Two British belts in the battle with Usyk will not be played
On August 26, Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois will fight for four heavyweight titles. At stake in the fight in Wroclaw will be the belts of the World Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Organization (WBO), the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the International Boxing Organization (IBO) belonging to the Ukrainian. At the same time, the title of the “regular” WBA champion, which Dubois owns, will not be put on the line (it will become free). As well as two minor regional belts – the British Boxing Control Council (BBBofC) and the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC). Both at one time tried to conquer Dubois, one of them – SVS – is currently vacant.
What you need to know about these organizations
The British Boxing Control Council was established in the late 1920s. The mission of the organization is to oversee British professional boxing, sanctioning and holding championship fights, arbitration and disciplinary sanctions, issuing licenses to boxers, referees and other officials working in boxing matches. It was the committee that created the Empire and Commonwealth Championship Committee in the mid-1950s with the aim of holding championship fights and identifying the best professional boxers in the British Empire. After the collapse of the empire, the organ was renamed the Commonwealth Championships Committee in 1972, and in 1997 it received its current name.
Both organizations determine their champions by sanctioning title fights in all divisions of professional boxing.
When Dubois fought for those belts
Both titles were up for grabs in Daniel’s fight with Joe Joyce in November 2020. Both were owned by Dubois at the time of the fight. The fight itself ended with Daniel’s early defeat, which became the first in his professional career and still remains the only one.
Who owns these titles now
As mentioned above, the British Commonwealth Council championship belt is currently vacant. An attempt to play him in a duel between British Chris Terzievsky and New Zealander Faig Opel failed. Opelu knocked down Terzievsky, but lost his balance and unsuccessfully fell on the Briton. Chris suffered an ankle injury, the doctor decided that the boxer could not continue the fight, as a result, the referee declared a technical draw. At the same time, Terzievsky retains the status of a mandatory challenger.
But the BBBofC belt now has an owner. British heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley won the title in November last year with a stoppage victory over Nathan Gorman.
How prestigious are these titles?
In Britain they are valued. For example, belts BBBofC and SVS in different years were owned by Julius Francis, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, the already mentioned Dubois and Joyce, Dillian Whyte and Lennox Lewis. Among the champions were Henry Akinvande and Horace Notis, who ended his career ahead of schedule after 16 victorious fights.
As the organizations themselves note, recently the status of their titles has declined somewhat, primarily due to changes in boxing itself. For example, Freddie Mills, one of the most popular light heavyweight boxers of the last century, had to fight 73 fights before he got a chance to compete for the British and Empire titles. At the same time, former world super middleweight champion Carl Froch was able to compete for the Commonwealth title in his 12th fight, and the British champion in his 14th.
Why even the vacant SVS title will not be played in the Usyk-Dubois fight
Everything is extremely simple. As follows from the names of organizations and their titles, either the British or representatives of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, which includes Great Britain and almost all of its former colonies and protectors, can fight for the championship belts. At the moment, 56 countries are permanent members of the Commonwealth, and about ten more are candidates.
Did Usyk have regional titles?
In the professional ring, no. Already in his sixth fight in the professional ring, Alexander, having defeated the South African Dani Winter, won the WBO Intercontinental Champion title. In the 10th – having won against Krzytof Głowacki, he won his first full-fledged championship belt. According to the World Boxing Organization.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
