Below are amateur and professional boxing organizations, the sanctioning bodies of boxing that sponsor championship fights and award titles (belts). Some consider the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) to be the only legitimate ones and refer to the others as alphabet soup (abbreviations of sanctioning bodies that have sprung up since the 1980s that award what serious boxing fans consider worthless titles.)
Professional Boxing Sanctioning Bodies
- ABC
Association of Boxing Commissions - BBBoC
British Boxing Board of Control (1929) - CBF
Canadian Boxing Federation (1925) - EBU
European Boxing Union (1946) - GBU
Global Boxing Union - IBA
International Boxing Association (1996) - IBF-USBA
International Boxing Federation/United States Boxing Association (1983) - IBO
International Boxing Organization (1992) - IFBA
International Female Boxers Association (1997) - NABA
North American Boxing Association - NABC
North American Boxing Council (1999) - NABF
North American Boxing Federation (1969) - NBA II
National Boxing Association II (1984) - WAA
World Athletic Association (1981) - WBA
World Boxing Association (1921) - WBA Womens
WBA Womens (Division of NABA) - WBC
World Boxing Council (1963) - WBF
World Boxing Foundation (2004) - WBO
World Boxing Organization (1988) - WBU
World Boxing Union (1994) - WIBF
Womens International Boxing Federation (1990s)
Amateur Boxing Sanctioning Bodies
- AIBA
Amateur International Boxing Association - EABA
European Amateur Boxing Association - Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves of America - USA Boxing
USA Olympic Boxing
Also see state and local boxing commissions.