President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza opened Day 2 of meetings at the host hotel Caribe Royale in Orlando. The agenda included his presidential report, regional reports, WBA future report, treasury report, draft regulation proposal, Bridgerweight category and interactive activity.
After some entertaining cultural dances to wake everyone up after a late night at the fights, Mendoza began summarizing the Association’s goal and approach of inclusivity, transparency and growth.
Mendoza announced that WBO president Olivieri and IBF president Daryl Peoples will be present on Monday at this convention. Mendoza admitted the differences between the WBC and WBA, between WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and himself, but stressed that talking can iron out many of those differences.
The directorate will discuss the future of the bridgerweight division- whether or not to keep it. “We have champions and obligations, so decisions will have to be discussed regarding the division.”
“Another area of criticism has been the interim titles. These are areas we need to discuss.”
The regional report included news on not only activity we thing the various regions, but also the occurrence of regional conventions in Europe and Asia. In America, there were 250+ sanctions including NABA, Continental Americas, etc.
The WBA Future report included news about promotions in areas such as Pakistan, Cuba and Africa. The WBA KO Drugs campaign continues along with WBA Academy will continue to support youth, leading to a strong future.
Reports on international efforts from Won Kim, Alfredo Mendoza, Laurauro Moreno elaborated on growth in Panama, Argentina and Asia were delivered.
The treasury report was given by Julio Quintero and Zailuby Cuba. A “Boxing Ecosystem” was outlined, consisting of the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO, Riyadh Season, The Ring and the Top 6 Promoters.
A very interesting chart was displayed depicting sanctions for each governing body for the full year of 2025, illustrating a breakdown of world titles, interim, gold, super, international, silver and so on.
The WBA Development Framework looks at global opportunities to develop the WBA brand through international travel, updated apparel, certifications, branches in Orlando, Houston, Spain, Switzerland and gyms throughout the world.
After a short break, there was a unique moment where WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza and Jose Oliver Gomez were inducted into the the Indiana boxing Hall of Fame by its president Craig Houck and Aaron Snowell. The WBA (then NBA) has a long history in Indiana with Jack Dillon, Johnny Coulon and Tony Zale as world champions. More recently Marvin Johnson was a two time WBA light heavyweight champion from Indiana.
In the last portion of the morning session, some interactive activities in team building were undertaken in the form of games. Five teams of five people each were formed to participate in some light-hearted activities. Judges decided which teams won each competition and this was to demonstrate the neutrality, honesty and objectivity with which WBA makes decisions on a daily basis.
