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| World Boxing Association |
History
The original sanctioning body of professional boxing, the World Boxing Association can be traced back to the original National Boxing Association, organized in 1921; the first bout recognized by the organization being the Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpentier Heavyweight Championship bout in New Jersey, USA.
The NBA was formed by representatives from thirteen American states to counterbalance the influence the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) wielded in the boxing world. This often meant that the NBA and the NYSAC crowned different world champions in the same division, leading to confusion about who was the real champion.
The International Boxing Research Organization describes the early NBA in this way: "Originally more comparable to the present American Association of Boxing Commissions than to its offspring and successor, the NBA sanctioned title bouts, published lists of outstanding challengers, withdrew titular recognition, but did not attempt to appoint its own title bout officials or otherwise impose its will on championship fights. It also did not conduct purse bids or collect 'sanctioning fees.'
In 1962 the NBA, with the growth of boxing's popularity worldwide, changed its name to the World Boxing Association. The organization remained mainly American until 1974, however. In that year, two Panamanian boxing figures named Rodrigo Sanchez and Elias Cordova manipulated the WBA rules to give a majority of votes to nations in Latin America.
Gilberto Mendoza has been the President of the WBA since 1982. The WBA in the 1990s moved its central offices from Panama City, Panama, to Caracas, Venezuela. In January 2007 it moved its offices again to Panama.
Controversies
The WBA has been plagued with charges of corruption for years. In perhaps the most notable instance, promoter Bob Arum claimed in a 1982 interview that he had to pay off WBA officials to obtain rankings. In a 1981 Sports Illustratedarticle, a WBA judge claimed that he was influenced by the WBA president to support certain fighters. The same article also discussed a variety of bribes paid to WBA officials to obtain title fights or rankings with the organization.
The WBA also came under fire in the 1980s for allowing South Africans to fight for its titles.
Though the "Super Champion" designation are for WBA champions who concurrently hold titles with the WBO, IBF and/or WBC, there are instances where the WBA designates fighters with only the WBA title as "Super Champion." This particular practice has come under scrutiny as it is seen by several boxing experts as a means to obtain more sanctioning fees within each division.
Super titles
The WBA recognizes the title holders from the WBC, WBO, and IBF organizations. The WBA refers to a champion who holds two or more of these titles in the same weight class as an "undisputed champion" or "super champion". This applies even if the WBA title is not one of the titles held by the "undisputed champion". In September 2008, Nate Campbell was recognized as lightweight "undisputed champion" for his WBO and IBF titles, while the WBA's own champion was Yusuke Kobori.
If one of the multiple titles held to earn the designation WBA "Super" Champion is the WBA's own title, then the fighter is promoted to Super champion and the WBA title becomes vacant for other WBA-ranked boxers to fight for. Thus, the WBA tables will sometimes show a "WBA Super World Champion" and a "WBA World Champion" for the same weight class, instead of simply "WBA Champion".
Sometimes it is possible for a WBA champion to become "Super" champion without adding another organization's title; Chris John, Miguel Cotto, Felix Sturm, Anselmo Moreno are examples.
Current WBA world title holders
Male
| Weight class: | Champion: | Reign began: |
|---|---|---|
| Minimumweight |  Akira Yaegashi | October 24, 2011 |
| Light flyweight |  Roman Gonzalez | February 4, 2011 |
| Flyweight |  Hernan Marquez | April 2, 2011 |
| Super flyweight |  Tepparith Kokietgym | November 10, 2011 |
| Bantamweight |  Anselmo Moreno (Super Champion) | May 31, 2008 |
| Koki Kameda | December 26, 2010 | |
| Super bantamweight |  Rico Ramos | July 9, 2011 |
| Featherweight |  Chris John (Super Champion) | November 1, 2003 |
| Celestino Caballero | October 14, 2011 | |
| Super featherweight | Takashi Uchiyama | January 11, 2010 |
| Lightweight |  Richard Abril | December 16, 2011 |
| Light welterweight | Lamont Peterson (Super Champion) | December 10, 2011 |
 Marcos Maidana | July 23, 2011 | |
| Welterweight |  Vyacheslav Senchenko | April 10, 2009 |
| Super welterweight |  Miguel Cotto (Super Champion) | June 5, 2010 |
| Austin Trout | February 6, 2011 | |
| Middleweight |  Felix Sturm (Super Champion) | April 28, 2007 |
 Gennady Golovkin | October 2010 | |
| Super middleweight | Andre Ward (Super Champion) | November 21, 2009 |
 Karoly Balzsay | August 26, 2011 | |
| Light heavyweight | Beibut Shumenov | January 29, 2010 |
| Cruiserweight | Guillermo Jones | September 27, 2008 |
| Heavyweight | Wladimir Klitschko (Super Champion) | July 2, 2011 |
 Alexander Povetkin | August 27, 2011 |
Female
| Weight class: | Champion: | Date won: |
|---|---|---|
| Strawweight (105 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Junior flyweight (108 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Flyweight (112 lbs) |  Susi Kentikian | 30 March 2007 |
| Junior bantamweight (115 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Bantamweight (118 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Junior featherweight (122 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Featherweight (126 lbs) |  Choi Hyunmi | October 11 2008 |
| Super Featherweight (130 lbs) |  Kina Malpartida | 21 February 2009 |
| Lightweight (135 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Junior welterweight (140 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Welterweight (147 lbs) |  Cecilia Brækhus | 14 March 2009 |
| Junior middleweight (154 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Middleweight (160 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Super middleweight (168 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Light heavyweight (175 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Cruiserweight (200 lbs) | vacant? | |
| Heavyweight (200+ lbs) | vacant? |