WBA Withdraws Interim Boxing Titles With Immediate Effect

There will be a significant reduction in the number of belts in boxing thanks to the World Boxing Association (WBA).

On Wednesday, the sanctioning body announced effectively immediately that all interim titles would be withdrawn and that no interim champions would be recognized barring any extreme circumstances.

“The Championships Committee decided that all Interim Championship titles are withdrawn with immediate effect,” Carlos Chavez, chairman of the WBA Championship Committee said (via Boxing Scene). “With immediate effect, the now former Interim Champions shall not defend their respective Championships as such anymore.

“At the discretion of the President and the Championships Committee, the Championship Committee will consider the former Interim Champions as leading contender to the World Champion of the Association, either to challenge for the Championship as Official Challenger directly, or, as the case may be, to participate in an elimination bout of Box-off to determine the Official Challenger in their respective division. WBA Rule C.33 shall expressively be applicable.”

The process to phase the interim titles out began earlier this month with the WBA planning on going through all the divisions in the coming days.

Any current interim champion will be made a mandatory while anyone refusing to participate in “ordered title fights and consolidation bouts will be demoted or removed from the rankings altogether.”

More details are expected soon, but overall, this is a great move considering how often it has been complained about there being too many belts in boxing.

Hopefully, the other sanctioning bodies follow suit.