Is the IBO belt slowly becoming another “major” belt?

The IBO title has been around for as long as the WBO title has. It took 19 years for the latter to be recognized by the three major sanctioning bodies. It's been over 30 years now and the IBO world title is still unrecognized. So no, I don't think it'll become the next major title anytime soon. In saying that, if/when another major world title is recognized by the 4 major sanctioning bodies then it's likely to be the IBO.
 
I guess it depends what we're talking about. If the IBO belts are held by elite level fighters and are part of unification bouts, seems legit enough to me.
 
Seano said:
I guess it depends what we're talking about. If the IBO belts are held by elite level fighters and are part of unification bouts, seems legit enough to me.
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It seems the HW version holds a little more weight than the others since it's generally held by one of the champs.
 
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Their best bet would be to adopt Bridgerweight before the 3 do.

Wasn’t the IBA trying to be a thing in the 90’s as well?
 
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I guess if enough good fighters are willing to hold onto it and defend it - GGG apparently defended his IBO middleweight title 17 times - it gains legitimacy.
 
If we can get like 20 belts per weight class, I could maybe stumble into a title myself, with the right matchmaking.
That's what we need to be thinking about here.
 
I think it’s possible that the ibo could become a major title if the wbc and wba continue to delegitimize themselves.
 
Kovalev's "Man Bag" said:
The IBO title has been around for as long as the WBO title has. It took 19 years for the latter to be recognized by the three major sanctioning bodies. It's been over 30 years now and the IBO world title is still unrecognized. So no, I don't think it'll become the next major title anytime soon. In saying that, if/when another major world title is recognized by the 4 major sanctioning bodies then it's likely to be the IBO.
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I wouldn’t give much weight the fact that other sanctioning bodies don’t recognize the ibo. The wbo had been considered a legitimate, albeit weaker, version of the title by many pundits and media outlets dating back to at least to the late 90’s. Though it definitely had more value out side of heavyweight.
 
the WBO fought hard to get some legit fighters to fight for the belts without any others orgs being involved, i know the WBO titles started to gain recognition in some divisions back in the 90's, like any other title, it all depends on the holder and how they are considered, i think MAB had a lot to do with the WBO becoming one of the big titles to own, but i dont recall the last big fight that was for only a WBO title
 
I need an excel sheet to keep track of these paperweight belts now
 
Blazeblack said:
I wouldn’t give much weight the fact that other sanctioning bodies don’t recognize the ibo. The wbo had been considered a legitimate, albeit weaker, version of the title by many pundits and media outlets dating back to at least to the late 90’s. Though it definitely had more value out side of heavyweight.
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Well, TS is asking if they're about to slowly become the next big player. The only way for that to actually happen in any official capacity, and let's hope it doesn't, is for the current big 4 to all recognize the IBO world title and for the IBO to mutually recognize their titles. That peer recognition approval process is required for them to be viewed as a legitimate equal in the sanctioning body space. Though I agree with the sentiment that the WBO was largely viewed as legit by fans & media well before they were fully recognized by the major sanctioning bodies in 2007.
 
The problem seems to me that the IBO often puts their belt on the shoulders of divisional top dogs, but unlike the WBO, they don't have IBO champions independently establishing credibility on par or above the other belt holders, which is basically how the WBO gained it's legitimacy.
 
No. They could be more recognised if they pushed their point of difference, computerised rankings for one champ per division, as an alternative to the confusion from other bodies.

Instead, they’ve gone the traditional route of promoting the big names and they’re lost in the shuffle.
 
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