Prize belt presented to John L. Sullivan, bare-knuckle boxing champion, in 1887 The "Boston Bully," Sullivan was the most famous sports figure of his day. To honor their hometown hero, Boston fans raised $10,000 for this elaborate trophy. Encrusted with 350 diamonds (now lost) and decorated with Sullivan's portrait and crossed Irish and American flags, the gold-plated belt has this inscription: "Presented to the champion of champions by the people of the United States." In 1983 the Smithsonian acquired Sullivan's belt for its sports history collection.
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From Wikipedia - When the modern authorities talk of the heavyweight championship of the world, they are probably referring to the championship belt presented to Sullivan in Boston on August 8, 1887. The belt was inscribed Presented to the Champion of Champions, John L. Sullivan, by the Citizens of the United States. Its centerpiece featured the flags of the US, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
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Wikipedia again - The Lonsdale Belt was a boxing prize given by Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale.
Lord Lonsdale organised boxing matches in 1909 and was president of the National Sporting Club of Britain. Every boxer who became a champion and defended his title successfully three times received the Lonsdale belt.
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Ring Magazine (founded 1922)
The Ring began awarding championship belts in 1922. The first Ring belt was awarded to heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, the second to flyweight champion Pancho Villa. The magazine stopped giving belts to world champions in the 1990s, but began again in 2002 when it launched its new championship policy intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class. -
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I know a bit about boxing history, and I know of no other
regularly-awarded belt (awarded to a champion upon becoming champion) prior to this one.
The Ring was regarded as the "Bible of Boxing" for a very long time. (It even used that as a slogan.) To get an idea of just how influential Ring was, in the second Ali-Liston fight, referee Joe Walcott, after dusting Liston's glove off from the knockdown, was called over to the side of the ring by Fleisher and told that Liston was down for more than 10 seconds and that the fight should be over. Even though Walcott had instructed the fighters to continue fighting, he then signaled that the fight was over and Ali had won by a KO. Fleisher was not in any way an official of the fight or the state of Maine, where the fight was held. But HE said the fight was over, and not one person questioned it.
Unfortunately, the Ring now covers wrestling, and several other combat-type "sports" and just isn't what it used to be.
