Today is the 98th anniversary of the great fight between Jack Dempsey and George Carpentier, which represented the first sanctioning of a World Title in history on July 2nd, 1921.

As a pioneer organization, the World Boxing Association (WBA), born as the National Boxing Association (NBA), was the first body to bring into play a championship belt, which wrote one of the first pages of the history of one of the most globalized sports in the world.

Boyle’s Thirty Acres of Jersey City, in New Jersey, was the scene that received the two heavyweights. A pair of historical boxers on the ring to define the first world champion; and in the end, Dempsey was much stronger and scored a knockout in the fourth round, which made him a champion and earned him the right to claim the first sanctioned belt.

Dempsey, who at the time was 26 years old, is an icon of the WBA as it represents the values ​​and work that has developed over the years for the growth of this sport. He is the one with whom organized boxing really kicked off into the mainstream and is at the head of a list of great fighters who have worn the black and gold belt through the years.

Today is a special day not only for the WBA but for the sport since it commemorates a historical event that although it was the collaborative work of many, including the sanctioning organization, is for all boxing.