Boxing
The Cursed History of the WBA Regular Heavyweight Title
World Boxing News examines the 2011 WBA heavyweight title fight and the belt’s cursed past over thirteen years of controversy.
It’s no secret that WBN has closely monitored the situation regarding the World Boxing Association’s heavyweight division over the years. In most cases, it has been a state of confusion.
In 2023, the situation reached a modern low, despite losing the belt in August 2023. A month later, the WBA restored the tarnished title.
What is the WBA heavyweight world title?
In 2011, when the WBA was just a year aged, David Haye fought Wladimir Klitschko amidst a frenzy of excited European boxing fans. They finally got the fight they wanted. And thanks to the WBA, four versions of the top division crown would be unified at the same time.
Had Haye won – as the WBA titleholder – the possibility of fans seeing the first three-belt heavyweight champion in a decade was real. Wladimir’s brother Vitali held the WBC belt, the only other not on the line, held by his younger brother.
Haye knew the stakes were high. A win over Wladimir would have led to an immediate clash with Vitali and a chance to fight for all the marbles. Unfortunately, after a broken toe and a disappointing performance, Klitschko added the WBA title to his IBF and WBO.
But the WBA surprised everyone by declaring Klitschko their modern “super” champion. This move was the most controversial in the history of the heavyweight championship.
The WBA would soon be awarding boxing fans another belt that would complicate matters even further.
First WBA regular champion
The WBA approved the fight between Alexander Povetkin and Ruslan Chagaev in delayed 2011, which was eventually named the “WBA Regular” title, which immediately and completely divided the fans.
Those who wanted to see Olympic star Povetkin get his chance were all for it. But the rest of the boxing community wondered why we needed another belt in the top division.
At first glance, the move was seen as simply an attempt to extort more sanctions fees from players.
Povetkin held the “Regular” title until 2013, when the WBA finally ordered the Klitschko fight. The immediate thought was that a Klitschko-Povetkin fight would mean the end of the short-term title. That was a false assumption.
Klitschko vs. Povetkin, which coincidentally turned out to be the highest-grossing heavyweight title fight since Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson and was sanctioned by the WBA for an incredible $17 million, would be the only time WBA bosses would insist that the “Regular” titleholder be given a full chance.
It’s basic to understand why.
WBA does not keep its promises to WBN
During this time, WBN was in constant contact with Gilberto J. Mendoza, the WBA vice president but acting president. He told WBN that it was unlikely they would reinstate the “Regular” championship if Povetkin lost the title. It was a promise that was not kept.
“No representative or promoter has contacted us about the WBA heavyweight title,” Mendoza told World Boxing News in January 2014.. “But also the WBA super and interim titles can change. We are not sure whether the regular title will be confirmed.”
Two months later, the WBA sparked controversy by calling for Fres Oquendo and Ruslan Chagaev to fight for the vacant title.
Looking back, I bet they regretted doing it. The belt was apparently cursed from then on. It was only fought four times in the next six years.
After Oquendo missed his flight, he almost missed the Chavaev fight. They then fought a very controversial majority decision.
Chagaev won the title, but after an appeal, the WBA granted Oquendo’s request for a rematch. The rematch never happened.
Injuries, delays and a complete farce meant that the WBA allowed Chagaev to continue his defense, and he defeated Francesco Pianeta before Lucas Browne received his mandatory shot.
Browne won the title in a shocking beating in Grozny, ending Chagaev’s career. Surprisingly, Browne was subsequently punished for a prohibited substance.
Accusations of Russian food tampering and framing emerged before the Australian finally cleared his name. But at the time, the title was empty.
WBA heavyweight tournament fails
Vice President Mendoza outlined the tournament plan that was to be held, including the WBA “Regular” and WBA “Super” tournaments, to ultimately crown one champion.
Mendoza again informed WBN that he would retire the “Regular” belt at the conclusion of the competition.
Eight players were called up in a round robin format [pictured below].
Browne was included after lobbying to have his WBA ban overturned. With “The Huge O’ Oquendo” still yet to get a chance to get out of the Chagaev mess — and still winning rounds of legal battles to do so — they were pitted against each other in the semifinals.
It was a kind of farewell to the first round.
Champion “Super” Klitschko fought Tyson Fury in November 2015. Then Luis Ortiz faced Alexander Ustinov in a fight for the interim title.
So now, on a spinning platter, held aloft by the WBA’s carousel of sanctioning fees, were three titles. Whoever ultimately came out on top would be the sole ruler. But only one of those fights ever took place – Klitschko vs. Fury.
Breaking the belts
As we all know, Fury won, but lost control and eventually gave up all the belts after a surprise in Düsseldorf. But this situation put an end to the tournament plans.
Browne missed the opportunity, Oquendo repeated the feat yet again, and the “Regular” belt somehow ended up in the hands of Mahmoud “Manuel” Charr.
Charr defeated Alexander Ustinov in November 2017, when the WBA sanctioned the surprise fight. Under the terms of Browne’s name-clearing agreement, it appears Charr was never required to fight Browne. This was due, perhaps in part, to Oquendo’s ongoing lawsuit.
No one knows how Ustinov got approved.
The Charr fight was finally set up with Oquendo in 2018 before Trevor Bryan filed an interim. But again, the WBA had three boxers holding the titles. Not stopping there, the WBA came up with the WBA Gold Championship, which was first held by Joe Joyce. Now they had four. As if that wasn’t enough, the aging Oquendo was still waiting for his chance.
Charr and Bryan took over to fight and eventually get the interim version out of the way. The fight never happened. Charr and Bryan set up a $2 million bid for the prize money, which Don King won, before Oquendo said, “Wait, I won the legal challenge.”
Rather than fight, Oquendo wanted to accept a monetary settlement, now approaching 50. He pursued legal action to recoup his losses.
Transient titles have been abolished
It was only after a judge accused the WBA of racism that the organization finally abolished interim titles in all divisions.
Bryan next fought Daniel Dubois, who was the interim champion. Dubois won the regular championship, but was not recognized as a world title holder due to the watered down nature of the belt.
Ultimately, Dubois lost to Usyk and the belt was supposed to be gone forever. That turned out not to be the case, as Charr fought legally to re-crowned as the minor champion after a brief hiatus.
He was supposed to defend his title for the first time in seven years against Kubrat Pulev on March 30, but that fight added to the curse. Five months later, he doesn’t seem any closer to crossing the line. At this rate, Charr will enter his eighth year as champion without a single defense to his name.
Fans grew tired of the WBA’s unfulfilled promises. The WBA unified several divisions, but not the most lucrative top division, until the summer of 2024. Since then, aged habits have begun to die as the WBA brings back gold, interim, and other belts into the fray.
A disagreement with BoxRec resulted in the WBA being removed from the statistics website altogether. Because of this change of heart, the WBN is reconsidering removing it as a recognized sanctioning body.
But we’re still waiting for one heavyweight champion. It’s no wonder the weight class earns the most sanctioning fees of all.
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