Not to be confused with List of ABA champions, a comprehensive list of all-time American Basketball Association

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 championship teams.

The ABA Championships is the premier tournament hosted annually by the Amateur Boxing Association of England

Amateur Boxing Association of England

The Amateur Boxing Association of England is the governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in Northern Ireland being organised on an All-Ireland basis. The Association was founded in 1880...

. The Championships are 'open' class: any boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 who is registered with a club of the ABA of England (aged over 17 years by the 1 October) can enter.

History

The inaugural Championships were held (over one day) on 18 April 1880 at St James Hall, London at four weight categories: Featherweight

Featherweight

Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...

 (57 kg), Lightweight

Lightweight

Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....

 (60 kg), Middleweight

Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

 (75 kg), and Heavyweight

Heavyweight

Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...

 (91 kg).
1884 saw the introduction of a fifth weight category (Bantamweight

Bantamweight

Bantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...

, 54 kg). In 1920 three additional weight categories were introduced taking it to 8 weight categories in all. These extra weights were: Flyweight

Flyweight

Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing less than 112 lb but above 108 lb .-Professional boxing:...

 (51 kg), Welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 (69 kg), and Light heavyweight

Light heavyweight

In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...

 (81 kg).

In 1920, London split into four Divisions to accommodate the number of boxers entering the ABA Championships. The start of Divisional Championships. The following year in 1921 the ABA decided to introduce eliminating rounds and the Country was split into four Regions to assist in identifying a champion. In 1926 the Championships were opened by a Patron of the 'ABA', HRH Prince of Wales.

In 1970, the 'light flyweight

Light flyweight

- Professional boxing :The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds . When New York legalized boxing in 1920, the law stipulated a "junior flyweight" class, with a weight limit of 99 pounds. When the National Boxing Association was formed in 1921, it also recognized this...

' category (48 kg) was included in the National Championship for the first time . In 1982, the 'super heavyweight

Super heavyweight

In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms . Introduced for the 1984 Summer Olympics, the division, despite its grandiose name, is merely the amateur equivalent of the professional heavyweight division...

 category (over 91 kg) was added. Cruiserweight (86 kg) was added in 1998.

By 1994, the ABA Championships became a purely English affair as Scottish and Welsh boxers could no longer compete due to disagreements over rules and regulations.

In 2002/3 the weights were revised, deleting light middleweight

Light middleweight

Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....

 (71 kg) and cruiserweight (86 kg), also increasing welter weight from 67 kg to 69 kg. So today a total of eleven weight categories are contested. The ABA Champion is automatically selected to represent England in the Four Nations Championship in that year (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales).

Location

The Championships have been held in London since 1881, apart from a brief spell at Belle Vue

Belle Vue, Manchester

Belle Vue is an area of Gorton, in the city of Manchester, England. It lies in the eastern part of the city, close to its boundary with Tameside, and is bordered by the Hope Valley Line on the east and the Glossop Line on the west...

 Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 in 1944, Birmingham NEC for 1993–1995 and Barnsley

Barnsley

Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

 for 1996–2002.
The inaugural Championships were held at St James Hall, London on 18 April 1880.
In 1926, the Championships moved to the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

 London after moving around different venues within the Capital City (St. James Hall, Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

, Northampton Institute, Holborn Central Hall, Royal Aquarium

Royal Aquarium

The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a Westminster, London place of amusement opened in 1876. The building was demolished in 1903. It was located immediately to the west of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in a highly ornamental style faced...

, Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

, People's Palace

People's Palace

The People's Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland is a museum and glasshouse situated in Glasgow Green, and was opened on 22 January, 1898 by the Earl of Rosebery....

 and the Holland Park Ring). From 1946 until 1990 the Championships were held at the Wembley Arena

Wembley Arena

Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...

. In 1991 they transferred to the Royal Albert Hall.
The championships returned to London in 2003 being held at the Royal Albert Hall, Excel Centre and then the Wembley Convention Centre.

Champions

• ABA Middleweight Champions
  ABA Middleweight Champions
  Amateur Boxing Association of England middleweight champions.*1881 - T. Bellhouse *1882 - A. Curnick *1883 - A. Curnick *1884 - W. Brown *1885 - M. Salmon *1886 - W. King...
  
  
• ABA Heavyweight Champions
  ABA Heavyweight Champions
  Amateur Boxing Association of England heavyweight champions.*1881 - R. Frost Smith *1882 - H. Dearsley *1883 - H. Dearsley *1884 - H. Dearsley *1885 - W. West...
  
  
• ABA Super Heavyweight Champions
  ABA Super Heavyweight Champions
  Amateur Boxing Association of England super heavyweight champions. The title was started in 1982.*1982 - Adrian Elliott *1983 - Keith Ferdinand *1984 - Bobby Wells *1985 - Guy Williamson...