The sport of boxing never makes it easy when it comes to fans discussing who is the number one fighter in each division.
With four governing bodies each having their own versions of world titles, it can be get confusing, however, it looks like boxing is slowly starting to crown more undisputed champions.
However, while there are few undisputed champions, there are plenty of unified champions who have come through the ranks in recent years to taste success.
But just what is the difference? What does unified and undisputed champion mean? Here, DAZN breaks it down for you.
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, of which there are four recognised bodies who offer out championship belts.
They are the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Organization.
A fighter need only have two of these belts to be recognised as a unified champion, while those who collect all four are still technically unified too.
Current unified champions in men's boxing include:
- Heavyweight: Oleksandr Usyk - WBA, WBC, WBO
- Cruiserweight: Gilberto Ramírez - WBA, WBO
- Light heavyweight: Dmitry Bivol - WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO
- Super middleweight: Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez - WBA, WBC, WBO
- Middleweight: Janibek Alimkhanuly - IBF, WBO
- Light middleweight: Sebastian Fundora - WBC, WBO
- Super bantamweight: Naoya Inoue - WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO
- Mini flyweight: Oscar Collazo - WBA, WBO
What does it mean to be an undisputed champion?
An undisputed champion is a fighter who holds all four major championship belts across a single division, holding the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO crowns at one time.
Due to the nature of competing governing bodies, with eaching offering their own rankings and mandatory challengers, it has been difficult to see many stars become undisputed in the four-belt era.
Oleksandr Usyk, for example, became the undisputed heavyweight champion after victory over Tyson Fury in May 2024, but was forced to relinquish his IBF belt after refusing to fight their preferred contender.
Current undisputed champions in men's boxing include:
- Light heavyweight: Dmitry Bivol - WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO
- Super bantamweight: Naoya Inoue - WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO
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