In a hugely-anticipated fight on Saturday, two title fighters enter the ring with four titles on the line in a winner-takes-all scenario.
Saul 'Canelo' brings the WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight belts to Las Vegas, with Caleb Plant the defending IBF champion.
Not many boxers have transcended the increasingly-fragile political environment in the sport to bring all four major titles in one division together, and the winner of Canelo vs. Plant is set to become the first to do it at 168lbs. Here's a rundown of how it all works.
What does it mean to be a unified champion?
A unified champion is one who holds two or more of the major sanctioning titles in a division:
- IBF
- WBA
- WBC
- WBO
Current men's unified champions include:
- Heavyweight: Oleksandr Usyk — IBF, WBA (super), WBO
- Light heavyweight: Artur Beterbiev — IBF, WBC
- Super middleweight: Canelo Alvarez — WBA, WBC, WBO
- Junior middleweight: Jermell Charlo — IBF, WBA (super), WBC
- Welterweight: Errol Spence Jr. — IBF, WBC
- Junior welterweight: Josh Taylor — IBF, WBA (super), WBC, WBO
- Lightweight: Teofimo Lopez — IBF, WBA (super), WBO
- Super bantamweight: Murodjon Akhmadaliev — IFB, WBA (super)
- Bantamweight: Naoya Inoue — IBF, WBA (super)
What is an undisputed champion in boxing?
An undisputed champion is a fighter who holds all four major championship belts (IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO) in a division. You'll notice in the above list that Taylor now has four. He merged his IBF and WBA belts with Jose Ramirez's WBC and WBO titles in Las Vegas earlier this year to become the undisputed light-welterweight champion of the world.
During the four-belt era, there have now been five undisputed champions in men's boxing: Oleksandr Usyk (cruiserweight), Bernard Hopkins (middleweight), Jermain Taylor (middleweight), Terence Crawford (junior welterweight), Josh Taylor (also junior welter). Unless the fight ends in a draw or no-contest (which is exactly what happened this summer when Charlo attempted to unify against WBO light-middle king Brian Castano), Canelo vs. Plant will deliver a sixth.
On the women's side, there have been five undisputed champions:
- Lightweight: Katie Taylor
- Welterweight: Jessica McCaskill, Cecila Brækhus
- Light-middleweight: Claressa Shields
- Middleweight : Claressa Shields
Taylor and McCaskill remain undisputed champions at time of publish.
Has 'undisputed' always meant four belts? When did the four-belt era begin?
There was of course a time when weight classes had one world champion, and that was it. The sport eventually ended up with two recognised titles, then three, and now four.
Here's a brief timeline of the changes:
- 1922–1963, a boxer who held both the NYSAC and NBA (WBA) world titles simultaneously
- 1963–1983, a boxer who held both the WBA and WBC world titles simultaneously
- 1983–2007, a boxer who held the WBA, WBC, and IBF world titles simultaneously
- 2007–present, a boxer who holds the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO world titles simultaneously
So, the 'four-belt' era began in 2007, but fighters of yesteryear including Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Rocky Marciano, Roy Jones Jr. and more are nonetheless former undisputed champions of the world.
Who will be the next undisputed champion after Canelo-Plant?
Due to the controversial nature of the judges' scorecards between Charlo and Castano, a rematch is high on many people's wishlist. That would then feasibly give us a four-belt undisputed champion at light-middleweight after all.
It looked as though the heavyweights would give us their first undisputed champion of the four-belt era, and the first recognised undisputed champion of that division since Lennox Lewis over 20 years ago, but Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury ultimately fell through. However the winner of Oleksandr Usyk's rematch defence against 'AJ' could potentially face the winner of the expected Fury defence vs. Dillian Whyte in late 2022.
The lightweights could also provide an undisputed champion next year, if the winner of Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos were to face the winner of Devin Haney vs. Jo Jo Diaz. However, whether that actually happens remains to be seen.
On the women's side of the sport, a 'Road To Undisputed' tournament in the light-welterweight division kicked off in London on Oct. 30 when Chantelle Cameron beat Mary McGee to unify the WBC and IBF belts as well as claim the inaugural The Ring version of the title. Cameron is expected to face the winner of Nov. 17's Kali Reis vs. Jessica Camara sometime in 2022 with all the titles at stake.
Does 'The Ring' championship count towards undisputed?
No. For now, The Ring magazine's version of the title, while a prestigious title, remains outside of the criteria. Because of its attempts to stick to the lineal timeline of titleholders (you have to beat the champion to be the champion) for the most part, it nonetheless remains a coveted belt by most fighters. Plus, the majority of undisputed champions are usually recognised as The Ring champion if they hold all four major world titles, anyway.
The Canelo vs. Plant fight will not air on DAZN. However, The DAZN Boxing Show will be in Las Vegas during fight week for live episodes, exclusive interviews and more.