According to the World Boxing Association (WBA) President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, the Organization will be moving its headquarters to Houston. The more than a century-old sanctioning body was originally founded in Rhode Island in 1921 and was headquartered in Panama. It additionally called Venezuela home for a brief stint. It is currently located in Panama City, Panama. They will now, officially, be moving to the Lone Star State. Organization President Mendoza called Houston "a great sports town" and cited the great, recent, world champions including Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz and Jermell Charlo as motivation to choose Houston as the WBA’s new home.
Geographically the new home makes sense as well. It will be located closer to the other major organizations. The WBC is located in Mexico and the IBF is located in the US. There has been no official date given for the official move. The other major boxing organization, the WBO, is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The WBA's announcement comes as another huge win for Texas boxing and for the city of Houston, It was announced last month that the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame which is expected to open up in October of this year will also be located in Houston.