North American Boxing Federation
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The North American Boxing Federation (NABF) is a not-for-profit regional sanctioning body that awards regional boxing titles. It is a boxing federation within the World Boxing Council (WBC).
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[edit] History
The WBC established the NABF in 1969 as part of its creation of a variety of regional boxing federations. These regional federations would sanction championship bouts and crown regional champions. These champions would be given consideration in the world rankings put out by the WBC. The first title NABF title bout was between Sonny Liston and Leotis Martin on December 6, 1969.[1]
According to the International Boxing Research Organization, "the appearance of the NABF in 1969 marked the start of major 12-round title bouts in western countries..."[2]
[edit] List of NABF Heavyweight Champions
Since the inception of the NABF in 1969, there have been 27 recognized Heavyweight Champions with a combined total of 36 title reigns. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Orlin Norris, Ken Norton, Samuel Peter, Tony Tucker and Tim Witherspoon are the only men to have held the title twice. Ali is the only one to hold it three times[3][4].
| No. | Name | Duration of reign | Defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Leotis Martin |
1969-12-06 — June 1970 | 0 | Defeated Sonny Liston. Martin relinquished the title and retired due to an eye injury he received in the bout with Liston. |
| 2 | Muhammad Ali |
1970-12-07 — March 1971 | 0 | Defeated Oscar Bonavena. Ali relinquished the title in order to fight Joe Frazier for the World title. |
| 3 | George Foreman |
1971-05-10 — July 1971 | 0 | Defeated Gregorio Peralta. Foreman relinquished the title in order to challenge for the World title, then held by Joe Frazier. |
| 4 | Muhammad Ali (2) |
1971-07-26 — 1973-03-31 | 5 | Defeated Jimmy Ellis. |
| 5 | Ken Norton |
1973-03-31 — 1973-09-10 | 0 | |
| 6 | Muhammad Ali (3) |
1973-03-31 — 1974-10-30 | 1 | Ali relinquished the title in order to fight Foreman for the WBA and WBC titles. |
| 7 | Ken Norton (2) |
1975-03-24 — 1975-09-28 | 0 | Defeated Jerry Quarry. Norton relinquished the title in order to challenge for Ali's World title. |
| 8 | George Foreman (2) |
1976-01-24 — 1977-03-03 | 1 | Defeated Ron Lyle. Foreman relinquished the title to fight in a World title eliminator fight against Jimmy Young. |
| 9 | Leroy Jones |
1978-08-19 — 1980-03-31 | 0 | Defeated Mike Weaver. Jones relinquished the title to challenge Larry Holmes for the WBC title. |
| 10 | Michael Dokes |
1982-01-30 — 1982-12-10 | 1 | Defeated Lynn Ball. Dokes relinquished the title upon winning the WBA title from Weaver. |
| 11 | Tim Witherspoon |
1983-09-23 — 1984-03-09 | 0 | Defeated James Tillis. Witherspoon relinquished the title upon winning the vacant WBC title, defeating Greg Page. |
| 12 | James Broad |
1984-08-23 — 1985-04-29 | 0 | Defeated Eddie Gregg. |
| 13 | Tim Witherspoon (2) |
1985-04-29 — 1986-01-17 | 1 | Witherspoon relinquished the title upon defeating Tony Tubbs for the WBA title. |
| 14 | Larry Alexander |
1987-04-10 — 1987-11-25 | 0 | Defeated Dorcey Gaymon. |
| 15 | Orlin Norris |
1987-11-25 — 1990-02-17 | 6 | |
| 16 | Bert Cooper |
1990-02-17 — 1990-08-05 | 0 | |
| 17 | Ray Mercer |
1990-08-05 — 1991-01-11 | 0 | Mercer relinquished the title upon defeating Francesco Damiani for the WBO title. |
| 18 | Orlin Norris (2) |
1991-04-30 — 1991-06-03 | 0 | Defeated Lionel Washington. |
| 19 | Tony Tucker |
1991-06-03 — December 1992 | 1 | Tucker relinquished the title in order to challenge Lennox Lewis on 1993-05-08 for the WBC title. |
| 20 | Alex García |
1992-12-08 — 1994-03-01 | 3 | Defeated Jerry Jones. |
| 21 | Joe Hipp |
1994-03-01 — 1995-04-08 | 1 | Hipp relinquished the title in order to challenge Bruce Seldon on 1995-08-19 for the WBA title. |
| 22 |  Alexander Zolkin |
1995-03-21 — January 1996 | 2 | Defeated Rocky Pepeli. Zolkin relinquished the title in order to pursue the WBO title, then held by Riddick Bowe. |
| 23 | Tony Tucker (2) |
1996-06-29 — January 1997 | 0 | Defeated David Dixon. Tucker relinquished the title in order to challenge Herbie Hide for the vacant WBO title on 1997-06-28. |
| 24 | John Ruiz |
1997-01-14 — January 1999 | 3 | Defeated Jimmy Thunder. Ruiz also won the NABA title, defeating Jerry Ballard on 1998-09-19. He relinquished the NABF title in order to focus on the NABA title. |
| 25 | Michael Grant |
1999-01-30 — 2000-04-29 | 1 | Defeated Ahmad Abdin. Grant relinquished the title in order to fight Lennox Lewis for the WBC, IBF and IBO titles. |
| 26 | Clifford Etienne |
2000-09-09 — March 2001 | 0 | Defeated Cliff Couser. Grant relinquished the title later. |
| 27 | Obed Sullivan |
2001-05-20 — 2001-09-02 | 0 | Defeated Sherman Williams. |
| 28 |  Fres Oquendo |
2001-09-02 — 2002-04-13 | 0 | |
| 29 |  David Tua |
2002-04-13 — June 2003 | 0 | Title later vacated. |
| 30 |  Eliecer Castillo |
2003-06-06 — 2004-04-17 | 1 | Defeated Lawrence Clay Bey. |
| 31 | Joe Mesi |
2003-06-24 — 2003-10-30 | 0 | Interim champion. Defeated Robert Davis. |
| 32 | DaVarryl Williamson |
2004-04-17 — November 2004 | 1 | Title later vacated. |
| 33 |  Samuel Peter |
2004-12-04 — 2005-09-24 | 1 | Defeated Jeremy Williams. |
| 34 |  Wladimir Klitschko |
2005-09-24 — 2006-04-22 | 0 | Klitschko relinquished the title in order to challenge Chris Byrd for the IBF and vacant IBO titles. |
| 35 | Samuel Peter (2) |
2006-04-28 — present | 2 | Defeated Julius Long. |
| 36 | Hasim Rahman |
2007-06-14 — present | 0 | Interim champion. Defeated Taurus Sykes. |
[edit] Other regional WBC federations
- Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF)
- European Boxing Union (EBU)
- Asian Boxing Council (ABCO)
- African Boxing Union (ABU)
- Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE)
- Central American Boxing Federation (FECARBOX)
- CIS and Slovenian Boxing Bureau (CISBB)
- South American Boxing Federation (FESUBOX)
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ “Boxing Bodies: A Brief Chronology and Rundown”, International Boxing Digest 40, no. 1: 58, January 1998
- ^ “About All These 12-Rounders”, International Boxing Digest 38, no. 6: 60, August 1996
- ^ NABF Heavyweight Title history. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
- ^ Steve Dimitry's Heavyweight Boxing History. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
