World Boxing Union

The World Boxing Union (WBU) is a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative Jon W Robinson. It was also supported by Bob Arum.

The WBU had a 'golden' period between 1996-2006 when its title contests were often shown live on satellite and terrestrial television. The WBU title during this time could be compared with the early days of the WBO.

WBU titles were particularly well recognised in Europe and Africa. WBU titles have been held by the likes of Ricky Hatton, George Foreman, Thomas Hearns, Baby Jake Matlala, James Tony, Johnny Nelson and Micky Ward.

The World Boxing Union (WBU) is a professional boxing sanctioning body approaching its twentieth year in the business of sanctioning world championship fights. It has been immortalized in cinema history by the hit movie "The Fighter" starring Mark Wahlberg. WBU titles were particularly well recognised in Europe and Africa. WBU titles have been held by the likes of Ricky Hatton, George Foreman, Thomas Hearns, Baby Jake Matlala, James Toney, Johnny Nelson and Micky Ward (in reality he was "The Fighter").

List of WBU Heavyweight Champions

WBU heavyweight champions have included:^[1]

Name	Duration of reign	Defenses	Notes
George Foreman	March 29, 1995 – 1997	2	Foreman was recognized as champion after he was stripped of the IBF title
Corrie Sanders	November 15, 1997 – May 20, 2000	3	Defeated Ross Purity
Hasim Rahman	May 20, 2000 – April 21, 2001	0	Relinquished the title in order to fight Lennox Lewis for the IBF, IBO and WBC titles
Johnny Nelson	November 24, 2001 – December 4, 2001	0	Defeated Alexander Vasiliev. Relinquished the title in order to concentrate on defending his WBO Cruiserweight title
Georgi Kandelaki	December 21, 2002 – January 2004	0	Defeated Alexander Vasiliev. Kandelaki either relinquished or was stripped of the title
Matt Skelton	February 25, 2005 – January 26, 2009	0	Skelton relinquished the title