What is the difference between the WBC Super Featherweight champion and the WBC International Super Featherweight champion?

Answer 1

The current WBC Super Featherweight Champion is Juan Manuel Marquez from Mexico and the current WBC International Super Featherweight Champion is Manny Pacquaio from the Philippines. By co-incidence both are fighting each other tomorrow for the former's title. This will be a rematch of their 2004 fight which was declared a draw.

The WBC Super Featherweight Champion is the recognised world champion in the eyes of the WBC. The WBC International Super Featherweight Champion was originally meant to be a fighter in the WBC's ranking between 11-30.

Initially, the 'International' title was first called the WBC 'junior' world champion when it was first introduced in the late eighties (approximately 1987). Unfortunately, it caused great confusion amongst the press as the WBC 'junior' world bantamweight champion was thought to be the WBC world junior bantamweight champion.

E.g., On the 1st of May 1987, Richard 'Shrimpy' Clarke of Jamaica was thought to have won on home soil the WBC Junior Flyweight championship. However, at that time, the real WBC Junior Flyweight champion was the great Jung-Koo Chang who was midway during his long reign as champion. Richard Clarke was in fact the WBC 'junior' world flyweight champion.

As a result the WBC changed it from 'junior' to 'international'. Moving from facts to opinion, the purpose of the 'International' title is to make more sanctioning fees for the WBC as every 'title' manufactured by a boxing organisation charges fighters to fight for that individual belt.

Thus, in the old days where you'd have your world champion, you'd also have regional champions such as a national champion or a continental champion. Now you have all sorts of titles such as the IBF intercontinental European or the IBF Pan Pacific or the WBC Fecarbox title for those in Latin America and the Caribbean. The list goes on and so does the profits for these organisations.

Ultimately, the WBC International championship doesn't mean a thing and its championships are filled with household names like Jeffrey Mathebula, Collins Odour, Ali Funeka and Domenico Spada.