Editing World Boxing Organization (section)

==History==
The WBO started after a group of [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] and [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] businessmen broke out of the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]]'s 1988 annual convention in [[Isla Margarita]], Venezuela over disputes regarding what rules should be applied.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tranton|first=Philip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zW9tCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22WBO%22+started+1988&pg=PP3|title=Gennady Golovkin: Getting to Know the Story GGG|date=2016-01-21|publisher=Conceptual Kings|language=en}}</ref>

The WBO's first president was Ramon Pina Acevedo of the Dominican Republic. Soon after its beginning, the WBO was staging world championship bouts around the globe. Its first championship fight was for its vacant [[super middleweight]] title, between [[Thomas Hearns]] and [[James Kinchen]]; Hearns won by decision. In order to gain respectability, the WBO next elected former world light heavyweight champion [[José Torres (boxer)|José Torres]] of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]], as its president. Torres left in 1996, giving way to Puerto Rican lawyer Francisco Valcarcel as president. Valcarcel held the position until October 2024, he then stepped down and this gave way to the election of Puerto Rican attorney Gustavo Olivieri.

While the [[International Boxing Federation|IBF]] had awarded recognition to [[Larry Holmes]] soon after its inception in 1983 (as they did with several established champions in the lower weight divisions), the WBO sanctioned a fight between two relatively unknown fighters, [[Francesco Damiani]] (winner of the super heavyweight silver medal at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]]) and [[Johnny DuPlooy]], to determine the inaugural holder of its own heavyweight title in 1989. All other sanctioning bodies of boxing recognized the then-undefeated [[Mike Tyson]] as the undisputed heavyweight champion. Damiani, meanwhile, went on to become the first WBO heavyweight champion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=13185&more=1 |title=Klitschko Ibragimov Close To Being Set For February |access-date=June 3, 2009|last=Hurley |first=Matthew |date=11 August 2007|work=East Side Boxing |quote=The WBO, which was introduced in 1989, was not generally considered a legitimate heavyweight belt at the time. The organization's first heavyweight champion was Francesco Damiani whose short reign came during Mike Tyson's run as undisputed champion.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/the-heavyweight-follies |title=The Heavyweight Follies |access-date=June 3, 2009 |last=Hauser |first=Thomas |date=March 16, 2008|publisher=SecondsOut.com  |quote=And the WBO belt has NEVER been carried into the ring by the true heavyweight champion of the world. The first WBO heavyweight beltholder was Francesco Damiani, who won the bauble by knocking out Johnny DuPlooy in 1989}}</ref> At heavyweight, especially in the United States, the organization initially struggled to gain credibility as a major sanctioning body, with WBO heavyweight champions [[Michael Moorer]], [[Riddick Bowe]], and [[Henry Akinwande]] relinquishing the title to pursue other options. Boxing publication ''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'' also did not recognize the WBO, despite having recognized the IBF after its inception in 1983, five years prior to the WBO.

In the lighter weight divisions, however, long-reigning champions during the 1990s such as [[Chris Eubank]], [[Dariusz Michalczewski]], [[Johnny Tapia]], and [[Naseem Hamed]] gave the WBO title increasingly more prestige. The WBO was also made popular by boxers such as [[Marco Antonio Barrera]], [[Oscar De La Hoya]], [[Nigel Benn]], [[Ronald "Winky" Wright]], [[Joe Calzaghe]], and [[Wladimir Klitschko]], all of whom held its title.

On August 23, 1997, WBC [[minimumweight]] champion [[Ricardo López (boxer)|Ricardo López]] won the WBO minimumweight title by knocking out Puerto Rican fighter [[Alex Sánchez (boxer)|Alex Sánchez]]. After the bout, López told a Mexican newspaper that he wanted to give his newly won championship belt to his father, who is a boxing fan. WBO president Francisco Valcarcel said he viewed that comment as a public resignation and declared the title vacant without holding a hearing or notifying López. The WBO sanctioned a bout between [[Eric Jamili]] (10–5–1) and [[Mickey Cantwell]] (13–4–1) to fill the vacancy despite protests by López.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/20/sports/plus-boxing-jamili-takes-strawweight-title.html | work=The New York Times | title=PLUS: BOXING; Jamili Takes Strawweight Title | date=December 20, 1997}}</ref>

In Europe, the WBO was more accepted during its early years than in the U.S., and WBO champions always fared well in unification bouts with WBA, WBC, and IBF champions. For example, WBO light heavyweight champion Michalczewski unified his title with the WBA and IBF titles by defeating [[Virgil Hill]]. WBO featherweight champion Naseem Hamed also defeated the reigning WBA, WBC and IBF champions in the same weight class. By 2000, the WBA was giving the same recognition to WBO champions as it did to WBC and IBF champions.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011119165718/http://wbaonline.com/wchampionships/SuperChampionship.htm |archive-date=November 19, 2001 |url=http://www.wbaonline.com/wchampionships/SuperChampionship.htm |title=Super championships guidelines |publisher=WBA |access-date=November 14, 2008}}</ref>

In 2004 the WBC began naming WBO champions on its ranking listings.<ref>Compare<br />
{{cite web |url=http://www.wbcboxing.com/WBCboxing/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=107&docTipo=4&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC |title=WBC Bantamweight Ratings (incl. WBO) |publisher=WBC |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803120516/http://www.wbcboxing.com/WBCboxing/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=107&docTipo=4&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC |archive-date=August 3, 2004 }}
and <br />
{{cite web |url=http://www.wbcboxing.com/WBCboxing/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=107&docTipo=4&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC |title=WBC Bantamweight Ratings (excl. WBO) |publisher=WBC |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040204000015/http://www.wbcboxing.com/WBCboxing/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=107&docTipo=4&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC |archive-date=February 4, 2004 }} 
</ref>  The IBF did not recognize the WBO in May 2006,<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.ibf-usba-boxing.com/userfiles/File/rules%20governing%20championship%20contests%20May%202006.pdf |title=IBF/USBA Rules Governing Championship Contests |date=May 2006 |pages=10–11 |quote=For the purpose of unification of titles, the Champions of the World Boxing Association ('WBA') and the World Boxing Council ('WBC') may be designated as 'elite contenders' and may be permitted to fight for the unified title. Unification bouts with other organizations will be considered on a case to case basis. |publisher=IBF |access-date=November 15, 2008}}
</ref> but was doing so by February 2007.<ref>
{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202042341/http://www.ibf-usba-boxing.com/ |url=http://www.ibf-usba-boxing.com/ |title=IBF Ratings |date=February 2007 |publisher=IBF |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-date=February 2, 2007 }}
</ref> WBO regulations explicitly recognize the other three sanctioning bodies.<ref>
{{cite book |url=http://www.wboboxing.com/regulations/ |title=Regulations of World Championship Contests |publisher=WBO |page=8 |chapter=§7 unification bouts and unification tournaments as mandatory title bouts |access-date=November 14, 2008}}
</ref> For many years, as with the IBF, boxers based in Japan were not permitted to fight for WBO titles. In 2012, the [[boxing in Japan|Japan Boxing Commission]] (JBC) recognized the governing body.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://philboxing.com/news/story-77311.html|title=Wars Katsumata Wins by Knockout in Japan|date=November 20, 2012|access-date=November 21, 2012|author=Myron Sta. Ana|publisher=PhilBoxing.com}}</ref> In August 2016, the WBO Asia Pacific Championship was recognized by the JBC and the Japan Professional Boxing Association (JPBA).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/wbo-asia-pacific-championship-recognized-jbc-jpba-350838|title=WBO Asia Pacific championship recognized by JBC, JPBA|author=Joe Koizumi|publisher=FightNews.com|date=2016-08-18|access-date=2016-08-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819160053/http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/wbo-asia-pacific-championship-recognized-jbc-jpba-350838|archive-date=2016-08-19}}</ref>

WBO men's championship belts are brown, whereas women's championship belts are pink.

In response to the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the WBO blocked championship fights involving Russian and Belarusian boxers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1123034/alan-hubbard-blog|title=Alan Hubbard: How Russian champion Bivol sent shockwaves down Mexico way|date=May 11, 2022|website=www.insidethegames.biz}}</ref>