Full list of undisputed champions in boxing as Terence Crawford makes history

Terence Crawford underscored his claims to being an all-time welterweight great with a one-sided beatdown of previously-undefeated rival Errol Spence on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Crawford decked Spence three times en route to a ninth-round stoppage, adding the Texan’s IBF, WBC and WBA titles to his own WBO belt.

It means Crawford is the undisputed welterweight champion, a rare and celebrated distinction in any weight class.

But what does it mean to be undisputed in boxing’s complicated landscape of multiple belts and champions? Allow us to explain…

MORE: Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford results: Crawford steamrolls and stops Spence to become undisputed again

What is an undisputed champion? Are there four or five belts?

The haul of belts Crawford completed at T-Mobile Arena are the parts required to become an undisputed champion. The WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO are the four major recognised belts in boxing.

This has not always been the case. The WBC and WBA are long-established titles, meaning undisputed champions were more common in previous eras. 

Crawford and Spence’s showdown earned plenty of deserved comparisons to the seismic 1981 meeting between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns. Leonard was the reigning WBC welterweight champion and took the WBA belt off Hearns with a dramatic 14th-round stoppage, becoming undisputed.

The IBF entered the picture as a major player in the 1980s, while the WBO’s ascent to the top table was somewhat staggered. Although WBO title meetings such as the British blockbusters between Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn conferred legitimacy in certain weight classes, in others, it amounted to little more than a meaningless trinket. 

For example, when WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis met WBA and IBF ruler Evander Holyfield in their huge two-fight series in 1999, it was billed and recognised as an undisputed showdown. While the IBF quickly entered the elite conversation by recognising existing WBA and WBC champions as its No.1 fighters, the WBO’s decision after its 1988 formation to allow lesser-known fighters to compete for its vacant titles meant a longer route to the top table.

At heavyweight, WBO champions Michael Moorer, Riddick Bowe and Henry Akinwande vacated the belt to pursue the more established titles. However, the likes of Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe, Oscar De La Hoya and Wladimir Klitschko were among those to help build the organisation’s prestige. In 2004, the WBC began naming WBO champions in its rankings and the IBF recognised its rival in 2007. 

Below the big four, the IBO is the most notable world title today but is not considered in the undisputed conversation. The proliferation of subsidiary and alternative titles within the big four (regular, super, diamond, franchise, emeritus — take your pick) has also muddied the waters. To be considered the undisputed champion, a fighter must be in possession of the “full” world title belt from each of the…