Espn Boxing Article

Boxing Belt Champions

The World Boxing Council originated with 12 countries, including, the United States, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Venezuela, United Kingdom, Peru, France, Chile, Mexico, Panama and the Philippines. The object was to work towards unity and have a governing body over the sport of boxing.

The sport of boxing awards champions with a variety of belts. They are certainly well earned and each carries a level of distinction that was most likely won with a great deal of blood and sweat.

There four authorities in the sport including the World Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation. All of these award belts to champions of the various weight classes. It's a sign of great achievement in the world of boxing.

In the past couple of years, the World Boxing Association has awarded over 18 belts in a variety of weight classes including the well known boxers Oscar Lay Hoya and Mohammed Ali. There have been some boxers that have been stripped of their belts because they failed drug tests and were found to be taking steroids.

There are a variety of heavyweight champions including Joe Louis, Muhammed Ali, Archie Moore, Evander Holyfield, and Virgil Hill. In the super middle weight category, Sugar Ray Leonard is the reigning champ. The middle weight boxing champs are Thomas Hearns and Carlos Monzon.

In the sport of boxing, points are given for clean, direct hits that are legal, and higher points are recorded for strikes to the head. The boxer with the most points wins. A boxer may win if his opponent is knocked down and unable to get up. Or if a player is injured and cannot continue to box, the win will be recorded as a technical knockout.

The boxing world has hall of fames which are the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. The International hall of Fame was established in 1982 in Canastota, New York. Those honored there include Carmen Basilio, a middleweight champion and Billy Backus a welterweight champion. Other inductees have been Jack Johnson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammed Ali and Archie Moore, Csrlos Monzon, Beau penning, Azumah Nelson, Tony Tubbs and Ken Buchanan.

The current heavyweight champions include Nicolay Valuev and Wladimir Klitschko. In the light heavyweight category, Silvio Branco and Clinton Woods. In the middleweight category, Mariano Carrera and Arthur Abraham. In the welterweight category, Miguel Cotto and Kermit Clinton. In the lightweight division, Juan Diaz and Julio Diaz. In the featherweight division, Chris John and Robert Guerrero. In the cruiserweight division, Valery Brudov and Jean Mormeck. In the super middleweight the champions are Mikkel Kessler and Alejandro Berrio. In the junior welterweight division, the title holders are Junior Witter and Lovemore Ndou.