About WBU
The World Boxing Union, Inc. (WBU) is a professional boxing sanctioning body based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA that has revitalized and registered the "WBU" brand that was recognized for ten years until 2004 in the United Kingdom in the sport of prizefighting. After all boxing sanctioning contracts were fulfilled, the UK company became dormant and eventually was dissolved. The "WBU" brand has been immortalized in cinema history by the hit movie "The Fighter" starring Mark Wahlberg. The previous incarnation WBU company of WBU titles were particularly well recognised in Europe while not so much in the USA. The former UK WBU titles have been held by the likes of Ricky Hatton, George Foreman, Thomas Hearns, Baby Jake Matlala, James Toney, Johnny Nelson and Micky Ward (in reality he was "The Fighter").
The prior WBU had a 'golden' period between 1996-2004 when its title contests were often shown live on satellite and terrestrial television. After the death of the UK WBU founder, the organization fell to the status of "dormant" -thus forcing the organisation's titles in weight categories to become vacant of champions. This for all practical reasons was the end of the UK WBU until the company no longer existed.
In 2010, after realizing there were no legal remaining assets of the UK based WBU and after a period of years had passed of no activity of the origninal company nor an operating subsequent company of such brand , the USA based WBU brand was formed, registered, licensed, and lauched under the stewardship of United States of America citizen Don “Moose” Lewis-President of men’s professional boxing sanctioning body the IBU-International Boxing Union, Inc., the WAA-World Athletic Association, Inc., and the WIBC-Women’s International Boxing Council, Inc. The current WBU Executive Committee has always acknowledged the UK WBU as part of professional boxing history and continues to continue the prior championship lineage. However, under advice of legal counsel and to be governed under the laws of the USA, it was decided to reestablish the brand totally independant of any legal reference to the UK WBU so as to not expose today's WBU with any remaining potential liabilities from the previous dormant and dissolved company that could occur under the auspices of British law no matter how remote as well as from cyber squatters. The USA based WBU-referred to as simply "The WBU"- continues the philosophy of its sister sanctioning bodies by providing opportunities in professional boxing for fighters often overlooked by the recognized organizations. Now the WBU brand is once again alive and well-thus establishing the WBU brand as a recognized world-wide leading sanctioning body for all fighters seeking to reach the pinnacle of their chosen path.
The WBU had it first recognized World title under reorganization on 10 September 2011 when former “The Contender” television show participant Jimmy Lange defeated Raul Munoz by TKO in round 6 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. This was to catapault the WBU to a banner year in 2012 with new champions crowned and a world title even changing hands. Entering 2017, the WBU has already crowned a new world champion in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada as co-main event on a pay-per-view card of promoter Yvon Michel's GYM Promotions. The WBU is committed to "belting" additional world champions globally. With that being said, we welcome the new monthly championship boxing series showcasing WBU champions that will provide them exposure to millions of fans worldwide, All of us here at the WBU look forward to a continuous bright future and our place as one of the premier sanctioning bodies. So remember, when you see the WBU brand on television or your smart device, accept no imitations as we are born in the USA and there are always those persons who wish to capitalize on others hard work by confusing the marketplace.