The North American Boxing Council is a professional Boxing

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...

 and Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 sanctioning body with its United States office in Indianapolis, IN. The US operations are managed by NABC President, Ed Hutchison. The NABC was founded in 1971 and has operated in its current incarnation since 1999.

NABC boxing championship bouts have been televised on HBO Boxing

HBO Boxing

HBO World Championship Boxing is a sports television series, premiering in January 1973 that has shown a number of significant boxing events in the last three decades....

, Friday Night Fights and Fox Sports

Fox Sports (USA)

Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...

. Boxers who have fought for the NABC belt include Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...

, Félix Trinidad

Félix Trinidad

Félix 'Tito' Trinidad, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional boxer, considered one of the best in Puerto Rico's history. After winning five National Amateur Championships in Puerto Rico, he debuted as a professional when he was 17. He won his first world championship when he defeated Maurice Blocker...

, Larry Donald

Larry Donald

Larry Ali Donald is a professional heavyweight boxer, who competed for the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.-Professional career:...

, Ricardo Mayorga

Ricardo Mayorga

Ricardo Mayorga , is a Nicaraguan professional boxer. He is the former WBA/WBC Welterweight champion and the former WBC light middleweight champion. He holds a record of 29-8 with 23 knockouts and 1 draw 1 no contest. He was featured for the first time on the cover of Ring Magazine on the December...

, Stevie Johnston

Stevie Johnston

Steven Earl Johnston is an American boxer in the lightweight division. Johnston is a two-time former WBC Lightweight Champion.- Amateur career :...

, Joshua Clottey

Joshua Clottey

Joshua Clottey is a Ghanaian professional boxer. Born in Accra, Ghana, Clottey now lives in the Bronx, New York. He is the former IBF welterweight champion. He's also the brother of veteran boxers Judas Clottey and Emmanuel Clottey....

, Ian Gardner

Ian Gardner

Ian Gardner, nicknamed The Cobra because of his slithering movements on the boxing ring, is a junior-middleweight boxer who was born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, but now resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.-External links:...

, and Damian Fuller. Promoters who have held NABC contests include Don King, Fred Berns, and Gary Shaw

Gary Shaw

Gary Shaw was an English football striker who played for Aston Villa in the early 1980s. His goals helped Aston Villa win the English First Division championship in 1980–81 and the European Cup the following year - the only Birmingham-born player in the team. In 1981 he was voted PFA Young Player...

.

On July 28, 2006, the NABC became the first professional boxing sanctioning body to sanction a Mixed Martial Arts bout when Jessie Chilton defeated Eddie Sanchez at Legends of Fighting 8 in Indianapolis to win the NABC 185lb MMA championship.

The NABC produces its own MMA cards as NABC Extreme Fighting and sanctions individual bouts as NABC MMA title matches for other MMA promotions. NABC mixed martial arts championship matches have been televised on the HDNet

HDNet

HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...

 cable channel as NABC Extreme Fighting and as individual title bouts on Cage Fury Fighting Championships

Cage Fury Fighting Championships

Cage Fury Fighting Championships was an American mixed martial arts promotion. Founded by Felix & Amy Martinez, the promotion promoted in Atlantic City, NJ, having just held five events. The last minute cancellation of its sixth event signalled its demise...

pay per view broadcasts.

NABC sanctioning of MMA matches and the implications for the future of professional boxing were examined in an NBC Sports story by Kenny Rice http://www.nabc.net/1566096.htm May 29, 2007.