Championship recognition

1884–1910

Champions were recognized by public acclamation. A champion in that era was a fighter who had a notable win over another fighter and kept winning afterward. Retirements or disputed results could lead to a championship being split among several men for periods of time.

1910–1961

Championship awarding organizations

• The International Boxing Union (IBU), formed in Paris in 1910. Changed name to European Boxing Union in 1946. It organised world title fights from 1913 to 1963 after which it was incorporated into the World Boxing Council (WBC).
• The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), formed in 1920. It organised world title bouts until the early 1970s when it became a member of World Boxing Council (WBC).
• The National Boxing Association (NBA) formed in the United States in 1921.
• Other bodies including the National Sporting Club in Great Britain and the California State Athletic Commission also awarded world titles.

An Australian version of the world title which existed briefly between 1914 and 1916 gained considerable credibility because its holder, Les Darcy, was widely believed to be best boxer in the world in this division.

1961–present

Championship awarding organizations

• The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA); it changed its name in 1961 and allowed membership from outside the United States.
• The World Boxing Council (WBC), founded in 1963.
• The International Boxing Federation (IBF), founded in 1983.
• The World Boxing Organization (WBO), founded in 1988.

List of champions

Reign Begun	Reign Ended	Champion	Recognition
1884-07-30	1891-01-14	Nonpareil Dempsey	World
1891-01-14	1894-09-26 – vacated	Bob Fitzsimmons	World
1896-03-02	1897-12-17 – vacated	Kid McCoy	World
1897-12-20	1907-05-28 – vacated	Tommy Ryan	World
1907-12-12	1908-09-07	Stanley Ketchel	World
1908-09-07	1908-11-26	Billy Papke	World
1908-11-26	1910-10-15 – died	Stanley Ketchel	World
1913-03-5	1913-10-11	Frank Klaus	World
1913-10-11	1914-04-07	George Chip	World
1914-04-07	1917-11-14	Al McCoy	World
1917-11-14	1920-05-06	Mike O'Dowd	World
1920-05-06	1923-08-31	Johnny Wilson	World
1923-08-31	1926-02-26	Harry Greb	World
1926-02-26	1926-12-03	Tiger Flowers	World
1926-12-03	1929-10-29 – vacated	Mickey Walker	World
1932-01-25	1932-06-11	Gorilla Jones	NBA
1932-06-11	1932-07-04	Marcel Thil	NBA
1933-01-13	1933-08-09	Ben Jeby	NYSAC
1933-08-09	1933-10-30	Lou Brouillard	NYSAC
1933-10-30	1934-09-11	Vince Dundee	World
1934-09-11	1935-09-19	Teddy Yarosz	World
1935-09-19	1936-07-11	Eddie Babe Risko	World
1936-07-11	1938-07-26	Freddie Steele	World
1938-07-26	1938-11-01	Al Hostak	NBA
1938-11-01	1939-06-27	Solly Krieger	NBA
1938-11-18	1939-10-02	Fred Apostoli	NYSAC
1939-06-27	1940-07-19	Al Hostak	NBA
1939-10-02	1940-05-23	Ceferino Garcia	NYSAC
1940-05-23	1941-05-09	Ken Overlin	NYSAC
1940-07-19	1947-07-16	Tony Zale	NBA
1941-05-09	1941-10-31[1]	Billy Soose	NYSAC
1941-11-28	1947-07-16	Tony Zale	NYSAC
1947-07-16	1948-06-10	Rocky Graziano	NBA
1948-06-10	1948-09-21	Tony Zale	NBA
1948-09-21	1949-06-16	Marcel Cerdan	NBA
1949-06-16	1951-02-14	Jake LaMotta	NBA
1950-07-12	1951-02-14	Jake LaMotta	NYSAC
1951-02-14	1951-07-10	Sugar Ray Robinson	World
1951-07-10	1951-09-12	Randy Turpin	World
1951-09-12	1952-04-16 – vacated	Sugar Ray Robinson	World
1953-10-21	1955-12-09	Bobo Olson	World
1955-12-09	1957-01-02	Sugar Ray Robinson	World
1957-01-02	1957-05-01	Gene Fullmer	World
1957-05-01	1957-09-23	Sugar Ray Robinson	World
1957-09-23	1958-03-25	Carmen Basilio	World
1958-03-25	1960-01-22	Sugar Ray Robinson	The Ring Magazine title
1959-08-28	1962-10-23	Gene Fullmer	NBA
1960-01-22	1961-07-11	Paul Pender	The Ring Magazine title
1961-07-11	1962-04-07	Terry Downes	The Ring Magazine title
1962-04-07	1962-04-07 – vacated	Paul Pender	The Ring Magazine title
1962-10-23	1963-12-07	Dick Tiger	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1963-12-07	1965-10-21	Joey Giardello	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1965-10-21	1966-04-25	Dick Tiger	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1966-04-25	1967-04-17	Emile Griffith	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1967-04-17	1967-09-29	Nino Benvenuti	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1967-09-29	1968-03-04	Emile Griffith	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1968-03-04	1970-11-07	Nino Benvenuti	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1970-11-07	1974-02-09 – title split	Carlos Monzón	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1976-06-26	1977-08-29 – retired	Carlos Monzón	Universal (WBA/WBC)
1980-09-27	1987-04-06 – title split	Marvin Hagler	Universal (WBA/WBC/IBF)
2004-09-18	2005-07-16 – title lost	Bernard Hopkins	Universal (WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO)
2005-07-16	2005-10-11 – title split	Jermain Taylor	Universal (WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO)
WBC[edit]
Title inaugurated
1963-08-10	1963-12-07	Dick Tiger	WBC
1963-12-07	1965-10-21	Joey Giardello	WBC
1965-10-21	1966-04-25	Dick Tiger	WBC
1966-04-25	1967-04-17	Emile Griffith	WBC
1967-04-17	1967-09-29	Nino Benvenuti	WBC
1967-09-29	1968-03-04	Emile Griffith	WBC
1968-03-04	1970-11-07	Nino Benvenuti	WBC
1970-11-07	1974-02-09-Stripped	Carlos Monzon	WBC
1974-05-25	1976-06-26	Rodrigo Valdez	WBC
1976-06-26	1977-08-29-Retired	Carlos Monzón	WBC
1977-11-05	1978-04-22	Rodrigo Valdez	WBC
1978-04-22	1979-06-30	Hugo Pastor Corro	WBC
1979-06-30	1980-03-16	Vito Antuofermo	WBC
1980-03-16	1980-09-27	Alan Minter	WBC
1980-09-27	1987-04-06	Marvelous Marvin Hagler	WBC
1987-04-06	1987-05-27-Vacated	Sugar Ray Leonard	WBC
1987-10-29	1988-06-06	Thomas Hearns	WBC
1988-06-06	1989-02-24	Iran Barkley	WBC
1989-02-24	1989-12-07-Vacated	Roberto Durán	WBC
1990-11-24	1993-05-08	Julian Jackson	WBC
1993-05-08	1994-05-07-Vacated	Gerald McClellan	WBC
1995-03-17	1995-08-19	Julian Jackson	WBC
1995-08-19	1996-03-16	Quincy Taylor	WBC
1996-03-16	1998-05-02	Keith Holmes	WBC
1998-05-02	1999-04-24	Hacine Cherifi	WBC
1999-04-24	2001-04-14	Keith Holmes	WBC
2001-04-14	2005-07-16	Bernard Hopkins	WBC
2005-07-16	2007-09-29	Jermain Taylor	WBC
2007-09-29	2010-04-17	Kelly Pavlik	WBC
2010-04-17	2011-01-17-Stripped	Sergio Martínez	WBC
2011-01-17	2011-06-04	Sebastian Zbik	WBC interim
2011-06-04	2012-09-15	Julio César Chávez Jr.	WBC
2012-09-15	2014-06-07	Sergio Martínez	WBC
2014-04-05	2014-10-18	Marco Antonio Rubio	WBC Interim
2014-10-18	2016-05-18	Gennady Golovkin	WBC Interim
2014-06-07	2015-11-17-Stripped	Miguel Cotto	WBC
2015-11-21	2016-05-18-Vacated	Saul Alvarez	WBC
2016-05-18	2018-09-15	Gennady Golovkin	WBC
2018-04-21	2019-06-27	Jermall Charlo	WBC Interim
2018-09-15	2019-06-27-Elevated to 'Franchise' Champion	Saul Alvarez	WBC
2019-06-27	Present	Jermall Charlo	WBC
WBA[edit]
Title inaugurated
1962-10-23	1963-12-07	Dick Tiger	WBA
1963-12-07	1965-10-21	Joey Giardello	WBA
1965-10-21	1966-04-25	Dick Tiger	WBA
1966-04-25	1967-04-17	Emile Griffith	WBA
1967-04-17	1967-09-29	Nino Benvenuti	WBA
1967-04-17	1968-03-04	Emile Griffith	WBA
1968-03-04	1970-11-04	Nino Benvenuti	WBA
1970-11-07	1977-08-29-Retired	Carlos Monzon	WBA
1977-11-05	1978-04-22	Rodrigo Valdez	WBA
1978-04-22	1979-06-30	Hugo Pastor Corro	WBA
1979-06-30	1980-03-16	Vito Antuofermo	WBA
1980-03-16	1980-09-27	Alan Minter	WBA
1980-09-27	1987-Stripped	Marvin Hagler	WBA
1987-10-23	1989-Stripped	Sumbu Kalambay	WBA
1989-05-10	1991-04-01-Vacated	Mike McCallum	WBA
1992-04-22	1993-10-01	Reggie Johnson	WBA
1993-10-01	1994-08-Vacated	John David Jackson	WBA
1994-08-12	1995-12-19	Jorge Fernando Castro	WBA
1995-12-19	1996-06-24	Shinji Takehara	WBA
1996-06-24	1997-08-23	William Joppy	WBA
1997-08-23	1998-01-31	Julio César Green	WBA
1998-01-31	2001-05-12	William Joppy	WBA
2001-05-12	2001-09-29	Félix Trinidad	WBA
2001-09-29	2005-07-16	Bernard Hopkins	WBA Super Champion
2001-11-17	2003-12-13-Lost to Super Champion	William Joppy	WBA Regular Champion
2004-05-01	2006-03-11	Maselino Masoe	WBA Regular Champion
2005-07-16	2006-12-14-Stripped	Jermain Taylor	WBA Super Champion
2006-03-11	2006-07-15	Felix Sturm	WBA Regular Champion
2006-07-15	2007-04-28	Javier Castillejo	WBA Regular Champion
2007-04-28	2012-09-01	Felix Sturm	WBA Super Champion
2010-10-14	2014-07-26	Gennady Golovkin	WBA Regular Champion
2012-09-01	2012-11-02-Stripped	Daniel Geale	WBA Super Champion
2014-07-26	2018-09-15	Gennady Golovkin	WBA Super Champion
2014-08-09	2017-03-18-Lost to Super Champion	Daniel Jacobs	WBA Regular Champion
2017-05-20	2017-10-22	Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam	WBA Regular Champion
2017-10-22	2018-10-20	Ryota Murata	WBA Regular Champion
2018-10-20	2019-07-12	Rob Brant	WBA Regular Champion
2019-07-12	2021-01-01 Elevated to Super Champion	Ryota Murata	WBA Regular Champion
2018-09-15	2021-01-01-Vacated	Saul Alvarez	WBA Super Champion
2021-01-05	2022-04-09	Ryota Murata	WBA Super Champion
2021-05-01	Present	Erislandy Lara	WBA Regular Champion
2022-04-09	Present	Gennady Golovkin	WBA Super Champion
IBF[edit]
Title inaugurated
1983-05-27	1987-04-06-Stripped	Marvin Hagler	IBF
1987-10-10	1988-07-28	Frank Tate	IBF
1988-07-28	1991-05-10	Michael Nunn	IBF
1991-05-10	1993-02-13-Vacated	James Toney	IBF
1993-05-22	1994-11-18-Vacated	Roy Jones Jr.	IBF
1995-04-29	2005-07-16	Bernard Hopkins	IBF
2005-07-16	2005-10-11-Vacated	Jermain Taylor	IBF
2005-12-10	2009-07-12-Vacated	Arthur Abraham	IBF
2009-09-19	2011-05-07	Sebastian Sylvester	IBF
2011-05-07	2013-08-17	Daniel Geale	IBF
2013-08-17	2013-12-07	Darren Barker	IBF
2013-12-07	2014-05-31	Felix Sturm	IBF
2014-05-31	2014-10-08	Sam Soliman	IBF
2014-10-08	2015-02-06-Stripped	Jermain Taylor	IBF
2015-06-20	2015-10-17	David Lemieux	IBF
2015-10-17	2018-06-01-Stripped	Gennady Golovkin	IBF
2018-10-27	2019-05-04	Daniel Jacobs	IBF
2019-05-04	2019-08-01-Stripped	Saul Alvarez	IBF
2019-10-05	Present	Gennady Golovkin	IBF
WBO[edit]
Title inaugurated
1989-04-18	1990-04-29	Doug DeWitt	WBO
1990-04-29	1990-11-18	Nigel Benn	WBO
1990-11-18	1991-06-22-Vacated	Chris Eubank	WBO
1991-11-20	1992-Vacated	Gerald McClellan	WBO
1993-05-19	1994-05-11	Chris Pyatt	WBO
1994-05-11	1995-03-Vacated	Steve Collins	WBO
1995-05-19	1997-06-28-Vacated	Lonnie Bradley	WBO
1997-12-13	1998-05-12-Vacated	Otis Grant	WBO
1999-01-30	1999-11-Stripped	Bert Schenk	WBO
1999-11	1999-11-27	Jason Matthews	WBO
1999-11-27	2002-04-06	Armand Krajnc	WBO
2002-04-06	2003-Retired	Harry Simon	WBO
2003-05-10	2003-09-13	Hector Javier Velazco	WBO
2003-09-13	2004-06-05	Felix Sturm	WBO
2004-06-05	2004-09-18	Oscar De La Hoya	WBO
2004-09-18	2005-07-16	Bernard Hopkins	WBO
2005-07-16	2007-09-29	Jermain Taylor	WBO
2007-09-29	2010-04-17	Kelly Pavlik	WBO
2010-04-17	2010-06-01-Stripped	Sergio Martínez	WBO
2010-07-31	2012-08-25-Stripped	Dmitry Pirog	WBO
2012-08-25	2012-10-20	Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam	WBO
2012-10-20	2014-09-04-Vacated	Peter Quillin	WBO
2014-12-13	2015-12-19	Andy Lee	WBO
2015-12-19	2018-10-11	Billy Joe Saunders	WBO
2018-10-20	2022-08-30 Vacated	Demetrius Andrade	WBO
2022-05-21	2022-08-30 Elevated	Janibek Alimkhanuly	WBO Interim
2022-08-30	Present	Janibek Alimkhanuly	WBO