Cyber Boxing Zone (CBZ) is a website relating to the sport of boxing. It was founded in 1995 by Mike DeLisa from New York City and Steve Gordon from Portland.[1][2] DeLisa had previously written a boxing newsletter for America Online,[2] while Gordon wrote for Rolling Stone in the 1960s.[3] Contributors have included Randy Gordon, a former New York State Boxing Commissioner.[2] In 1999, The Independent called it "one of the most entertaining and informative" mainstream boxing sites.[4] The site has coverage of both current and historical boxing information. DeLisa is a member of the International Boxing Research Organization and was a consultant on the biopic Cinderella Man.[1][5]
CBZ was an early advocate of the notional lineal championship as an alternative to the multiple disputed championships awarded by rival governing bodies.[6] It maintains its own retrospective lists of lineal champions in each weight class, back to the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry Rules in 1885.[7][8] It began this in 1994, and has retrospectively calculated titleholders beginning from the 1885 introduction of the Queensberry Rules.[9][8] Fight records used in deriving the lists were supplied by Tracy Callis of the "International Boxing Research Organization" and by Matt Tegen.[8] While all versions of the lineal championship agree that a challenger who defeats the current champion at the given weight inherits the lineal title, different versions disagree about how to proclaim a new champion when the existing one retires or moves to a different weight class. For example, CBZ's heavyweight list title is vacant from Lennox Lewis' 2004 retirement until Wladimir Klitschko's 2009 victory over Ruslan Chagaev.[10] The CBZ site gives explanations of some of its marginal decisions.[9]
^Rold, Cliff (21 April 2009). "Pacquiao Aims for Four (and Six)". Real History. BoxingScene. pp. Part VII. Retrieved 17 August 2013. There can be some argument as to whether this bout earned a lineal distinction. The concept wasn't heavily tracked in 1998, but the Cyber Boxing Zone (CBZ) recognizes the lineage as dating to the latter championship days of Azumah Nelson, which is probably correct.
