The World Boxing Association has once again come under fire for its continued glut of world title belts after confirming it now has four heavyweight champions at the same time.
Despite promising in recent years to reduce the number of straps per division, the WBA has tripled down on its ‘multiple champion model.
The top weight class is now split between Oleksandr Usyk as ‘Super’ champion, Kubrat Pulev as ‘World’ (or Regular) champion, Fabio Wardley as ‘Interim’ champion, and Michael Hunter as ‘Gold’ champion.
Having four champions in one sanctioning body when there are already four versions of the world title is symbolic of why boxing continues to frustrate the fans and media.
The situation mirrors the organization’s long history of confusion, where boxing fans have struggled to determine who the ‘real’ champion actually is.
Usyk can be thanked for picking up every major belt, as this dampens a lot of the confusion. The formidable Ukrainian remains the consensus number one after defeating Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury twice. However, the WBA still recognizes three other titleholders beneath him.
This is not an isolated problem either, and led to World Boxing News declassifying the WBA as a sanctioning body for nine months in 2021.
WBN could revisit that situation if the next wave of titles from Zuffa Boxing and TKO’s new roster becomes a hindrance rather than a help.
On the WBA’s controversial list, like heavyweight, bantamweight has four, bridgerweight currently has three champions, super flyweight has three, super middleweight has three, middleweight has two, super welterweight has two, super lightweight has two, lightweight has two, super featherweight has two, super bantamweight has two, and minimumweight has two.
When counting across all male weight divisions, the WBA currently lists 34 world, interim, or gold champions.
That list does not include female, regional, or special belts, despite there only being eighteen recognized weight classes, seventeen of which are most common, with bridgerweight the newest addition.
Current WBA male champions – August 2025
*Boxers all listed by the World Boxing Association as champions.
Heavyweight | Oleksandr Usyk, Kubrat Pulev, Fabio Wardley, Michael Hunter
Bridgerweight | Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, Georgiy Yunovidov, Julio Cesar La Cruz
Cruiserweight | Gilberto Ramirez
Light heavyweight | Dmitry Bivol, David Benavidez
Super middleweight | Saul Alvarez, Jose Armando Resendiz, Pavel Silyagin
Middleweight | Erislandy Lara, Vadim Tukov
Super welterweight | Terence Crawford, Yoenis Tellez
Welterweight | Rolando Romero
Super lightweight | Gary Antuanne Russell, Alessandro Riguccini
Lightweight | Gervonta Davis, Bakhodur Usmonov
Super featherweight | Lamont Roach Jr, James Dickens
Featherweight | Nick Ball
Super bantamweight | Naoya Inoue, Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Bantamweight | Antonio Vargas, Nonito Donaire, Muhammad Waseem, Seiya Tsutsumi
Super flyweight | Fernando Daniel Martinez, David Jimenez, Elton Dharry
Flyweight | Kenshiro Teraji
Light flyweight | Kyosuke Takami
Minimumweight | Oscar Collazo, Wilfredo Mendez
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing writer and Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News since 2010. Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay and learn more about the author.