Championship belt

A championship belt is used primarily in combat sports such as boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling to signify the champions of the promotion or company, much like a cup or trophy in other sports. There are several companies in the business of constructing Championship Belts, such as TABC Belts and others. In some of these sports there are instances of championship unifications, where the holders of two or more of the championship belts will compete for the championships. Unifications are treated differently based on the organization: sometimes the lesser title's history is absorbed in to the main title's one; on other occasions, if both championships are considered to have the same importance, they will be defended individually.

Boxing

In boxing, the individual organizations such as the World Boxing Council, The World Boxing Association, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization each have their own unique championship belt that are awarded to the champions of each weight class. Boxers, especially the World Champions, strive to win the belt of all 4 organizations to unify their weight divisions. The Ring also created a championship system that is "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class."

Champions maintain permanent possession of these belts even upon losing their title, with a new belt made when a new champion is crowned.

Weight divisions

There are numerous Boxing weight classes within the sport, with there being minor discrepancies amongst the different governing bodies. The weight classes are:

Weight	WBA	WBC	IBF	WBO	The Ring	BoxRec
Over 200 lb	Heavyweight	Heavyweight	Heavyweight	Heavyweight	Heavyweight	Heavyweight
200 lb (90.7 kg)	Cruiserweight	Cruiserweight	Cruiserweight	Junior heavyweight	Cruiserweight	Cruiserweight
175 lb (79.4 kg)	Light heavyweight	Light heavyweight	Light heavyweight	Light heavyweight	Light heavyweight	Light heavyweight
168 lb (76.2 kg)	Super middleweight	Super middleweight	Super middleweight	Super middleweight	Super middleweight	Super middleweight
160 lb (72.6 kg)	Middleweight	Middleweight	Middleweight	Middleweight	Middleweight	Middleweight
154 lb (69.9 kg)	Super welterweight	Super welterweight	Junior middleweight	Junior middleweight	Junior middleweight	Light middleweight
147 lb (66.7 kg)	Welterweight	Welterweight	Welterweight	Welterweight	Welterweight	Welterweight
140 lb (63.5 kg)	Super lightweight	Super lightweight	Junior welterweight	Junior welterweight	Junior welterweight	Light welterweight
135 lb (61.2 kg)	Lightweight	Lightweight	Lightweight	Lightweight	Lightweight	Lightweight
130 lb (59.0 kg)	Super featherweight	Super featherweight	Junior lightweight	Junior lightweight	Junior lightweight	Super featherweight
126 lb (57.2 kg)	Featherweight	Featherweight	Featherweight	Featherweight	Featherweight	Featherweight
122 lb (55.3 kg)	Super bantamweight	Super bantamweight	Junior featherweight	Junior featherweight	Junior featherweight	Super bantamweight
118 lb (53.5 kg)	Bantamweight	Bantamweight	Bantamweight	Bantamweight	Bantamweight	Bantamweight
115 lb (52.2 kg)	Super flyweight	Super flyweight	Junior bantamweight	Junior bantamweight	Junior bantamweight	Super flyweight
112 lb (50.8 kg)	Flyweight	Flyweight	Flyweight	Flyweight	Flyweight	Flyweight
108 lb (49.0 kg)	Light flyweight	Light flyweight	Junior flyweight	Junior flyweight	Junior flyweight	Light flyweight
105 lb (47.6 kg)	Minimumweight	Strawweight	Mini flyweight	Mini flyweight	Strawweight	Minimumweight

Professional wrestling

File:Big Gold Belt.JPG

The Big Gold Belt, an example of a championship belt in professional wrestling.

While Professional Boxing and Professional Wrestling organizations recognize World Heavyweight Championships as well as other weight class titles, Professional Wrestling also focuses on regional and specialized titles. The use of regional titles is more prominent in the promotions that conform the National Wrestling Alliance. World Wrestling Entertainment is currently the only organization to have recognized three world champions due to a brand extension that resulted in each brand being designated a world title. Currently the WWE Championship is designated to the Raw brand, while the World Heavyweight Championship is designated to the SmackDown brand. Additionally, the ECW World Championship was designated to the ECW brand.

Generally, boxing has many fewer uniquely designed belts than wrestling. The 4 major boxing governing bodies generally use the same belt design for all their champions, whereas wrestling companies use different styles for each Championship. The most notable exception is Japan's Pro Wrestling Noah, whose belts follow one specific design. World Wrestling Entertainment became the first company to trademark the designs of their belts so that the designs could not be used for other promotions. Other designs, such as John Cena's "Spinner Belt" and Steve Austin's "Smoking Skull Belt" are substituted for the conventional belt to enhance that character. Where as WWE has had numerous different belts to represent the WWE Championship, the National Wrestling Alliance has used the same design for over 30 years, with the exception of 1986 through 1993 when the Big Gold Belt represented the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Mixed martial arts

The Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship belt.

At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, the sport of mixed martial arts was unsanctioned in the United States, and as such weight classes did not exist; instead of the traditional championship model, tournaments were held with the winner receiving a permanent appellation.^[1] In response to criticism from Senator John McCain which saw the loss of their television deal and the banning of the sport in thirty-six states, the UFC increased its cooperation with state athletic commissions and introduced weight classes in 1997.^[2]

The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions—heavyweight; which grouped competitors above 200 lb (91 kg), and lightweight; which encompassed all other competitors. The UFC would later rename their lightweight division to middleweight, and add lightweight (170 lb, 77 kg) and bantamweight (155 lb, 70 kg) divisions. In 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board completely took over regulation in its home state, and their rules and weight classes became the de facto rule set for mixed martial arts today.^[3] The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with the new regulations in 2001.^[4]

Motorsports

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway offers a championship belt in lieu of the traditional trophy for drivers who win the Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup race there, owing to the traditional site of Las Vegas as the fight capital of the world.

Other sports

File:Championship Belt.jpg

Championship Belts are also used as general awards, such as this one made by TABC Belts.

Historically, the championship belt was also awarded to the winner of professional golf tournaments. Rodeo tournaments also award special belts, among other prizes.

References

^ Plotz, David (1999-11-07). "Fight Clubbed". Slate. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
^ Gentry III, Clyde (2003). No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution (Paperback Edition ed.). Milo Books. pp. 106, 123. ISBN ISBN 0-903854-90-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ "Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Conduct". New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. 2000. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
^ Trembow, Ivan (2000). "New Jersey Commission Corrects Mainstream UFC Stories" (Reprint). MMA Weekly. Retrieved 2007-09-08.

External links

[1] Plotz, David (1999-11-07). "Fight Clubbed". Slate. Retrieved 2007-03-21.

[2] Gentry III, Clyde (2003). No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution (Paperback Edition ed.). Milo Books. pp. 106, 123. ISBN ISBN 0-903854-90-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[3] "Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Conduct". New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. 2000. Retrieved 2007-09-08.

[4] Trembow, Ivan (2000). "New Jersey Commission Corrects Mainstream UFC Stories" (Reprint). MMA Weekly. Retrieved 2007-09-08.

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