Controversies
The WBA has been plagued with charges of corruption for years. In perhaps the most notable instance, promoter Bob Arum claimed in a 1982 interview that he had to pay off WBA officials to obtain rankings. In a 1981 Sports Illustrated article, a WBA judge claimed that he was influenced by the WBA president to support certain fighters. The same article also discussed a variety of bribes paid to WBA officials to obtain title fights or rankings with the organization.
The WBA also came under fire in the 1980s for allowing South Africans to fight for its titles.
Though the "Super Champion" designation are for WBA champions who concurrently hold titles with the WBO, IBF and/or WBC, there are instances where the WBA designates fighters with only the WBA title as "Super Champion." This particular practice has come under scrutiny as it is seen by several boxing experts as a means to obtain more sanctioning fees within each division.
Read more about this topic: World Boxing Association