What month or year did the WBO receive true world recognition?

Having the WBO belt has nothing to do with being undisputed.

 

last edit by LockDog387

 

Irony alert! Bad choice...Ray only defended the belt once, vs Morrison, then ditched it.

Heavyweight-wise, I think it wasn't until Wladimir's 2000-2003 run with the WBO belt, where he made about 5 or 6 defences, that it gained in credibility.

Mainly because Wladimir was seen as the #1 guy in waiting at the time, which again just confirms that it's the fighter that makes the belt and not the belt itself.

 

the WBO got recognition as one of the major belts when Naseem Hamed won the belt, and continued to win every other belt in the division, ditching all of them to keep the WBO. Then when Barrera beat Hamed, won the WBO feather title and was recognized as the featherweight champion, the recognition continued to rise. Barrera stayed loyal to the organization. Further titlists like Freitas and Calzaghe sealed the deal.

 

Well said. I don't know how people can say Wladimir Klitschko holding the belt gave it recognition as he wasn't the true champion at the time.

 

They should have let the WBA and IBF come along etiher but hey. I reckon the IBO will be recognised soon.

 

Nope, they don't force mandatories.

What do you mean by this?

 

Nope, but he was certainly getting big-time recognition as the next true champion. In a situation like that, and with him fighting and defending the belt several times over about 3 years, it was bound to improve the WBO's reputation at heavyweight level.

 

Just look at their dispicable middleweight ratings. They have Gary Lockett at number one! Go on boxrec & look at his record, you tell me who he has beaten to warrant a shot at at Pavlik. The WBO is a Frank Warren title.

 

The eleventeenth of Frezember, year two thousand and never.

 

Its a pity he went and lost it and failed in his attempt to win it back. He still hasnt become the true champ all these years later!

 

Except he only got recognition when he faced the IBF holder Lacy and the WBA WBC holder Kessler!

 

:good

The general opinion still seems to be that he "hid" behind the WBO Title all those years.

I don't necessarily agree with that, but the amount of flack Calzaghe gets about his resume pretty much proves that the WBO still isn't considered to be a "true" world title.

 

It's difficult to argue with that. They made him fight Mario Veit twice & he duely obliged.atsch

I don't doubt for a second Joe could have held true recognition for far longer but he & Warren were making too much money as they were. The WBO definitely hindered his career in terms of getting recognition.

 

frank warren and kohl adapoted the WBO about 20 years ago and aimed there fighters at that belt.

not much different from the way the IBF got started a few years before that .