This is a list of WBA world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The list also includes champions certified by the National Boxing Association (NBA), the predecessor to the WBA.
Boxers who won the title but were stripped due to the title bout being overturned to a no contest are not listed i.e. Evgeny Tishchenko won the inaugural bridgerweight title but was subsequently stripped after testing positive for banned substance.[1]
In December 2000, the WBA created an unprecedented situation of having a split championship in the same weight class by introducing a new title called Super world, commonly referred to simply as Super. The Super champion is the WBA's primary champion, while the World champion – commonly known as the Regular champion by boxing publications – is only considered the primary champion by the other three major sanctioning bodies (WBC, IBF, and WBO) if the Super title is vacant.
A Unified champion is a boxer that holds the primary WBA title and one or two from another major sanctioning body (WBC, IBF, WBO) simultaneously. An Undisputed champion as defined by the WBA, only needs to hold three of the four major titles but in some cases they may change a Super champion into an Undisputed champion after a failed title defense (e.g. Anselmo Moreno losing to Juan Payano and Chris John losing to Simpiwe Vetyeka). This is not to be confused by professional boxing's own definition of an undisputed champion, in which a boxer must hold all four major titles.
There are two tables per section. The primary champion lineage prioritizes the Super champions. If the Super title is vacant, then the Undisputed / Unified title is listed. If both are vacant, then the Regular title becomes the primary champion. The secondary champion lineage lists the Regular or Unified champions while the primary champion is occupied.
Starting from August 2021, any new champions in the primary champion lineage will not be marked as Regular, Unified, Undisputed or Super because of the WBA's title reduction plan.
Current champion | |
Most consecutive title defenses |