WBO: The "World Title" of Germany and the UK

Whenever a boxing fan complains about "politics," he invariably means the shenagins of either a big promoter, or an "alphabet soup," one of the major sanctioning bodies that issue regional and world titles. These currently include the WBC, WBA, IBF, and the newest one to rise to widespread recognition, the World Boxing Organization. Although many fans secretly enjoy the drama provided by all the corruption and bizarre antics that are unique to boxing's sanctioning bodies, at the end of the day these are the same people who do us all a disservice by muddying the sport by giving it too many champions in too many weight divisions, all so they can have more title fights and earn more sanctioning fees.

For a more detailed look at what a sanctioning body does or is supposed to do, see my previous article on the oldest of the alphabet soups, the World Boxing Association (WBA).

The New Kid on the Block

The WBO got its start in 1988 when a group of Puerto Rican businessmen broke out of the venerable WBA claiming to be upset with their indifferently applied rules and questionable ranking system. In an effort to establish legitimacy, the new sanctioning group elected the popular former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres as their President. Torres left the post in 1996, and his successor Francisco Varcarcel has served as President ever since. Thus, the WBO joined the other alphabet soups in establishing a long-serving President who ran the organization as if it were his own private company.

Modern boxing has seen a proliferation of "alphabet soups," with many of these groups being considered irrelevant. The WBO's title was not recognized as a real world championship for several years. HBO, for example, refused to acknowledge the WBO title when it was being fought for on their network until relatively recently. The WBO had to earn acceptance by attracting and retaining talented fighters, and for many years was considered a "stepping stone belt," which a rising fighter would capture and then relinquish when offered a title fight for one of the more recognized championships (like the WBA). The WBO built its reputation through the long title reigns of featherweight Naseem Hamed and super middleweight Joe Calzaghe, and the many thrilling bouts between British middleweights over its title through the 1990s.

In its 20 year history, the WBO had been largely free of the scandalous behavior that has characterized other alphabet soups, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) in particular. There have been allegations of bribery to fix rankings, but nothing that has yet gone to court. However, the WBO does have a reputation as a sanctioning body that is very good to their established champions, pushing unworthy fighters up the rankings into the #1 slot and thus providing easy mandatory challenges. Despite being based in Puerto Rico, the group is sometimes described as the "world championship of Germany and the UK," since so many of their champions are from Europe and are promoted by interests from Germany and Britain.

However, the WBO had had its share of well-publicized scandals. In 2001, they moved Darrin Morris up their Super Middleweight rankings, despite Morris being dead. Varcarcel apologized for the embarrassing mistake, but was in the papers himself a few years later. In 2004, he was accused of statutory rape by a Dominican girl. He was exonerated of the charge in court, and it is rumored the entire incident was trumped up by rivals within the WBO to unseat Varcarcel.