A quadruple champion in boxing refers to a boxer who has won world titles in four different categories of weight.
Contents
Major sanctioning bodies
There is some dispute on which sanctioning body is considered "major" enough to award championships. The "Big 4" sanctioning bodies are always included. They are arranged in order of foundation:
The Ring
The Ring, boxing's most respected magazine that was founded in 1922, has its own version of lineal championship and began awarding championship belts in 1922. The Lineal Champion is also known as the true champion of the division. The Ring Champion holds the linear reign to the throne, the man who beat the man. The Ring stopped giving belts to world champions in the 1990s but began again in 2002.
In 2002, The Ring attempted to clear up the confusion regarding world champions by creating a championship policy. It echoed many critics' arguments that the sanctioning bodies in charge of boxing championships had undermined the sport by pitting undeserving contenders against undeserving "champions", and forcing the boxing public to see mismatches for so-called "world championships". The Ring attempted to clear up the confusion regarding world champions by creating a championship policy that is "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class." The Ring claims to be more authoritative and open than the sanctioning bodies' rankings, with a page devoted to full explanations for ranking changes. A fighter pays no sanctioning fees to defend or fight for the title at stake, contrary to practices of the sanctioning bodies. Furthermore, a fighter cannot be stripped of the title unless he loses, decides to move to a different weight division, or retires.
There are currently only two ways that a boxer can win The Ring's title: defeat the reigning champion; or win a box-off between the magazine's number-one and number-two rated contenders (or, sometimes, number-one and number-three rated). A vacant Ring championship is filled when the number-one contender in a weight-division battles the number-two contender or the number-three contender (in cases where The Ring determines that the number-two and number-three contenders are close in abilities and records).
In May 2012, citing the number of vacancies in various weight classes as primary motivation, The Ring unveiled a new championship policy. Under the new policy, The Ring title can be awarded when the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters face one another or when the Nos. 1 and 2 contenders choose not to fight one another and either of them fights No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5, the winner may be awarded The Ring belt. In addition, there are now six ways for a fighter to lose his title: lose a fight in his championship weight class; move to another weight class; not schedule a fight in any weight class for 18 months; not schedule a fight in his championship weight class for 18 months, even if fighting at another weight class; not scheduling a fight with a top 5 contender in any weight class for two years; or retiring.
Many media outlets and members are extremely critical of the new championship policy and state that if this new policy is followed The Ring title will lose the credibility it once held.
Lineal
The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) hands out the official version of lineal championship. TBRB awards vacant championships when the two top-ranked fighters in any division meet and currently recognizes legitimate world champions or "true champions" each weight classes. The Board was formed to continue where the The Ring "left off" in the aftermath of its purchase by Golden Boy Promotions in 2007 and the following dismissal of Nigel Collins. After the new editors announced a controversial new championship policy in May 2012, three prominent members of the Ring Advisory Panel resigned. This three members (Springs Toledo, Cliff Rold and Tim Starks) became the founding members of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, which was formed over the summer of 2012 with the assistance of Stewart Howe of England.
After The Ring lost its credibility, many boxing historians and boxing analysts viewed Transnational Boxing Rankings Board as the most complete version of lineal championship and the most authoritative rankings in boxing today.
TBRB champions are listed on Cyber Boxing Zone website which list lineal champions of the Queensberry Era to date.
Minor sanctioning bodies
The minor sanctioning bodies are sometimes included. They are: International Boxing Organization (IBO), World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF), International Boxing Association (IBA), International Boxing Council (IBC), International Boxing Board (IBB), International Boxing League (IBL), International Boxing Union (IBU), Global Boxing Association (GBA), Global Boxing Council (GBC), Global Boxing Federation GBF, Global Boxing Organization (GBO), Global Boxing Union (GBU), National Boxing Association (NBA), Transcontinental World Boxing Association (TWBA), Universal Boxing Association (UBA), Universal Boxing Council (UBC), Universal Boxing Federation (UBF), Universal Boxing Organization (UBO), UNIBOX, United States Boxing Council (USBC), World Athletic Association (WAA), World Boxing Board (WBB), World Boxing Championship Committee (WBCC), World Boxing Foundation (WBFo), World Boxing Institute (WBI), World Boxing League (WBL), World Boxing Network (WBN), World Boxing Union (WBU).
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Group of Quadruple Champions
The following are the lists of boxers who have won four different titles in four totally different categories of weight.
List of Boxing Quadruple or Four Division Champions — Major Titles
This list is credited for boxers who have won championships in boxing from major sanctioning bodies and The Ring.
Example: Thomas Hearns won his first belt at 147 pounds, later he captured the 154 crown, he got the 175 belt and he finally won the 160 title.
List of Boxing Quadruple or Four Division Champions — Minor + Major Titles
This list is credited for boxers who have won championships in boxing from major and minor sanctioning bodies.
The first column of the extreme left (Major titles only) refers to championships won from only major boxing entities (WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO) and The Ring/Lineal. They are the organizations that generally considered as the 'real' ones.
The second column of the extreme left (Minor and Major titles) refers to any championships won from professional 'minor' boxing associations that are not yet well respected by the general boxing fan or public at 'world' level.
Quadruple champions that won titles in other multiple divisions
Some fighters of this group or club were not sastified to win just the incredible milestone of championships in four different weight divisions but to reach immortality in five, six and/or seven other different divisions or categories. The multiple champions who won titles in: