Cacace vs Wood - What is the IBO title, the belt both men are fighting for?

Anthony Cacace is putting his IBO super featherweight world title on the line this weekend when he faces Leigh Wood at the Nottingham Arena. 

But despite the plaudits, the IBO’s belt comes from an organisation that might not be familiar to every boxing fan. Despite champions such as Oleksandr Usyk and Dmitry Bivol holding IBO titles, the organisation is rarely taken seriously by its contemporaries.  

Here DAZN News takes a closer look at the IBO.

History and origin of the IBO 

The International Boxing Organization (IBO) is a body that sanctions professional bouts, whilst awarding regional and global titles. 

Founded in the United States in 1988, the organisation adopted a computer-based rankings system in the 1990s. In 2025, the IBO uses BoxRec’s ratings, albeit with a tweaked formula.  

The organisation also does not enforce mandatory challengers for its champions, eschewing the convention of other organisations in boxing.  

IBO president Ed Levine has made a point of ensuring that his organisation only has one champion per weight class, with other bodies previously having up to three in years gone by. 

However, the IBO does share some similarities with other organising bodies. It charges sanctioning fees for title fights, and whilst it may not have mandatory fighters, champions are expected to remain active with defences to retain their belts. 

Former and current IBO champions 

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Despite only existing for 37 years, plenty of notable fighters have claimed IBO belts since Pinklon Thomas became the first boxer to be labelled a world champion by the organisation in 1992. 

Former WBC champion Thomas won the inaugural IBO heavyweight world title by defeating Craig Payne via split decision. Since the IBO debuted that particular belt, it has been awarded to Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua, among others. 

Oleksandr Usyk currently holds the belt, having done so whilst reigning as undisputed champion of the WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. 

At lower weights, there have been plenty of well-known fighters to have served as IBO world champions. Dimtry Bivol picked up the light-heavyweight strap, alongside the big four belts, when he enacted revenge over Artur Beterbiev in February, whilst Gennady Golovkin defended his IBO middleweight title on 19 occasions. 

Ricky Hatton successfully defended his IBO super lightweight three times until losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2009. Pacquiao’s future dance partner, Floyd Mayweather Jr, was also an IBO champion, reigning for a year at welterweight between 2006 and 2007. 

Chris Eubank Jr is a domestic-level name that has won two IBO belts - currently reigning as world champion at middleweight after a stint as number one at super middleweight.

IBO’s relationship with the “big four” 

However, despite its titles being worn by many famous fighters over the years, the IBO is viewed as a minor belt. That mainly comes down to boxing politics, with the four major organisations happy with their position in the current landscape. 

The ‘four-belt’ era is recognised to have started in 2004, when the WBC joined the WBA in recognising WBO champions in their own rankings.  

That is despite the fact that the IBF did not acknowledge the WBO until 2007, with the four-belt era starting in the eyes of many when Bernard Hopkins became the first fighter of any weight to unify a division with all four titles. 

The IBO’s standing as a minor organisation is dependent on recognition, or lack of, from the other four major bodies in world boxing. Aside from recognising one another, the WBO, WBC, WBA, and IBF all have regulations regarding unification fights, often enabling champions to bypass a mandatory challenger in order to fight for the chance to unite multiple belts. 

Currently, none of the four organisations mention the IBO when it comes to unification fights, further reducing the stature of the body when it comes to world titles.  

As such, when an IBO belt is the only strap on the line, as will be the case on Saturday when Anthony Cacace faces Leigh Wood, it is more likely to be mentioned in the promotion of a fight and omitted when other titles are up for grabs. 

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