The North American Boxing Council is a professional Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts 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, Friday Night Fights and Fox Sports. Boxers who have fought for the NABC belt include Evander Holyfield, Félix Trinidad, Larry Donald, Ricardo Mayorga, Stevie Johnston, Joshua Clottey, Ian Gardner, and Damian Fuller. Promoters who have held NABC contests include Don King, Fred Berns, and Gary Shaw.
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 cable channel as NABC Extreme Fighting and as individual title bouts on Cage Fury Fighting Championships 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.