The International Boxing Union (IBU) was created June 1911 in Paris, France. It was an attempt to create a unified international governing body for professional boxing. Signators of the Protocol for the IBU were: Paul Rousseau (President of Fédération Française de Boxe et de Lutte) for France; Fred Tilbury (an Englishman, Master of Boxing, and President of Fédération Belge de Boxe) for Belgium; and Victor Breyer (President of Société Française de Propagation de la Boxe Anglaise), having an official mandate by the New York State Athletic Commission, and consequently acting on behalf of some American boxing authorities. Switzerland joined the IBU in November 1913.
The IBU suspended operations with the outbreak of World War I, but resumed action on February 5, 1920—this time headquartered in Paris. Eventually, by the end of 1942, the IBU was in the hands of the Nazis and Fascists, who transformed it into the "Associazione Pugilistica Professionistica Europea" (APPE). By December 1, 1944, the IBU/APPE was dormant. In 1946, from the ashes of the APPE, the European Boxing Union (EBU) came into being.