The World Boxing Council is one of the four major international professional boxing organizations.
They work hand in hand to sanction professional boxing fights and recognize regional, continental and world champions.
For a professional boxer, joining the WBC is relatively easy. After fulfilling all the other requirements for getting a pro boxing license, you can join the WBC by making and completing an application which involves some paperwork and physical examinations.
This article discusses the roadmap to becoming a professional WBC boxer.
Boxing is a young man’s sport, which means it is rather advisable to pick it up in your teenage years. However, anybody below 40 years can become a professional boxer.
1. Find a boxing club that trains professionals
The first step would be to find and join a boxing gym or club, preferably one that has trained professional fighters, and has affiliations with boxing promoters and organizations.
Note that a boxing club is different from a gym that organizes fitness boxing classes.
The next stage will be consultation. You would need to hear from experts on whether pro boxing is the right fit for you, and if you have any health or physical limitations that would hinder your progress.
It is also important that you find out if the club is capable of launching your career, this you can do by getting reviews.
After getting this done, you can begin training under a coach. You must understand that if you are to be a boxer worth his salts, you must follow a slow, grueling process that will prepare you mentally and physically, for the harsh realities of this sport.
It takes ten years to develop a quality ten-round fighter. And during those years the fighter has to work at it one hundred percent of the time. That means very early in his career, a young man has to decide whether he’s interested in boxing as a sport or as his livelihood. And if it is for his livelihood, he’d better understand what it means to train and train right
Angelo Dundee (Muhammad Ali’s trainer)
Becoming a boxer means dedicating your life to the sport.
Your coaching team will decide if and when you are ready to take the next step, which is signing up for amateur boxing.
Amateur boxing is important in your development as a fighter, helping you rack up experience at a low level.
Some of boxing’s best fighters first garnered an extensive amateur record, as well as Olympic boxing experience.
Becoming an amateur boxer is relatively easy, requiring registration with a local amateur boxing organization, through the state’s athletic commission.
Registration involves filling out an application and passing a physical examination by a doctor.
After getting amateur experience, you can then take the leap into professional boxing. This is where you become affiliated with the WBC or any of their counterparts.
You will first have to visit the state boxing commission, where you will be required to have an appointment with a commissioned doctor.
This doctor will perform an official physical examination, as well as scans, urine, and blood tests.
After passing these tests, the doctor signs off the paperwork which is taken back to the commission where you will pay an annual fee and receive a card that identifies you as a licensed professional boxer.
Joining the WBC mostly involves paperwork. You have to get a manager who will apply for membership in the federation on your behalf.
This application involves a fee, and screening of your fighting record.
If your application is accepted, you officially become a WBC boxer and will be able to compete in WBC-sanctioned fights.
