The WBO was founded by Francisco Valcarcel and other members of the WBC, who broke away from the organization following a dispute. The WBO is headquartered in Puerto Rico.
Despite serious efforts by the organization to be recognized by the public as the "fourth" world sanctioning body for pro boxing over its 15 year history, the WBO has become little more than the "best of the also-ran" organizations, and its championships carry little real prestige. Those recognized as champions by the WBO often relinquish their WBO title just for the opportunity to fight for a WBA, WBC or IBF belt, while others (including three straight Heavyweight title holders during the 1990's) simply relinquished the WBO title.