2007.