List of WBC world champions

The World Boxing Council is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies World Champions in 17 different weight classes. In 1963, the year of its foundation, the WBC inaugurated titles in all divisions with the exception of the Light flyweight, Super flyweight, Super bantamweight, Super middleweight and Cruiserweight, who were inaugurated in the subsequent decades. The most recent title inaugurated by the WBC is the Minimumweight (also called Strawweight) in 1987.

Strawweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Hiroki Ioka	October 18, 1987 – November 13, 1988	2
Napa Kiatwanchai	November 13, 1988 – November 12, 1989	2
Jum-Hwan Choi	November 12, 1989 – February 7, 1990	3
Hideyuki Ohashi	February 7, 1990 – December 25, 1990	1
Ricardo López	October 25, 1990 – September, 1999 (stripped)	21
Wandee Singwancha	September, 1999 – February 11, 2000 (elevated from interim status)	1
José Antonio Aguirre	February 11, 2000 – January 10, 2004	7
"Eagle" Den Junlapan	January 10, 2004 – December 18, 2004	1
Isaac Bustos	December 18, 2004 – April 4, 2005	0
Katsunari Takayama	April 4, 2005 – August 6, 2005	0
"Eagle" Den Junlapan	August 6, 2005 – November 29, 2007	4
Oleydong Sithsamerchai	November 29, 2007 – February 11, 2011	5
Kazuto Ioka	February 11, 2011 – July 1, 2012 (vacated)	4
Vacant title Awarded to the winner of the Xiong Zhao Zhong vs. Javier Martinez Resendiz bout to be held on October 27, 2012.

Light flyweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Franco Udella	April 4, 1975 – August, 1975 (stripped)	1
Luis Estaba def. Rafael Lovera	September 13, 1975 – February 19, 1978	11
Freddy Castillo	February 19, 1978 – May 6, 1978	0
Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh	May 6, 1978 – September 30, 1978	1
Kim Sung-Jun	September 30, 1978 – January 3, 1980	3
Shigeo Nakajima	January 3, 1980 – March 24, 1980	0
Hilario Zapata	March 24, 1980 – February 6, 1982	8
Amado Ursua	February 6, 1982 – April 13, 1982	0
Tadashi Tomori	April 13, 1982 – July 20, 1982	0
Hilario Zapata	July 20, 1982 – March 26, 1983	2
Chang Jung-Koo	March 26, 1983 – 1988 (retired)	15
Germán Torres def. Kang Soon-Jung	December 11, 1988 – March 19, 1989	0
Lee Yul-Woo	March 19, 1989 – June 25, 1989	0
Humberto González	June 25, 1989 – December 19, 1990	5
Rolando Pascua	December 19, 1990 – March 25, 1991	0
Melchor Cob Castro	March 25, 1991 – June 3, 1991	0
Humberto González	June 3, 1991 – March 13, 1993	4
Michael Carbajal	March 13, 1993 – February 19, 1994	2
Humberto González	February 19, 1994 – July 15, 1995	3
Saman Sorjaturong	July 15, 1995 – October 17, 1999	10
Choi Yo-Sam	October 17, 1999 – July 6, 2002	3
Jorge Arce	July 6, 2002 – December 18, 2004 (vacated)	7
Eric Ortiz def. José Antonio Aguirre	March 11, 2005 – September 10, 2005	0
Brian Viloria	September 10, 2005 – August 10, 2006	1
Omar Niño Romero	August 10, 2006 – February 2, 2007 (stripped)	1
Edgar Sosa def. Brian Viloria	April 14, 2007 – November 21, 2009	10
Rodel Mayol	November 21, 2009 – June 19, 2010	1
Omar Niño Romero	June 19, 2010 – November 6, 2010	0
Gilberto Keb Baas	November 6, 2010 – April 30, 2011	1
Adrián Hernández	April 30, 2011 – December 23, 2011	1
Kompayak Porpramook	December 23, 2011 – October 6, 2012	1
Adrián Hernández	October 6, 2012 – present

Flyweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Hiroyuki Ebihara	September 18, 1963 – January 23, 1964	0
Pone Kingpetch	January 23, 1964 – April 23, 1965	3
Salvatore Burruni	April 23, 1965 – June 14, 1966	1
Walter McGowan	June 14, 1966 – December 30, 1966	0
Chartchai Chionoi	December 30, 1966 – February 23, 1969	4
Efren Torres	February 23, 1969 – March 20, 1970	0
Chartchai Chionoi	March 20, 1970 – December 7, 1970	0
Erbito Salavarria	December 7, 1970 – December 29, 1971 (stripped)	2
Betulio González def. Socrates Batoto	June 3, 1972 – September 29, 1972	0
Venice Borkhorsor	September 29, 1972 – 1973 (vacated)	1
Betulio González def. Miguel Canto	August 4, 1973 – October 1, 1974	2
Shoji Oguma	October 1, 1974 – January 8, 1975	0
Miguel Canto	January 8, 1975 – March 18, 1979	14
Park Chan-Hee	March 18, 1979 – May 18, 1980	5
Shoji Oguma	May 18, 1980 – May 12, 1981	3
Antonio Avelar	May 12, 1981 – March 20, 1982	1
Prudencio Cardona	March 20, 1982 – July 24, 1982	0
Freddy Castillo	July 24, 1982 – November 6, 1982	0
Eleoncio Mercedes	November 6, 1982 – March 15, 1983	0
Charlie Magri	March 15, 1983 – September 27, 1983	0
Frank Cedeno	September 27, 1983 – January 18, 1984	0
Koji Kobayashi	January 18, 1984 – April 9, 1984	0
Gabriel Bernal	April 9, 1984 – October 8, 1984	1
Sot Chitalada	October 8, 1984 – July 24, 1988	6
Kim Yong-Kang	July 24, 1988 – June 3, 1989	2
Sot Chitalada	June 3, 1989 – February 15, 1991	4
Muangchai Kittikasem	February 15, 1991 – June 23, 1993	3
Yuri Arbachakov	June 23, 1993 – November 12, 1997 (retired)	9
Chatchai Sasakul def. Ysaias Zamudio	May 9, 1997 – December 4, 1998	2
Manny Pacquiao	December 4, 1998 – September 17, 1999	1
Medgoen Singsurat def. Pacquiao, who was stripped of his title.	September 17, 1999 – May 19, 2000	1
Malcolm Tunacao	May 19, 2000 – March 2, 2001	1
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam	March 2, 2001 – July 18, 2007	17
Daisuke Naito	July 18, 2007 – November 29, 2009	5
Koki Kameda	November 29, 2009 – March 27, 2010	0
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam	March 27, 2010 – March 2, 2012	3
Sonny Boy Jaro	March 27, 2010 – July 16, 2012	0
Toshiyuki Igarashi	July 16, 2012 – Present

Super flyweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Rafael Orono	February 2, 1980 – January 24, 1981	3
Kim Chul-Ho	January 24, 1981 – November 28, 1982	5
Rafael Orono	November 28, 1982 – November 27, 1983	3
Payao Poontarat	November 27, 1983 – July 5, 1984	1
Jiro Watanabe	July 5, 1984 – March 30, 1986	4
Gilberto Román	March 30, 1986 – May 16, 1987	6
Santos Laciar	May 16, 1987 – August 8, 1987	0
Sugar Baby Rojas	August 8, 1987 – April 8, 1988	1
Gilberto Román	April 8, 1988 – November 7, 1989	5
Nana Kanadou	November 7, 1989 – January 20, 1990	0
Moon Sung-kil	January 20, 1990 – November 13, 1993	9
José Luis Bueno	November 13, 1993 – May 4, 1994	0
Hiroshi Kawashima	May 4, 1994 – February 20, 1997	6
Gerry Peñalosa	February 20, 1997 – August 29, 1998	3
In-Joo Cho	August 29, 1998 – August 27, 2000	5
Masamori Tokuyama	August 27, 2000 – June 28, 2004	8
Katsushige Kawashima	June 28, 2004 – July 18, 2005	2
Masamori Tokuyama	July 18, 2005 – December 6, 2006 (vacated)	1
Cristian Mijares (Promoted from Interim status)	December 6, 2006 – November 1, 2008	7
Vic Darchinyan	November 1, 2008 – August 3, 2010 (vacated)	3
Vic Darchinyan	November 1, 2008 – August 3, 2010 (vacated)	3
Tomás Rojas def. Kohei Kono	September 20, 2010 – August 10, 2011	2
Suriyan Sor Rungvisai	August 10, 2011 – March 27, 2012	1
Yota Sato	March 27, 2012 – Present	1

Bantamweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Éder Jofre	April 4, 1963 – May 18, 1965	2
Masahiko "Fighting" Harada	May 18, 1965 – February 27, 1968	4
Lionel Rose	February 27, 1968 – August 22, 1969	3
Rubén Olivares	August 22, 1969 – October 16, 1970	2
Jesús "Chucho" Castillo	October 16, 1970 – April 2, 1971	0
Rubén Olivares	April 2, 1971 – March 19, 1972	2
Rafael Herrera	March 19, 1972 – July 29, 1972	0
Enrique Pinder	July 29, 1972 – 1973 (stripped)	0
Rafael Herrera def. Rodolfo Martínez	April 14, 1973 – December 7, 1974	2
Rodolfo Martínez	December 7, 1974 – May 8, 1976	3
Carlos Zárate	May 8, 1976 – June 3, 1979	9
José Guadalupe Pintor	June 3, 1979 – 1982 (vacated)	8
Alberto Dávila def. Francisco "Kiko" Bejines	September 1, 1983 – 1984 (vacated)	1
Daniel Zaragoza def. Fred Jackson	May 4, 1985 – August 9, 1985	0
Miguel Lora	August 9, 1985 – October 29, 1988	7
Raúl Pérez	October 29, 1988 – February 25, 1991	7
Greg Richardson	February 25, 1991 – September 19, 1991	1
Joichiro Tatsuyoshi	September 19, 1991 – September 17, 1992	0
Victor Rabanales	September 17, 1992 – March 28, 1993	4
Jung-Il Byun	March 28, 1993 – December 23, 1993	1
Yasuei Yakushiji	December 23, 1993 – July 30, 1995	4
Wayne McCullough	July 30, 1995 – January, 1997 (vacated)	2
Sirimongkol Singwangcha (Elevated from Interim status)	January, 1997 – November 22, 1997	3
Joichiro Tatsuyoshi	November 22, 1997 – December 29, 1998	2
Veeraphol Sahaprom	December 29, 1998 – April 16, 2005	14
Hozumi Hasegawa	April 16, 2005 – April 30, 2010	10
Fernando Montiel	April 30, 2010 – February 19, 2011	1
Nonito Donaire	February 19, 2011 – October 22, 2011 (vacated)	1
Shinsuke Yamanaka def. Christian Esquivel	November 5, 2011 – Present	1

Super bantamweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Rigoberto Riasco	April 3, 1976 – October 9, 1976	2
Kazuo "Royal" Kobayashi	October 9, 1976 – November 24, 1976	0
Yum Dong-Kyun	November 24, 1976 – May 21, 1977	1
Wilfredo Gómez	May 21, 1977 – April, 1983 (vacated)	17
Jaime Garza def. Bobby Berna	June 15, 1983 – November 3, 1984	1
Juan Meza	November 3, 1984 – August 18, 1985	1
José "Lupe" Pintor	August 18, 1985 – January 18, 1986	0
Samart Payakaroon	January 18, 1986 – May 8, 1987	1
Jeff Fenech	May 8, 1987 – 1988 (vacated)	2
Daniel Zaragoza def. Carlos Zárate	February 29, 1988 – April 23, 1990	5
Paul Banke	April 23, 1990 – November 5, 1990	1
Pedro Ruben Decima	November 5, 1990 – February 23, 1991	0
Kiyoshi Hatanaka	February 23, 1991 – June 24, 1991	0
Daniel Zaragoza	June 24, 1991 – March 20, 1992	2
Thierry Jacob	March 20, 1992 – June 23, 1992	0
Tracy Harris Patterson	June 23, 1992 – August 26, 1994	4
Hector Acero Sanchez	August 26, 1994 – November 6, 1995	2
Daniel Zaragoza	November 6, 1995 – September 6, 1997	2
Erik Morales	September 6, 1997 – February 19, 2000 (vacated)	9
Willie Jorrín def. Michael Brodie	September 9, 2000 – November 1, 2002 (vacated)	2
Óscar Larios (Elevated from Interim status)	November 1, 2002 – December 12, 2005	7
Israel Vázquez	December 12, 2005 – March 3, 2007	2
Rafael Márquez	March 3, 2007 – August 4, 2007	0
Israel Vázquez	August 4, 2007 – December 18, 2008 (stripped)	1
Toshiaki Nishioka (Elevated from Interim status)	December 18, 2008 – March 15, 2012 (vacated)	7
Abner Mares def. Eric Morel	April 21, 2012 – Present

Featherweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Sugar Ramos	March 21, 1963 – September 26, 1964	3
Vicente Saldivar	September 26, 1964 – October, 1967 (retired)	7
Howard Winstone def. Mitsunori Seki	January 23, 1968 – July 24, 1968	0
José Legrá	July 24, 1968 – January 21, 1969	0
Johnny Famechon	January 21, 1969 – May 9, 1970	2
Vicente Saldivar	May 9, 1970 – December 11, 1970	0
Kuniaki Shibata	December 11, 1970 – May 19, 1972	2
Clemente Sánchez	May 19, 1972 – December 16, 1972 (stripped)	0
José Legrá def. Sánchez, who was stripped of his title.	December 16, 1972 – May 5, 1973	0
Éder Jofre	May 5, 1973 – June 17, 1974 (stripped)	1
Bobby Chacon def. Alfredo Marcano	September 7, 1974 – June 20, 1975	1
Rubén Olivares	June 20, 1975 – September 20, 1975	0
David Kotei	September 20, 1975 – November 13, 1976	2
Danny López	November 13, 1976 – February 2, 1980	8
Salvador Sánchez	February 2, 1980 – August 12, 1982 (died)	9
Juan Laporte def. Mario Miranda	September 15, 1982 – March 31, 1984	2
Wilfredo Gómez	March 31, 1984 – December 8, 1984	0
Azumah Nelson	December 8, 1984 – 1988 (vacated)	6
Jeff Fenech def. Victor Callejas	March 7, 1988 – 1989 (vacated)	3
Marcos Villasana def. Paul Hodkinson	June 2, 1990 – November 14, 1991	3
Paul Hodkinson	November 14, 1991 – April 28, 1993	3
Gregorio Vargas	April 28, 1993 – December 4, 1993	0
Kevin Kelley	December 4, 1993 – January 7, 1995	2
Alejandro Martín González	January 7, 1995 – September 23, 1995	2
Manuel Medina	September 23, 1995 – December 11, 1995	0
Luisito Espinosa	December 11, 1995 – May 15, 1999	7
César Soto	May 15, 1999 – October 22, 1999	0
Naseem Hamed	May 15, 1999 – 2000 (vacated)	0
Guty Espadas, Jr. def. Luisito Espinosa	April 14, 2000 – February 17, 2001	1
Erik Morales	February 17, 2001 – June 22, 2002	1
Marco Antonio Barrera	June 22, 2002 – June, 2002 (vacated)	0
Erik Morales def. Paulie Ayala	November 16, 2002 – 2003 (vacated)	2
Chi In-Jin def. Michael Brodie	October 4, 2003 – January 29, 2006	3
Takashi Koshimoto	January 29, 2006 – July 30, 2006	0
Rodolfo López	July 30, 2006 – December 17, 2006	0
Chi In-Jin	December 17, 2006 – 2007 (retired)	0
Jorge Linares def. Óscar Larios	July 21, 2007 – August 13, 2008 (vacated)	1
Óscar Larios (Elevated from Interim status)	August 13, 2008 – March 12, 2009	2
Takahiro Aoh	March 12, 2009 – July 14, 2009	0
Elio Rojas	July 14, 2009 – August 25, 2010 (vacated)	1
Hozumi Hasegawa def. Juan Carlos Burgos	July 14, 2009 – April 8, 2011	0
Jhonny González	April 8, 2011 – September 14, 2012	4
Daniel Ponce de León	September 14, 2012 – Present

Super featherweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Gabriel Elorde	February 16, 1963 – June 15, 1967	5
Yoshiaki Numata	June 15, 1967 – December 14, 1967	0
Hiroshi Kobayashi	December 14, 1967–January 18, 1969 (stripped)	2
René Barrientos def. Rubén Navarro	February 15, 1969 – April 5, 1970	0
Yoshiaki Numata	April 5, 1970 – October 10, 1971	3
Ricardo Arredondo	October 10, 1971 – February 28, 1974	5
Kuniaki Shibata	February 28, 1974 – July 5, 1975	3
Alfredo Escalera	July 5, 1975 – January 28, 1978	10
Alexis Argüello	January 28, 1978 – 1980 (vacated)	8
Rafael Limón def. Idelfonso Bethelmy	December 11, 1980 – March 8, 1981	0
Cornelius Boza Edwards	March 8, 1981 – August 29, 1981	1
Rolando Navarette	August 29, 1981 – May 29, 1982	1
Rafael Limón	May 29, 1982 – December 11, 1982	1
Bobby Chacon	December 11, 1982 – 1983 (stripped)	1
Héctor Camacho def. Rafael Limón	August 7, 1983 – 1984 (vacated)	1
Julio César Chávez def. Mario Martínez	September 13, 1984 – August 21, 1987 (vacated)	9
Azumah Nelson def. Mario Martínez	February 29, 1988 – May 7, 1994	10
Jesse James Leija	May 7, 1994 – September 17, 1994	0
Gabriel Ruelas	September 17, 1994 – December 1, 1995	2
Azumah Nelson	December 1, 1995 – March 22, 1997	1
Genaro Hernández	March 22, 1997 – October 3, 1998	3
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	October 3, 1998 – April 20, 2002 (vacated)	8
Sirimongkol Singwancha def. Kengo Nagashima	August 24, 2002 – August 15, 2003	1
Jesús Chávez	August 15, 2003 – February 28, 2004	0
Erik Morales	February 28, 2004 – November 27, 2004	1
Juan Manuel Márquez	March 17, 2007 – March 15, 2008	1
Manny Pacquiao	March 15, 2008 – July 16, 2008 (vacated)	0
Humberto Soto def. Francisco Lorenzo	December 20, 2008 – March 18, 2010 (vacated)	3
Vitali Tajbert (Elevated from interim status)	March 17, 2010 – November 26, 2010	2
Takahiro Ao	November 26, 2010 – Present	3

Lightweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Carlos Ortíz	February 14, 1963 – April 10, 1965	3
Ismael Laguna	April 10, 1965 – November 13, 1965	0
Carlos Ortíz	November 13, 1965 – June 29, 1968	5
Carlos Cruz	June 29, 1968 – February 18, 1969	1
Mando Ramos	February 18, 1969 – March 3, 1970	1
Ismael Laguna	March 3, 1970 – September 15, 1970 (stripped)	1
Ken Buchanan def. Rubén Navarro	February 12, 1971 – June 25, 1971 (stripped)	0
Pedro Carrasco def. Mando Ramos	November 5, 1971 – February 18, 1972	0
Mando Ramos	February 18, 1972 – September 15, 1972	1
Chango Carmona	September 15, 1972 – November 10, 1972	0
Rodolfo González	November 10, 1972 – April 11, 1974	2
Guts Ishimatsu	April 11, 1974 – May 8, 1976	5
Esteban De Jesús	May 8, 1976 – January 21, 1978	3
Roberto Durán	January 21, 1978 – January, 1979 (vacated)	0
Jim Watt def. Alfredo Pitalua	April 17, 1979 – June 20, 1981	4
Alexis Argüello	June 20, 1981 – 1983 (vacated)	4
Edwin Rosario def. José Luis Ramírez	May 1, 1983 – November 3, 1984	2
José Luis Ramírez	November 3, 1984 – August 10, 1985	0
Héctor Camacho	August 10, 1985 – 1987 (vacated)	2
José Luis Ramírez def. Terrence Alli	July 19, 1987 – October 29, 1988	2
Julio César Chávez	October 29, 1988 – 1989 (vacated)	0
Pernell Whitaker def. José Luis Ramírez	August 20, 1989 – 1992 (vacated)	6
Miguel Ángel González def. Wilfrido Rocha	August 24, 1992 – August 19, 1995 (vacated)	10
Jean Baptiste Mendy def. Lamar Murphy	April 20, 1996 – March 1, 1997	0
Stevie Johnston	March 1, 1997 – June 13, 1998	3
César Bazán	June 13, 1998 – February 27, 1999	2
Stevie Johnston	February 27, 1999 – June 17, 2000	4
José Luis Castillo	June 17, 2000 – April 20, 2002	3
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	April 20, 2002 – May 22, 2004 (vacated)	3
José Luis Castillo def. Juan Lazcano	June 5, 2004 – May 7, 2005	2
Diego Corrales	May 7, 2005 – October 7, 2006 (stripped)	0
Joel Casamayor def. Corrales, who was stripped of his title	October 7, 2006 – February 1, 2007 (stripped)	0
David Díaz (Elevated from interim status)	February 1, 2007 – June 28, 2008	1
Manny Pacquiao	June 28, 2008 – February 24, 2009 (vacated)	1
Edwin Valero def. Antonio Pitalua	April 4, 2009 – February 9, 2010 (vacated)	2
Humberto Soto def. David Díaz	March 13, 2010 – July 1, 2011 (vacated)	4
Antonio DeMarco def. Jorge Linares	October 15, 2011 – November 17, 2012	2
Adrien Broner	November 17, 2012 – present	1

Super lightweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Eddie Perkins	June 15, 1963 – January 18, 1965	2
Carlos "Morocho" Hernández	January 18, 1965 – April 29, 1966	2
Sandro Lopopolo	April 29, 1966 – April 30, 1967	1
Takeshi Fuji	April 30, 1967 – 1968 (stripped)	1
Pedro Adigue def. Adolph Pruitt	December 14, 1968 – January 31, 1970	0
Bruno Arcari	January 31, 1970 – February, 1974 (vacated)	9
Perico Fernandez def. Lion Furuyama	September 21, 1974 – July 15, 1975	1
Saensak Muangsurin	July 15, 1975 – June 30, 1976	1
Miguel Velasquez	June 30, 1976 – October 29, 1976	0
Saensak Muangsurin	October 29, 1976 – December 30, 1978	7
Sang-Hyun Kim	December 30, 1978 – February 23, 1980	2
Saoul Mamby	February 23, 1980 – June 26, 1982	5
Leroy Haley	June 26, 1982 – May 18, 1983	2
Bruce Curry	May 18, 1983 – January 29, 1984	2
Billy Costello	January 29, 1984 – August 21, 1985	3
Lonnie Smith	August 21, 1985 – May 5, 1986	0
Rene Arredondo	May 5, 1986 – July 24, 1986	0
Tsuyoshi Hamada	July 24, 1986 – July 22, 1987	1
Rene Arredondo	July 22, 1987 – November 12, 1987	0
Roger Mayweather	July 22, 1987 – November 12, 1987	4
Julio César Chávez	May 13, 1989 – January 29, 1994	12
Frankie Randall	January 29, 1994 – May 7, 1994	0
Julio César Chávez	May 7, 1994 – June 7, 1996	4
Oscar De La Hoya	June 7, 1996 – April 12, 1997 (vacated)	1
Kostya Tszyu def. Miguel Ángel González	August 21, 1999 – January, 2004 (stripped)	7
Arturo Gatti def. Gianluca Branco	January 24, 2004 – June 25, 2005	2
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	June 25, 2005 – March 23, 2006 (vacated)	0
Junior Witter def. DeMarcus Corley	September 15, 2006 – May 10, 2008	0
Devon Alexander	August 1, 2009 – January 29, 2011	2
Timothy Bradley	January 29, 2011 – July 28, 2011 (stripped)	2
Erik Morales def. Pablo César Cano	September 17, 2011 – March 24, 2012	0
Danny García	March 24, 2012 – Present	2

Welterweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Emile Griffith	December 8, 1962 – March 21, 1963	0
Luis Manuel Rodríguez	March 21, 1963 – June 8, 1963	0
Emile Griffith	June 8, 1963 – Apr 25,1966 (vacated)	4
Curtis Cokes def. Jean Josselin	August 24, 1966 – April 18, 1969	4
José Nápoles	April 18, 1969 – December 3, 1970	3
Billy Backus	December 3, 1970 – June 4, 1971	0
José Nápoles	June 4, 1971 – December 6, 1975	10
John H. Stracey	December 6, 1975 – June 22, 1976	1
Carlos Palomino	June 22, 1976 – January 14, 1979	7
Wilfred Benítez	November 30, 1979 – January 14, 1979	1
Sugar Ray Leonard	November 30, 1979 – June 20, 1980	1
Roberto Durán	June 20, 1980 – November 25, 1980	0
Sugar Ray Leonard	November 25, 1980 – November 9, 1982 (retired)	3
Milton McCrory def. Colin Jones	August 13, 1983 – December 6, 1985	4
Donald Curry	December 6, 1985 – September 27, 1986	0
Lloyd Honeyghan	September 27, 1986 – October 28, 1987	3
Jorge Vaca	October 28, 1987 – March 29, 1988	0
Lloyd Honeyghan	March 29, 1988 – February 4, 1989	1
Marlon Starling	February 4, 1989– August 19, 1990	1
Maurice Blocker	August 19, 1990 – March 18, 1991	0
Simon Brown	March 18, 1991 – November 29, 1991	0
James McGirt	November 29, 1991 – March 6, 1993	2
Pernell Whitaker	March 6, 1993 – April 12, 1997	8
Oscar De La Hoya	April 12, 1997 – September 18, 1999	9
Félix Trinidad	September 18, 1999 – March 3, 2000 (vacated)	0
Oscar De La Hoya	3 March 2000 – 17 June 2000	0
Shane Mosley	June 17, 2000 – January 26, 2002	3
Vernon Forrest	January 26, 2002 – January 25, 2003	1
Ricardo Mayorga	January 25, 2003 – December 13, 2003	1
Cory Spinks	December 13, 2003 – February 5, 2005	2
Zab Judah	February 5, 2005 – January 7, 2006	1
Carlos Manuel Baldomir	January 7, 2006 – November 4, 2006	1
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	November 4, 2006 – June 6, 2008 (vacated)	1
Andre Berto def. Miguel Ángel Rodríguez	June 21, 2008 – April 16, 2011	5
Victor Ortiz	April 16, 2011 – September 17, 2011	0
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	September 17, 2011 – Present

Super welterweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Denny Moyer	February 19, 1963 – April 29, 1963	0
Ralph Dupas	April 29, 1963 – September 7, 1963	1
Sandro Mazzinghi	September 7, 1963 – June 18, 1965	3
Nino Benvenuti	June 18, 1965 – June 25, 1966	1
Kim Ki-Soo	June 25, 1966 – May 26, 1968	2
Sandro Mazzinghi	May 26, 1968 – November, 1968 (stripped)	1
Freddie Little def. Stanley Hayward	March 17, 1969 – July 9, 1970	2
Carmelo Bossi	July 9, 1970 – October 31, 1971	1
Koichi Wajima	October 31, 1971 – June 4, 1974	6
Oscar Albarado	June 4, 1974 – January 21, 1975	1
Koichi Wajima	January 21, 1975 – April, 1975 (stripped)	0
Miguel De Oliveira def. José Durán	May 7, 1975 – November 13, 1975	0
Elisha Obed	November 13, 1975 – June 18, 1976	2
Eckhard Dagge	June 18, 1976 – August 6, 1977	2
Rocky Mattioli	August 6, 1977 – March 4, 1979	2
Maurice Hope	March 4, 1979 – May 23, 1981	3
Wilfred Benítez	May 23, 1981 – December 3, 1982	2
Thomas Hearns	December 3, 1982 – 1986 (vacated)	4
Duane Thomas def. John Mugabi	December 5, 1986 – July 12, 1987	0
Lupe Aquino	July 12, 1987 – October 2, 1987	0
Gianfranco Rosi	October 2, 1987 – July 8, 1988	1
Donald Curry	July 8, 1988 – February 11, 1989	0
Rene Jacquot	February 11, 1989 – July 8, 1989	0
John Mugabi	July 8, 1989 – March 31, 1990	0
Terry Norris	March 31, 1990 – December 18, 1993	10
Simon Brown	December 18, 1993 – May 7, 1994	1
Terry Norris	May 7, 1994 – November 12, 1994	0
Luis Santana	November 12, 1994 – August 19, 1995	1
Terry Norris	August 19, 1995 – December 6, 1997	6
Keith Mullings	December 6, 1997 – January 29, 1999	1
Javier Castillejo	January 29, 1999 – June 23, 2001	5
Oscar De La Hoya	June 23, 2001 – September 13, 2003	2
Shane Mosley	September 13, 2003 – March 13, 2004	0
Ronald "Winky" Wright	March 13, 2004 – May, 2005 (vacated)	1
Ricardo Mayorga def. Michele Piccirillo	August 13, 2005 – May 6, 2006	0
Oscar De La Hoya	May 6, 2006 – May 5, 2007	0
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	May 5, 2007 – July 4, 2007 (vacated)	7
Vernon Forrest def. Carlos Manuel Baldomir	July 28, 2007 – June 7, 2008	1
Sergio Mora	June 7, 2008 – September 13, 2008	0
Vernon Forrest	September 13, 2008 – May 21, 2009 (stripped)	0
Sergio Martínez (Elevated from Interim status)	May 21, 2009 – June 17, 2010 (vacated)	0
Manny Pacquiao def. Antonio Margarito	November 14, 2010 – February 8, 2011 (stripped)	0
Saúl Álvarez def. Matthew Hatton	March 5, 2011 – Present	5

Middleweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Dick Tiger	August 10, 1963 – December 7, 1963	0
Joey Giardello	December 7, 1963 – October 21, 1965	1
Dick Tiger	October 21, 1965 – April 25, 1966	0
Emile Griffith	April 25, 1966 – April 17, 1967	2
Nino Benvenuti	March 4, 1968 – November 7, 1970	4
Carlos Monzón	November 7, 1970 – February 9, 1974 (stripped)	9
Rodrigo Valdéz def. Bennie Briscoe	May 25, 1974 – June 26, 1976	4
Carlos Monzón	June 26, 1976 – August 1977 (retired)	1
Rodrigo Valdéz def. Bennie Briscoe	November 5, 1977 – April 22, 1978	0
Hugo Corro	April 22, 1978 – June 30, 1979	2
Vito Antuofermo	June 30, 1979 – March 16, 1980	1
Alan Minter	March 16, 1980 – September 27, 1980	1
Marvelous Marvin Hagler	September 27, 1980 – April 6, 1987	12
Sugar Ray Leonard	April 6, 1987 – May 27, 1987 (retired)	0
Thomas Hearns def. Juan Roldán	October 29, 1987 – June 6, 1988	0
Iran Barkley	June 6, 1988 – February 24, 1989	0
Roberto Durán	February 24, 1989 – December, 1989 (vacated)	0
Julian Jackson def. Herol Graham	November 24, 1990 – May 8, 1993	4
Gerald McClellan	May 8, 1993 – May 7, 1994 (vacated)	3
Julian Jackson def. Agostino Cardamone	March 17, 1995 – August 19, 1995	0
Quincy Taylor	August 19, 1995 – March 16, 1996	0
Keith Holmes	March 16, 1996 – May 2, 1998	2
Hassine Cherifi	May 2, 1998 – April 24, 1999	0
Keith Holmes	April 24, 1999 – April 14, 2001	2
Bernard Hopkins	April 14, 2001 – July 16, 2005	7
Jermain Taylor	July 16, 2005 – September 29, 2007	4
Kelly Pavlik	September 29, 2007 – April 17, 2010	3
Sergio Martínez	April 17, 2010 – January 17, 2011 (stripped)	1
Sebastian Zbik (Elevated from interim status)	January 17, 2011 – June 4, 2011	0
Julio César Chávez, Jr.	June 4, 2011 – September 15, 2012	3
Sergio Martínez	September 15, 2012 – Present

Super middleweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Sugar Ray Leonard	November 7, 1988 – December 15, 1990 (retired)	2
Mauro Galvano def. Dario Matteoni	December 15, 1990 – October 3, 1992	2
Nigel Benn	October 3, 1992 – March 2, 1996	9
Thulani Malinga	March 2, 1996 – July 6, 1996	0
Vincenzo Nardiello	July 6, 1996 – October 12, 1996	0
Robin Reid	October 12, 1996 – December 19, 1997	3
Thulani Malinga	December 19, 1997 – March 27, 1998	0
Richie Woodhall	March 27, 1998 – October 23, 1999	2
Markus Beyer	October 23, 1999 – May 6, 2000	1
Glenn Catley	May 6, 2000 – September 1, 2000	0
Dingaan Thobela	September 1, 2000 – December 15, 2000	0
Dave Hilton, Jr.	December 15, 2000 – May, 2001 (stripped)	0
Éric Lucas def. Glenn Catley	June 10, 2001 – April 5, 2003	3
Markus Beyer	April 5, 2003 – June 5, 2004	2
Christian Sanavia	June 5, 2004 – October 9, 2004	0
Markus Beyer	October 9, 2004 – October 14, 2006	3
Mikkel Kessler	October 14, 2006 – November 3, 2007	1
Joe Calzaghe	November 3, 2007 – June 28, 2008 (vacated)	0
Carl Froch def. Jean Pascal	December 6, 2008 – April 24, 2010	2
Mikkel Kessler	April 25, 2010 – November 2010 (vacated)	0
Carl Froch def. Arthur Abraham	November 27, 2010 – December 17, 2011	1
Andre Ward	December 17, 2011 – Present	1

Light heavyweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Willie Pastrano	June 1, 1963 – March 30, 1965	2
José Torres	March 30, 1965 – December 16, 1966	3
Dick Tiger	December 16, 1966 – May 24, 1968	2
Bob Foster	May 24, 1968 – September 16, 1974 (retired)	14
John Conteh def. Jorge Ahumada	October 1, 1974 – May 21, 1977 (stripped)	3
Miguel Angel Cuello def. Jesse Burnett	May 21, 1977 – January 8, 1978	0
Mate Parlov	January 8, 1978 – December 2, 1978	1
Marvin Johnson	December 2, 1978 – August 18, 1979	0
Matthew Saad Muhammad	August 18, 1979 – December 19, 1981	8
Dwight Muhammad Qawi	December 19, 1981 – March 18, 1983	3
Michael Spinks	March 18, 1983 – September 21, 1985 (vacated)	4
J. B. Williamson def. Prince Mama Mohammed	December 10, 1985 – April 30, 1986	0
Dennis Andries	April 30, 1986 – March 7, 1987	1
Thomas Hearns	March 7, 1987 – November 21, 1987 (vacated)	0
Donny Lalonde def. Eddie Davis	November 27, 1987 – November 7, 1988	1
Sugar Ray Leonard	November 7, 1988 – February 21, 1989 (vacated)	0
Dennis Andries def. Tony Willis	February 21, 1989 – June 24, 1989	0
Jeff Harding	June 24, 1989 – July 28, 1990	2
Dennis Andries	July 28, 1990 – September 11, 1991	2
Jeff Harding	September 11, 1991 – July 23, 1994	2
Mike McCallum	July 23, 1994 – June 16, 1995	1
Fabrice Tiozzo	June 16, 1995 – March, 1997 (vacated)	1
Roy Jones, Jr. (Elevated from Interim status)	March, 1997 – March 21, 1997	0
Montell Griffin	March 21, 1997 – August 7, 1997	0
Roy Jones, Jr.	August 7, 1997 – March 1, 2003 (vacated)	11
Graciano Rocchigiani def. Michael Nunn	21 March 1998 – April 15, 2000 (Restored champion)	0
Antonio Tarver	April 26, 2003 – November 8, 2003	0
Roy Jones, Jr.	November 8, 2003 – May 15, 2004	0
Antonio Tarver	May 25, 2004 – December, 2004 (stripped)	0
Tomasz Adamek def. Paul Briggs	May 21, 2005 – February 3, 2007	2
Chad Dawson	February 3, 2007 – July 11, 2008 (stripped)	3
Adrian Diaconu (Elevated from Interim status)	July 11, 2008 – June 19, 2009	0
Jean Pascal	June 19, 2009 – May 21, 2011	2
Bernard Hopkins	May 21, 2011 – April 28, 2012	0
Chad Dawson	April 28, 2012 – Present

Cruiserweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Marvin Camel	March 31, 1980 – November 25, 1980	0
Carlos De León	November 25, 1980 – June 27, 1982	1
S. T. Gordon	June 27, 1982 – July 17, 1983	1
Carlos De León	July 17, 1983 – June 6, 1985	3
Alfonso Ratliff	June 6, 1985 – September 21, 1985	0
Bernard Benton	September 21, 1985 – March 22, 1986	0
Carlos De León	March 22, 1986 – April 9, 1988	3
Evander Holyfield	April 9, 1988 – April 9, 1989 (vacated)	0
Carlos De León def. Sammy Reeson	May 17, 1989 – July 27, 1990	3
Massimiliano Duran	July 27, 1990 – July 20, 1991	1
Anaclet Wamba	July 20, 1991 – December 30, 1994	7
Marcelo Domínguez	July 25, 1995 – February 21, 1998	5
Juan Carlos Gómez	February 21, 1998 – February 19, 2002 (vacated)	10
Wayne Braithwaite def. Vincenzo Cantatore	October 11, 2002 – April 2, 2005	3
Jean-Marc Mormeck	April 2, 2005 – January 7, 2006	0
O'Neil Bell	January 7, 2006 – March 17, 2007	0
Jean-Marc Mormeck	March 17, 2007 – November 10, 2007	0
David Haye	November 10, 2007 – May 12, 2008 (vacated)	1
Giacobbe Fragomeni def. Rudolf Kraj	October 24, 2008 – November 21, 2009	1
Zsolt Erdei	November 21, 2009 – January 13, 2010 (vacated)	0
Krzysztof Włodarczyk def. Giacobbe Fragomeni	May 15, 2010 – Present	4

Heavyweight

Name	Reign period	No. of successful defenses
Sonny Liston	July 22, 1963 – February 25, 1964	0
Muhammad Ali	February 25, 1964 – March 11, 1969 (stripped)	9
Joe Frazier def. Jimmy Ellis	February 16, 1970 – January 22, 1973	4
George Foreman	January 22, 1973 – October 30, 1974	2
Muhammad Ali	October 30, 1974 – February 15, 1978	10
Leon Spinks	February 15, 1978 – March 18, 1978 (stripped)	0
Ken Norton (Status elevated as #1 contender)	March 29, 1978 – June 9, 1978	0
Larry Holmes	June 9, 1978 – December 11, 1983 (vacated)	16
Tim Witherspoon def. Greg Page	March 9, 1984 – August 31, 1984	0
Pinklon Thomas	August 31, 1984 – March 22, 1986	1
Trevor Berbick	March 22, 1986 – November 22, 1986	0
Mike Tyson	November 22, 1986 – February 11, 1990	9
James "Buster" Douglas	February 11, 1990 – October 25, 1990	0
Evander Holyfield	October 25, 1990 – November 13, 1992	3
Riddick Bowe	November 13, 1992 – December 14, 1992 (stripped)	0
Lennox Lewis Status elevated as Bowe refused to face Lewis	December 14, 1992 – September 24, 1994	3
Oliver McCall	September 24, 1994 – September 2, 1995	1
Frank Bruno	September 2, 1995 – March 16, 1996	0
Mike Tyson	March 16, 1996 – September 24, 1996 (vacated)	0
Lennox Lewis def. Oliver McCall	February 7, 1997 – April 22, 2001	9
Hasim Rahman	April 22, 2001 – November 17, 2001	0
Lennox Lewis	November 17, 2001 – February 6, 2004 (retired)	2
Vitali Klitschko def. Corrie Sanders	April 24, 2004 – November 9, 2005 (retired)	1
Hasim Rahman (Elevated from Interim status)	November 9, 2005 – August 12, 2006	1
Oleg Maskaev	August 12, 2006 – March 8, 2008	1
Samuel Peter	March 8, 2008 – October 11, 2008	0
Vitali Klitschko	October 11, 2008 – Present	9

External links

• Ken Buchanan – Lightweight Champion of the World – Ken Buchanan site with detailed bio, statistics, full fights and more

See also

• List of WBA world champions
• List of IBF world champions
• List of WBO world champions
• List of IBO world champions