"Interim Titles" Boxing's Confusion

In boxing one of the big buzzwords of recent times has been the word "interim", be it "interim" champion or "interim" title the word has almost be used as much as "world" (again as in title or champion) but what actually is an "interim" champion and why is there so many of them?

Currently there is no less than 12 interim champions in professional boxing, often with out there being any major need for them. The definition of an interim champion is one who has won an interim title fight. According the WBC rules the following applies:

1.27 Interim Championship. The WBC may order an interim title bout when a world champion will be temporarily inactive and unable to defend his title for a period to exceed 6 months due to:
a) certified medical reasons
b) a legal impediment; or
c) reasonable cause strictly beyond his control.

Effectively what this means is if the champion is unable to defend his belt for reasons outside of his immediate control the awarding body will award a secondary title to the winner of a bout. The idea is that the Interim and the "regular" champion will meet to decide the actual champion some where down the line. Supposedly this should be done as soon as possible, though it's rarely that simple and rarely do the organisations keep within the guidelines above. In fact the WBC (who only have 1 interim champion) have actually broken their own rules to award Sebastian Zbik his WBC Interim title at Middleweight.

The idea behind them is simple, it's to have a champion when the champion can't fight, this means that if the (proper) champion is forced to retire or move up a division the awarding body still has a champion. And it does have it's advantages, such as when WBC Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko was forced to retire in the mid 00's (before his 2008 comeback) a title went to their #1 fighter (and interim champion Hasim Rahman). Otherwise it seems to have become yet another way for the awarding body's to get their slice of the pie in financial sanctioning fees for what is effectively a backup champion giving them money. In fact in some cases the "interim" seems to be nothing more than another revenue stream for the awarding bodies, who have in some cases 3 separate champions in a single weight division.

What was seen as a good idea to not force champions to be stripped if they were injured, ill or had other problems (like the sad case of Robert Guerrero who's wife is currently battling cancer, who we all wish the best for) has become an over abused system to further confuse the sports fans and line the pockets of the boards.

Current "interim" champions: (By organisation)
Juan Carlos Reveco (WBA Light Flyweight)
Luis Concepcion (WBA World flyweight)
Celestino Caballero (WBA Featherweight)*
Jorge Solis (WBA Super Featherweight)
Miguel Acosta (WBA Lightweight)*
Marcos Rene Maidana (WBA Light Welterweight)
Nobuhiro Ishida (WBA Light Middleweight)

Sebastian Zbik (WBC Middleweight) (who oddly defends this title on the same night as "proper champion" Kelly Pavlik fights Sergio Martinez)*

Johnriel Casimero (WBO Light Flyweight) (who defends this title on the same CARD as "proper champion" Ivan Calderon faces Jesus Iribe)
Eric Morel (WBO Bantamweight)
Michael Katsidis (WBO Lightweight)
Alfredo Angulo (WBO Light Middleweight)

*The WBA actually recognise 3 separate champions here, they have a "Super" champion, a "World" champion and the "Interim"

*The WBC had just 5 months between Pavlik's defence against Marco Antonio Rubio and Zbik winning the interim title against Domenico Spada. Not only do they fight on the same night next time out, but last time they fought was also on the same night, yet there seems to be little talk of fight to decide the true champion.

Please also note Selcuk Aydin fights Luiz Collazo for the Interim WBC Welterweight title in June 2010 whilst the WBO Super Flyweight title is up for grabs in May. Whilst there may be other interims, on the whole they've only been ignored from this list if they are next fighting for a "regular" title.

There is NO current IBF Interim champions.

Sources:
ESPN.com
Boxrec.com