- Ask Steven
Middleweight monopoly
Has any boxer held all four major versions of a world title at the same time? asked Brian Robinson
The area of what one writer called boxing's "alphabet boys" is very difficult to be categorical about, as there are so many title fights and versions of the various titles these days. But as far as I can see there have only been three fights where all four major championships - WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO - were up for grabs at the same time.
The first was the middleweight clash in 2004 between Bernard Hopkins, the WBA/WBC/IBF champion, and the WBO title-holder Oscar de la Hoya. Hopkins won, and became the first to defend all four major titles in the same fight against Britain's Howard Eastman early the following year.
Hopkins won that one, but lost his next fight, to Jermain Taylor later in 2005. Taylor gave up the IBF title shortly afterwards, and as far as I can see there hasn't been a title fight since in which all four major belts were at stake.
A few other boxers have held all four major titles at some stage during their careers, but not all at the same time - among them Riddick Bowe (heavyweight), Joe Calzaghe (super-middle) and Ronald 'Winky' Wright (light-middleweight). I've never seen a full list, though.
